Kris T Parker's Open Salon Blog

New Favorite Things (Alysa's Open Call)

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 23:02:59 -0500

The current things that put a smile on my face are:

The mile-high chocolate cake at Claim Jumper.

This thing is HU MON GUS. Six of us split it between us and vibrated on the chocolate content, yum.

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Mardi Gras and their live web cam feeds of the parades and party going.

You can feel like you're there, especially if you have a Hurrican drink in hand.

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Finding green under Chicago's melting snow. Believe me, that was a lot of snow to melt. Fortunately, it melted slowly so we didn't have to deal with floods.

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Signing up new locations for my book events. The next one is March 6th.

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A new Aldi that opened within walking distance of my house.

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Let's not forget the entertaining mayorial quotes we'll soon be getting once Rahm officially takes the reigns in Chicago!

The book events went well

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:01:54 -0500

I had two book events last week and I have to tell you that I'm enjoying this reinvention of myself. I'm on an exciting new path leading me ... somewhere.

The 1/20 event was in a near suburb of Chicago (Wood Dale, IL). The very first person to walk in to room had a huge surprise for me. In fact, she was the surprise! She grew up across the street from me and I haven't seen her since I was 17. How amazing is that? She saw my name posted in her library's newsletter and thought there can't be that many people with a name like that. She was right. I seem to be the only one on the planet with my name (an Irish first name and an Italian last name).

How wonderful to open a door that's been closed for so long. We have plans to meet up with our old black and white photographs and memories. If that wasn't interesting enough, she lives two houses away from a friend that I met because I worked with her son. Ah, the interesting ties that we make and rediscover.

The second event was on 1/22. Noisy Nora showed up with her camera to record the event. I also made a connection there that may get me interviewed on a cable access program. I seem to be having a lot of serendipitous meetings lately.

I'm sure there are more adventures to come.

Invitation to my reading on 1/22

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:01:50 -0500

If you're on the northwest side of Chicago this Saturday at Noon you're welcome to hear me reading some funny stories about working, not working, dogs and my urban childhood.

You've had a taste of my stories about work since that's how this blog got started. I've experimented here with some of the urban childhood stories, including the story of when the astronauts came to town when I was in grammar school. That story made it into the book.

The book is "My Humor's Working (Even if I'm Not) (follow the link to Amazon)." The reading will take place at noon on January 22, 2011 at:

Mather's more than a cafe

7134 West Higgins

Chicago, IL 60656

773.774.4804

Let me know if you can make it. It would be wonderful to get an OS group together.

Noreen

Zombies on Harlem Avenue

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 23:01:21 -0500

Mrs. G asked me to drive her to K-Mart for a couple of lamps. I agreed to drive her and I got her back home four hours later. Mrs. G is in her 80s and has eight toes so she moves pretty slowly, although the shopping cart helps.

"Leave the cane in the car," she tells me when I pull up to the K-Mart entrance. "Hop out of the car and grab the cart from that woman. I'll just lean on that 'til you go park the car."

It was 11am on a week day. There weren't many cars in the lot so I thought it would be a short excursion, silly me.

Mrs. G wanted to get dog food "It's on sale for $9.99. It's regularly $15. Oh, and the lamps. I need two lamps for the living room."

She picked up the lamps "Oh look, these are just $11." I caught the lamp in mid air as she tossed it into the cart. "Here, let me get the second one for you," I offered before he had a chance to break that one with a careless toss into the cart.

She moved the cart at a snail's pace and stopped to look at every shiny object. I grew restless and offered to find out where the pet food was located. I walked nearly every square foot of the store before finding a single employee on the floor, or the pet-food area. He told me which section held the dog food so I walked there thinking Mrs. G might have found it already. She hadn't.

I went back to the area where I left her. She wasn't there. I started a quick-paced walk like when a mother loses a child in a store. That pace wasn't necessary so I slowed down. I strolled from section to section.

It was getting warm in the place, so I took off my winter cap and jammed it into my pocket. I unzipped my jacket as I looked up aisles in search of a gray-haired person dressed in black slowly pushing a shopping cart. There were dozens of them, all with the same zombie pace, slowly going nowhere just happy to get out of the house.

Then it dawned on me. She just wanted to get out of the house. I stood or strolled around the dog food aisle. Eventually, she showed up.

"I have a coupon for a free meal at IHOP if we buy one meal. Then we can go to Butara for a few groceries." I got her back home at 3pm.

When I got home she said that her lamp shades don't fit those lamps. "Let's go back next week. I'll get another coupon for our lunch."

I can see this turning into a weekly event. I wonder why the other zombies didn't have any drivers with them? Maybe there's a driver's meet up going on somewhere.

Create your own reality

Mon, 3 Jan 2011 11:01:42 -0500

Two people go through the same experience and come away either amused or despondent. Which one are you?