I’ve Got 7 Problems; but Teaching Ain’t One

I have now been an official, full time Teacher for more than a week and let me tell you… joining the 9-5 crowd has had its mini revelations.

Here I will give you a list of why being a waitress is pretty awesome and how this has smacked me in the face.

1. Waking up at 6:15 am

Yes, I set my alarm for six fifteen. Waking up at 6 am makes me want to vomit. The extra quarter of an hour makes me feel less like my mother. Of course I can’t actually wrench myself out of my bed that early. I have a second alarm at 6:30. 

2. The sun

In waitress world, you see the sun. When you wake up you know right away what type of weather you are going to face. I used to slowly and luxuriously saunter out of bed around 9 (cough10) and make my way to my large living room window, opening the drapes to let in the sun before turning on Q with Jian Gomeshi. Needless to say, in my new life, I no longer have the luxury of weather reports. At 7 am, when I’m ready to hit the road I have no idea if the sun will show its face on that day. Jian isn’t even up! (Okay, he might be… but I sure haven’t heard from him in a while). I know, I could turn on the radio… but that early in the morning, radio and noise is the last thing I want. (The sun does get up at some point during the year before seven, right?)

3. Pay

I have been working (as mentioned) for eight days now at a high school. I have not waitressed in six days, therefore I have not been paid in six days. Do you know what that feels like? (Servers are saying, hell yes, fool! and non-servers aka the common folk, are saying huh?). As a waitress you get paid every day you work. You work, you get money. You work, you have cash. Sweet, sweet cash. Sure some servers deposit their funds in their bank right away, but either way we all get cash money at the end of a shift. 

Now I have to join the common people in using debit and ATMs. Ugh. Taking money out of a public machine with people standing behind your back; not very comforting. I also have to wait to get paid until my boss decides I’ve waited long enough… and then the governments like “Oh wait, yah, that, I need some of that… back. Now. Thanks.” Except they don’t say thank you. They just say that i’ll have to retire at 70. A-holes. 

4. There is nothing to do in the evening but eat

Free mornings and afternoons are pretty much the best thing ever. Running in the sun, through the park? Awesome. Running at night through the park? Rape. Yoga classes at 10 am? Namaste. Yoga class at 7 pm….who do these people think they’re kidding? Doing laundry on a Wednesday at 1pm? Any machine is yours and you can go home while they clean/dry. Doing laundry on a Saturday morning. Good luck. And watch out for the guy that steals panties. Grocery shopping during the weekdays? First pick at sale items. Grocery shopping with the common folk? Screaming toddlers, sold out sale items and crazy line ups. Rush hour? Non-existent between 10 and 4. Rush hour for me now? Do subway sweats mean anything to you? Ew. Lastly, any official business you want to get done is between 8 and 4 (ie. doctors office, dentist, anything government related).

5. Schedules

There are no surprises now. Do i work on Monday? Yup. Do I work on…Tuesday?! Yup. Wednesday? Yup! Thursday and Friday? Yup, yup. And the week after? Same….And the week after that? Same! 

Whoa, bummer.

When I was serving, surprises all around! Weekends were exciting if you had them off! You made plans for your days off because they were exciting days that you had off! Plus, you had just made $200 cash money the day before, so you can do anything!!

6. Work is work

Not so true anymore. When I was serving I would clock in and clock out. Fini! Now I get paid what they want to pay me, regardless if I have more work to do or not. 

7. Clothing

This one is minor, but on this Friday morning I just wanted to stay in my pajamas. I could do this when I was a server. Mind you, I didn’t go out til I had to go to work; but for work I didn’t have to think about my outfit.  just put on the standard black pants and white blouse, apron provided at work. Now I have to do all this thinking at 6:30 in the morning. What pants should I wear? Should I wear a skirt? Do I have clean socks? What shoes match this shirt? etc etc. 

Now don’t get me wrong. I am really happy that I got a teaching job. These days in Toronto, teaching jobs are few and far in between. It’s great to start on my career path and spend time with my loved ones in the evenings. The prospect of taking a weekend to go visit some friends in Stratford or my grandparents in North Bay is also incredible. I just wanted to point out that the transition is a difficult one (yeah, yeah, first world problems… i know).

 

Eggs

My friend Susannah Harris recently started a blog about her love of eggs.  I love eggs too.  Not only for their gooey, sunshiny middles, but for their easy to cook and eat nutritional sphere like deliciousness.  (Did that sentence make sense?)  I’ll let Susannah go on about the greatness of eggs here for now: http://sashayoubitch.blogspot.com/

I, unfortunately, am teaching a grade 12 class called Food and Nutrition.  Since this is not part of my teachable, I’ve had to do a lot of research for every lesson.  Luckily for me, the unit that I had to teach was on vegetarianism.  Even though I am aware of the evils of the food industry and the abuse of animals, I still did extra research to make sure I was giving my students facts not just rants.

