Best Quote I Heard All Day
New York... when civilization falls apart, remember, we were way ahead of you.--David Letterman

Chicago was great...I could live there...or Philadelphia.

Warning: Snotty Knitting Shop In Chi
So while Achim was working the Philips Med Systems area at the Radiological Society of N. America show, I went traipsing all over Chicago. What fun! And one night, when we were walking over to an Irish pub we really liked, I spotted...Tender Buttons! Yes, a branch of the famous Tender Buttons in NYC. Of course, I was there the next day. Lovely shop and superlative vintage buttons...and a very nice woman who pointed me towards a yarn shop around the corner on Oak St.

Now, I'm not one of your knitters who MUST go yarn shopping when I am out of town. Frankly, I have better things to do. And it's been my experience that it's unlikely that I will find anything I haven't already seen. Better bets are farmers' markets for handspun stuff. But what the hell, I went over to this shop, We Keep You In Stitches.

Not much to laugh about there. It's a 4th floor atelier and I guess I didn't make much of an impression on the two aging babes who were minding the till. Because I stood there for 5 minutes looking at last summer's issue of Rebecca and gazing at the woeful selection of Anny Blatt yarn without either of them even flapping their eyelids at me. So fuck it, I said to myself and opened the door to leave. "Can we help you?" one of the gargoyles asked.

"Too late," said I and down the stairs I went. If you're in Chicago, don't bother with this place.

Non-knit Poll
(Loopy is sick of this, I'm sure, but I have to ask absolutely everyone, so bear with this story and then give me your dollah-three-eighty.)

Over some Guinness Wednesday night, Achim held my hand and said, "When I come back from Australia in 5 weeks, you will put on a nice dress and I will put on my suit, and we will go shopping."

"Why the dress? Why the suit?" I didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about.
"Because that is the custom in Germany," he says with a shit-eating grin on his face.
"What are we going to buy?" I couldn't even imagine, especially with yours truly in a dress and Mr. Jeans Guy in a suit.
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Sure." Now I was really curious.
"Good. So can I. So shut up and don't ask me because it's a surprise and I'm not telling you."

And he won't. Despite my pestering him. What do you all think we're going shopping for? I have my thoughts but I'd love to hear yours.

Could it be handy? How rare!