Last post -- We're back where we started!

We started our time in Chicago last year watching our friends Judy and Nicole race in a triathlon, and this year we came full circle and returned to that race and Susan even participated in it. Our friends Nicole and David came to support her through the race. Here's some pictures of from the event. What a great year! We hope the blog gave you a sense of what it was like for us, but we know there's no way we could have totally captured how great it really was! Thanks everyone!

Reduced Recipes: 4-13

4: Meat (Lamb) with whole spices. Excellent flavor, but high on the fat content. Out of An Invitation to Indian Cooking.

5: Uncle Sherman's Homestyle Chicken and Vegtables. From The Breath of a Wok. Servicable stir-fry.

6: Shiro wot. One of the real finds of the year. An Ethiopian peanut stew. From A Taste of Africa. Note: we were not able to make the flatbread that went with this, but found that pita works just as well.

7: Crispy edged roasted brussel sprouts. These go great with salmon. From The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without.

8: Cold Gingered Asparagus Salad. We brought this to Preaster and it was a big hit. Also from The Vegtable Dishes I can't Live Without.

9. Pasta with Chickpeas. Really really really good. Tastes decadent but is actually good for you. From The Mooosewood Low Fat Cookbook.

10. Chicken and Chickpea Tajine with Vanilla. This is soooo good -- From Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World. This one really is.

11. Cassoulet. Kind of a bean casserole with fake meat in it. Pretty good. From the Moosewood Low Fat Cookbook.

12. Shrimp Waldorf Salad. This is so good -- tastes like an appetizer in a high end restaurant.

From Cooking Light magazine.

13. Bean and Chick Pea Stew. Pretty good. From Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa.

Reduced CDs 32-40

REDUCED CDs:

32: Passionworks disk given to us by our friend Miriam that pairs developmentally disabled folks with Athens musicians resulting in some great songs.

33: Miriam's mixed cd. Just like a mixed tape, but a cd, given to us by our friend and loyal blog reader Miriam upon hearing the great news that Susan no longer has cancer. Happy go lucky songs from various eras. Thanks Miriam!

34: Marshall Crenshaw's latest. This became a must buy after we saw him recently at Schubas.

35: Congress of Starlings. Having enjoyed seeing these girls play out several times this year, we'll need to bring them home to Athens with us in CD form.

36: Jack Johnson -- Give his new song "Hope" a listen.

37: Coldplay -- still the number one selling cd in the country, you have to give them a lot of credit for taking a chance on an innovative marketing strategy for the age of the internet.

38: The Duke Spirit: check out "The Step and the Walk" for a kind of Amy Winehouse-ish vibe.

39: Duffy: Her song "Mercy" is another great Amy Winehouse knock-off.

40: G. Love and Special Sauce: "Peace, Love and Happiness" -- Can't get enough of this stuff, especially as we slouch towards the end of the Bush Administration. (See picture above.)

Reduced Blog: Movies 29-40

Time is running out! The reduced blog is becoming shorter and shorter! Reduced movies are:

29: Enchanted. Kate gives it a thumbs up.

30: Smart People. Maybe the dumbest movie we saw this year. No chemistry between Sarah Jessica Parker and Dennis Quaid, but is that surprising?

31: And Then She Found Me. Awful, humorless adaption of Elinor Lipman's wonderful book.

32: Wall - E. Touted as a masterpiece by stuffy NYT reviewer.

33: Wanted. Anglina Jolie at her adventure movie best. Said to harken back to Pulp Fiction by stuffy New Yorker reviewer.

34-37: LAFS (Lesbian Association of FilmS) classic viewings: My Life as a Dog; Racing with the Moon, Fast Times at Ridgmont High, Say Anything.

38: Iron Jawed Angels. Made for HBO rendition of the movement for women's right to vote.

39: Dick. Is there a better version of Watergate than this satirical take starring Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Phillips before they were famous? The second viewing of this 1999 film did not disappoint.

40: Girls Rock. A documentary about summer girls rock camps. Girls really do rock.

Reduced Blog: Places 37-40

37: Lake shore bike path: There is no better place for a long bike ride than the path that faces downtown from beautiful north and south facing vantage points.

38: Schubas -- this neighborhood bar brings in both local and national talent. Marshall Crenshaw played a great set the night we were there.

39: The Spot: The queer prom and feminist burlesque show at this bar near Broadway and Wilson was a great way to start the Pride celebrations

40: Pride parade viewed from atop a float. A great way to see a fabulous see of humanity -- a nearly 500,000 people attended this year.

Performances 21-40

This reduced list of performances includes some we have seen, and some we will see later on in the summer:

21-30-- Cubs at Wrigley field. Susan has already seen 5 games, and Kate has seen 3. We expect to see at least 4 more before the end of the year (not counting the playoffs -- did I mention the Cubs are in first place :)

31: k.d. lang in Montreal. When we visited Montreal last month we were able to see k.d. lang in a small venue of about 300 people and she was fabulous! Her show stopping version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" received a spontaneous, mid-show standing ovation.

32: The Flesh Hungry Dog Show at the Jackhammer Tavern featuring Congress of Starlings. These girls are my teachers at the Old Town School. Their live show at this gay bar on the North edge of the city did not disappoint!

33: Marshall Crenshaw at Shubas: This bar is a couple of blocks away from where we live. I can't believe the great Marshall Crenshaw will be playing there next week!

34: GirlieQ live: Almost Paradise: A Very Queer Prom -- Part of the Pride Week celebrations here in Chicago, this performance features great music played over a feminist burlesque show.

35: Patricia Barber Quintet: She plays every Monday at the Green Mill, the oldest jazz club in the country, maybe in the world, located right here in the uptown neighborhood of Chicago.

36. Classical Concert in Millenium Park -- they'll be playing Mendelssohn's violin concerto amongst other pieces, out in the park behind the famous bean. Can't wait!

37. The Neo-Futurists -- this comedy improv group is located in the Andersonville neighborhood, where the girls live, above a funeral home of all places!

38. Avenue Q. A musical with puppets and queer themes? Welcome to the Broadway in Chicago series. We saw this play in early May and we're still singing the songs.

39. Hoping to get one more performance of the women's acoustic group in before we go, with my friends at the Old Town School.

40. Pride Parade -- This is pretty much where we started our time in Chicago last year, so it seems fitting to end here also, even if it isn't the linear end of the performances we've seen this year (lots of flesh involved as you can see in the image above).

Experiences 37-40

Continuing on with the reduced approach to the blog, this time on the category of experiences:

37: Playing in the Women's Tournament of the World Series of Poker: Ok, I got thumped, but it was a fantastic experience and an enormous amount of fun!

38: Ranked in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. While I was not ranked super high, it was fun to have the experience of playing in Will Shortz's backyard, if only for a short time.

39: 1,000 miles in a weekend. We just got back from a car trip from Chicago to Cleveland to Athens. Great to see everyone and to celebrate Kate's birthday with our Athens friends.

40: Saving the best for last: NO MORE CANCER! We just found out yesterday that I am cancer free! It kind of feels like I have been holding my breath all year and can finally exhale! Yahoo!!

[41: Racing in my first triathlon in July -- see picture above]

[42: Cubs win the world series in October -- they're 20 games above 500 right now!]