This research has led me to question my own morals and values.  I call myself a vegetarian, but enjoy a delicious Egg Marlow Muffin on various mornings.  Furthermore, I have difficulty saying no to sushi.  It is much easier to avoid a food when you don’t like it in the first place; like all meats for me, I’ve never been a fan.  As a child, cereal, spaghetti and peanut butter sandwiches were my staples.  Sushi and eggs, though?  LOVE ‘EM!  Sadly, I don’t love antibiotics being in my food.  I also don’t love fish farms, or that we’ve taken from the ocean more than 90% of the big fish and that more than half of the coral reefs have disappeared.  But I do love delicious Sake Sashimi.

Through my additional research for my grade 12 class I have decided that I have to point the finger at myself more.  How can I expect the world to change when I agree to sushi dinners with friends, without knowing if the fish has been approved by sustainable fisheries organizations?

Anyways that being said, for the last few weeks I’ve decided to drop eggs and fish (again).  Do you know how hard it is to stop eating eggs!!!???  So hard!  I constantly forget that you need eggs to make cookies, scones and all other amazingly delicious snacks. In the past I have bought free range eggs or organic eggs.  Until I discovered that there is no legal definition to free range, and that even antibiotic free chickens have antibiotics in them.  Yum.  Not.

Anyways, why not dairy you ask?  I’m working on it.  One step at a time.

Also…

I’m thinking of buying these

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302700471&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442623151

based on this:

http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_mcdougall_are_we_born_to_run.html

and not based on this:

Style.

http://www.manrepeller.com/

What did people do before the internet?

SO. MUCH.

(especially their ten page essays due on Tuesday…)

What’s new pussycat?

I’m so sick of that question.  Mostly because I’m embarrassed about the answer.  Old Lindzy used to be able to talk about newly discovered countries (by her… as a traveler, not an explorer, sorry World, everywhere I went was already on the map), foods, languages, discoveries, art and random adventures (usually something that includes me falling and hurting myself).

Now, (boring old Lindzy) has nothin’.

This is what I do.  I go to school (York University) three days a week.  I go all day and it takes me an hour to get there and an hour to get back.  There goes about nine hours of beautiful sunlight right down the toilet.  As you can imagine, my once beautiful bright skin is now flaking and getting more and more pale.  If summer doesn’t get here soon, veins are going going to start to show.

Two other days of the week I am at my (wonderful) placement at a high school in Unionville.  A full school day plus about three hours of commuting equals to ten hours a day also flushed down the toilet.  Furthermore, on the boring scale is my part time job as a (sigh) waitress.  That requires two evenings a week and yet again, more flushing of this time whirling toilet.

What does that get you (and me)?  A very sleepy, very motion sick, very shitty waitress.  I was telling Chris (my very patient and very understanding boyfriend who most likely wishes I wasn’t flushing time down the toilet, but spending it with him) about the other night at work, where I told off a customer.

“…so then I said: You realize your service was slow because there were 30 of you, right?  ’Yes’ the guests said.  And you also realize that service was slow because I’m the only waitress and you guys made this reservation that I have no say in about three hours ago, right?”  I go on a little bit longer telling the guests facts about their decision to have a girls basketball team and all of their parents dining at the restaurant I work in.

Chris: “You are a terrible and weird waitress.”

Yes, this is also a fact.

I’ve just simply reached my end of taking shit from customers!  I can fake the “customers always right” rule for about ten years.  Guess what.  That ten years is up, baby.  Another example would include my very sarcastic remarks to guest.

Guest:”Is this the restaurant?”

Me: “Nope, we just put a lot of tables, chairs, cutlery and menus in this location for decoration… nothing to do with a restaurant.”  They didn’t get seated in my section.

So, on top of that, I also have to sleep, exercise and do lots of homework and lesson planning.  Exercise, to say the least, is just coming in last in that list of things I have to do.  I’m insanely jealous every time I see someone jogging down the street.  I cheer them on, to make myself feel better.

“Lookin’ good, champ!”

Note: runners are usually listening to music on mp3 players.  Therefore I am just yelling random things out on the street.

So, what’s new?  Nothing!!!  I have to continue this untill my last day of school, which is April 29th.  Then I’ll be doing new stuff ALL OVER THE PLACE!  It’s gonna be a disaster!

