Fall 1999: UIC in Champaign and Springfield, IL

I decided I would take a road trip to Champaign, IL to visit my friend, Adenike, whom I met in my photography class at Harold Washington Community College in downtown Chicago. Adenike and I were movie buddies and went to the movies all the time when she lived in Chicago.    After community college, she decided to transfer to UIC in Champaign.      I had never been there before, so it was nice to visit her.     She had a part-time job in a coffee shop.

We decided to take a side trip to Springfield, IL to see where Abraham Lincoln's house was.      Then, we drove around Springfield to check it out. There wasn't much to the town. Then, we came back to UIC and spent time hanging out.  I had a great time on this trip.  

June 12-13, 1999: Motorcycle Races in Newaygo

Went to Michigan for the weekend to work at the motorcycle races in Newaygo.   Sue and I stayed at Jerry's house.   Jerry and Terry were friends of Sue's sister, Chris.    I had never seen such a messy house in my life.    There were beer cans, food, trash, and clothes laying around everywhere.    Jerry won 10 million dollars in the lotto a few years ago.   We worked from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.  In the evening, we went to Andy's graduation open house.   Terry and Andy are stepbrothers.    I met Mike Tabaczka at these races.  He did their website and photography for the races.   

May 28-29, 1999: Joy's Visit to Chicago

My cousin Joy took the train from Ann Arbor to Chicago to spend the weekend with me.    I met her at Union Station and then we took the Metra train out to Downers Grove to my apartment.   We went to the IKEA store and to Pier 1 Imports.   I got my living room chair at IKEA and this fountain and stand at Pier 1 Imports.    Joy and I ate at Dave and Busters off of I-355 on Lake St.    When we got back to my apartment, we worked on putting together the chair and stand.   

On May 29,  I took Joy to Information Resources so she could see where I worked.   We went shopping on State St and had dinner at Ed Debeviks. I took her to Navy Pier.

Then, we went to this Female Impersonator show which was hilarious. Yolanda and Lilly had told me about this place.     There were alot of bachelorette parties going on here.    One of the guys dressed up as Cher. Joy and I laughed so hard.  

May 15, 1999: Dave Mathews Concert

I went back to Michigan to visit with friends and family. Sue Arnouts and I went to the Palace near Detroit to see the Dave Mathews concert.    He performed a great show.   

May 8, 1999: Dawn Mehrens

I met Dawn Mehrens at one of the Information Resources parties several months ago.  We were in line for food and just started talking.  I asked her what office she was in and she had said she was living in Muskegon and working on-site at Gerber Baby Factory.    I remember I was shocked that someone from Chicago was living in my hometown of Muskegon. Ever since then, we were friends.    

Anyway, today, I went over to Dawn Mehrens house in Countryside which is near the city of La Grange.  She made us delicious burritos.

May 5, 1999: Jerry Springer Show

Lilly Martinez, Joe Idstein, and I took a half day off of work to go to the Jerry Springer Show.    We got front row seats in the studio.     The whole show was about secrets.     The first part involved a black lady who dated this guy for 3 years and then he screwed her sister so the two sisters got in a fight on the stage.  The body guard had to break them up.   One of the ladies lost her wig on stage.   The second story was about this guy who dressed as a woman. The other lover, whom we thought was a guy, came out on the stage dressed as a drag.    The drag and this wimpy guy fought and broke down the door onstage.    Joe, Lilly, and I were dying of laughter.   The third story involved this skinny black guy who thought he was all that.  This fat Hispanic chick came on stage and told about how she paid him $1200 a month to have sex with her.    His girlfriend was on stage and not too happy.   The stories were hilarious.

After the taping of the show, we were able to have our picture taken with Jerry Springer.    We had lunch at McDonalds and headed back to work. Joe was telling everyone at work about the Jerry Springer show.

May 4, 1999: Food Marketing Institute Conference

I went to the Food Marketing Institute Conference at the McCormick Place. Bryan Kerr rode the cab with me to the conference.    I tried some habanero sauce on my pizza sample. I put too much on it.   My mouth was burning.  Bryan was laughing so hard.   I tried everything to get the pain to go away.    I got my picture taken in a leather jacket riding a Harley Davidson.    I ran into Ebony Daniels at the conference. It was such a nice surprise.   We had gone on the Food Marketing Industry Survey tour in college and I hadn't seen her since then.