Actually, just for some typical Lindzy news, and to offer something new and exciting for my readers, I did in fact fall down the stairs the other day!  Oh yes, what a way to start a Thursday!  I spotted the street car from my hallway, through my living room window and decided that I could make it (I live on the second floor)!  Did not even make it past the first step before falling knees first, catching my arm in the railing, tearing up my shins down to my feet and letting out a big fat wail.

So not only do I wish I was running, now I really can’t go running because I twisted my left ankle in the process.

Lastly, I do find time for books.  :D.  Yay books!  I’ve just finished a few really good ones that I would definitely suggest to all.  Not Allowed on the Voyage by Timothy Findley.  Absolutely a brilliantly creative work!  A few months back I read Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh, which was breathtaking!  Currently I am reading A Brave New World (I know, I know, but I didn’t read it in high school!), about to start Hunger Games (by Suzanne Collins–for my book club) and itching to read another Great!

….i bet this post was even boring…. Sorry!

 

 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it’s 2011

Aaaaaaaaaah!

Can you smell that?!

That! is a new year, my friend.

2011, and we are IN the future, fo’ real.

Welcome, welcome,welcome.  I, personally, am clearly excited for a new year.  Twenty-ten was getting so old, ya know?  It felt three hundred and sixty five days of …. of…

K, I’ve got nothing, actually.  I love life, I love 2010, and I love every moment, good or bad.

The reason that I  love everything, is that you learn from everything!  Woo!  Learning!  (And, teacher of the year goes too…. ;D )

So on that note: THINGS I LEARNED IN 2010!!!!

1. At the ripe old age of 26, I have learned that it is best to follow your own wonderful path, without too much concern for others.  I know, that sounds cold.  My intention was not to sound frigid, but to show that at this age (or any age!) it’s definitely time to stop following the cool kids and it’s about time to start really knowing who you are and what you want out of life, so that when it’s all said and done, you can say, Yup!  That looks ’bout right!  I feel as though my twenties was a time for self discovery, and though I’m not perfect, I feel like I’ve got the hang of this “Lindzy” I’m dealing with.
2. Say what you mean, and mean what you say.  Right??  Not only for myself, but for others.  When someone says something, they prrrrooobably mean it.  ”I don’t want to come out tonight”, means, They don’t want to go out tonight.  ”I don’t want to be exclusive” means they don’t want to be exclusive.  ”I don’t care about Valentine’s day”… well actually, that one is still a Big Fat Lie (and not just for girls, ’cause Iactually don’t care about the Vee-day).
3. Do things for Yourself.  Seriously, be honest with yourself.  If I don’t want to spend the night drinking overpriced martinis at a lame bar, then I shouldn’t go, and I shouldn’t feel bad about it.  (Yes, 2010 was the year I learned I had to get over my ‘Catholic guilt’).
4. Pick up the phone, and instead of texting, DIAL.  Your friends will really appreciate it.
5. It’s okay to have “your own life”  (which actually means, it’s okay to have other interests and goals than those of your friends).
6. Budget your god damned money (working on it).
7. SLEEP!
8. Buy local.
9. Buy vintage.  That newest look will be out in about five days.
10. Don’t be mean.  (I’m sorry if I still act like a mean girl sometimes.  Kind of.  I mean, I’m sorry… sometimes.  Fack!)
11. “Put your stuff away when you’re done with it!  Then your room won’t get so messy!”  That is a direct quote from my mother, as well as something I believe I perfected this year.  Need proof?  Come see my lovely apartment.
12. How to be a great teacher (probably going to be an ongoing process).
13. Cherish the ones you love, and get rid of the ones that don’t love you.  They aren’t worth it.
14. There were probably other lessons I learned this year, but I just can’t remember.  Which brings me to my final lesson.  Write more.  I have a new 2011 Journal for all of my scribbling needs (and to document when I’ve learned something).

Alright 2011, let’s start learning.

 

The Most Ridiculously Wonderful Airport

It’s Saturday December 18th, 2010, what is meant to be the busiest traveling day of of the year… or so the pilots that stay at the hotel I work for told me… I am already stressed out enough when it comes to catching flights, that this information gave new heights to my anxiety levels.

I am going to Philadelphia to visit my lovely Leah (my old co worker from Japan) for 5 days of hugs and catching up.  Leah currently lives in Berlin…. Philly was a much cheaper/shorter flight.

I decided to fly with Porter, mostly because I knew it was much closer than Pearson to downtown Toronto and there was a flight arriving to Newark at the same time as Leah’s flight would arrive from Berlin.

Chris came with me this morning, only to make snide remarks the entire time regarding the “ludicrousness” of the airport.  First of all, the airport is on Toronto Island, requiring passengers to take a ferry to and from the mainland.  The ferry is about a two minute ride, because the island is about 100 feet from the mainland.  Chris, oh so casually, asked the porter attendant if their was a bridge in the future for Porter.

“No, but they’re building an under water passenger tunnel.”

Oh good, they’re taking the easy route….

So after our two minute ferry ride, you follow a long path leading to the check in and baggage check.  By the way, for any of you flying to the US, be sure to spell your FULL middle name when buying the ticket.  The initial is not enough and it takes about 20 minutes to fix that.  Sorry about that lady that had to press the control + enter key about 78 times.  Apparently looking identical to the picture, having first and last name correct and the middle initial being the same as the first letter of the middle name, isn’t enough.

So anyways, Chris and I were planning on having breakfast in the airport… except, there was no food.  Nothing; just check in and security gates.  Unfortunately, after the long wait and ferry ride, Chris just had to turn back around and go find some food on the mainland.

Certainly there would be something to eat in the lounge!

I get down to the lounge, and it’s like heaven.  Light grey walls with darker grey furniture, nice lighting, comfy couches and seats, a business center with Mac computers (which I am on right now), free newspapers, free coffee, tea, espresso, juices, pops, water, cookies, nuts, biscotti, free, free FREE!!!  And don’t you think for a second they went cheap, I am munching on some Blue Diamond Roasted Almonds people.  After this blog, I’m going to go help myself to some Tazo tea and probably eat more cookies.  I might suggest they get some hard boiled eggs.

It’s super small, insanely ridiculous to get to, but oh so cute!  I bet cartoon characters serve you on the plane.

I am Bored

Teacher’s college, as it turns out, is 50% bullshit.  Lots of useless chatter by the same people, reflection, and boring group work.  The other 50% is useFUL…it’s not all bad.

Anyways, I’ve been looking through old pictures and just thought I’d post one I really like.

 

Beijing, China

 

 

And this guy.  He reminds me of the thanksgiving that just passed, where Chris insisted on watching the movie, Babe.  Lalalaaa.

 

Lil' Pig!

Lastly, this lovely picture of my beautiful friend Natalie:

 

Natalie and Fairy Floss

Alright, group work time…

xx

Teacha! Teacha!

Today was my very first day, at my very first North American School!  I pulled out the old teachers blazer, put on some shoes that click when I walk (and would hopefully echo down the hall, driving fear into the hearts of Auroras high school students) and… missed my GO bus to that godforsaken town.

Yep, true story.  LUCKILY, I planned for such failure!

I got on the next bus that heads north against the commuter grain and texted one of my “colleagues” (as we are advised to start referring to them, as we are no longer students, but TEACHER CANDIDATES) asking him if on his way to the school, would he mind picking up dear old me?  (*-*).

I missed the first bus, but it was a super early bus that would have gotten me to my York Teacher placement in Aurora with plenty of time to walk to the school, find the closest coffee shop and arrive keenly early.  Instead I arrived right on time and ready to go.  Thanks new friend with a red jeep .

So, it’s my BIG first day!  Time to meet some of my first students and get to know the kids that I will soon be bribing to shape up for my evaluations so that I look really good in front of the York staff.

Unfortunately it’s also Rosh Hashana… not that there is anything wrong with that!!!  Just that my mentor is Jewish and therefore, absent.  Babong.  There goes my first day!  At least my fears of being placed with the substitute teacher were eased when the secretary told me to go see the Social Studies Department Head.  Ms. Stinson was awesome.  She new her stuff, taught cool classes, and was super chill.  Since she was the dept. head she new a lot about the program and was obviously super experienced to get such a great position.

I was sincerely shocked with high school “these days”.  First of all, when my mentor told me she teaches Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology, i thought she was both Jewish and crazy.  They don’t teach that in high school!  I didn’t even know what Anthro meant in high school!

Sure enough, Ms. Stinson confirmed, that that’s the class I’ll be helping Ms. Gordner with!  She also teaches a Grade nine sociology class.  What?!  I didn’t get to take a soc class till OAC.  Not only do they now have all kinds of humanities classes they also have cooking classes, nutrition, law, politics, cosmotology!  Everything!

Furthermore, everything is online.. and because it’s online, the teacher can tell whether you went online and tried to do your homework or not!  Wha’?!  Oh, BTW, Aurora=very white and very rich.  AND apparently I’m at a “rough” school for Aurora.  In my books, “rough” kids don’t carry coach purses and wear TNA clothes to school.  I didn’t even HAVE a purse in high school!  I had a BACKPACK, and it was probably on sale, and i used it for all five years of high school.  Yah, when high school was FIVE years. The teacher said it was good that the course syllabus and homework was online now, because it decreased the chance for kids to blame their lost school work on their housekeepers…… riiiiight…. I also didn’t have the internet in high school.  I’m not sure what my computer did…

I also noticed a huge shift in what names are popular.  Remember when there was like 3 Lindsays, 4 Jennifers, 10 Saras and about 30 Nicoles?  Names that came up more than once (which are just street names or great uncles names to me…) were Sydney, Mackenzie, Fallon and Carmen.  Not one Nicole.  (There was one Lindsay though, and I wanted to high five her for having such a sweeeeet name ).

All in all I really enjoyed my time at my school on the first day.  I even got a little nostalgic… the lockers, the awkward couples, the kids smoking on the corner, almost falling asleep in second period (hey! it was 11 am, I’d been up since 4:45 am and I hadn’t had a single drop of coffee all day).  I wanted to give some kid 5 bucks to go run and get me a coffee from the cafeteria… but then i realized I wasn’t in Asia anymore, but North America, where that probably falls under abuse, or cause for a lawsuit or something.

Anyways, here again, begin the adventures of Super Lindzy Sensei!!!!  Stay tuned for next week when I actually meet my mentor.

on a side note, i have nothing against Jews… just supply teachers…

Wicker Park and Bucktown Hangouts

Guys, Chicago is HOT.  I’m serious.  I’m not sure of the exact temperature, because I can’t convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, but it is mother effin hot (it’s 88 f, but with humidity feels like 102 f, wtf?!).  I walked around Wicker Park and Bucktown all day today and after about five hours I was starting to hallucinate I’m sure… the only thing I could see was a restaurant with its garage doors open and their taps for beer glistening beautifully in the sun.  Yellow chairs and tables covered their patio, but i headed inside for a spot at the bar.

I got the local beer, which tasted like summer, something from Goose Island.  Too hot to care, cold enough to swallow.  I was then convinced to get a taco from their menu ($3 !  I thought, wow!  Cheap!), and of course, for the first time ever, it was the smallest thing I have ever seen.  Fair enough, it was just $3.  So I asked for some $3 chips and salsa.  What do i get?  A HUGE bowl of chips with all you can eat salsa…. cammaaaaaan Chicago!

Well, sixth day in and my observation holds true, still some of the nicest people i’ve ever met.  The guy at the bar made me this weird mexican drink which is crushed ice, crushed lime, whole bunch of think hot sauce and a mexican beer called Tekita, i believe.  So good, try one today.

I told him it reminded me of a Ceasar, and he said:

“The salad?”

THANK YOU CHICAGOOOO!!!!!

Music: Is dedicated to Arcade Fire for being the best band at Lollapalooza, 2010 and for releasing yet again, an amazing record.

This blog goes on record for being the longest time since posting last.

I am a failure of a blogger .

Not really though… there just hasn’t been anything as exciting (since my awesome birthday) as LOLLAPALOOZA WEEKEND IN CHICAGO, IL, 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WOOOO!!!!

I was pretty much in Caps lock the whole weekend.  Every day of the 3 day festival began with a major amazing band and dance party: Raphael Saadiq on Friday, the Stars on Saturday and Minus the Bear on Sunday.   Other highlights that blew my mind: Matt and Kim, Metric, Grizzly Bear, The xx, Chromeo, Erikah Badu, Cypress Hill and of course, Arcade Fire.

Cypress Hill did not disappoint.  I hope there are videos on youtube right now, cause it was hilarious.  Biggest bong I have ever seen.  Phoenix’s set was most surprising, so entertaining and fun, with (other than Arcade Fire) the best finale.  The Strokes were great as well… very good at performing their albums wasted.  Metric was also surprisingly amazing… that Emily Haines… what a babe.  Speaking of babes, how hot is David Macklovitch of Chromeo?  Holy moly, I would be a needy girl too!  Best job by moi: making Katt, Alyssa and Dave watch Raphael Saadiq (still talking about babes here) and have them all fall in love with him and his music.

Also…. arcadefirearcadefirearcadefirearcadefirearcadefirearcadefirearcadefirearcadefirearcadefirearcadefirearcadefire

The festival itself was very representative of Chicago: AWESOME.  There was free water everywhere so that you could easily refill your reusable water bottle (the water fountains/pumps they were using were from Canada!).  They also had a recycling program and offered a free t-shirt if you collected a bag of empty cans.  Which I did.  And yes, my free t-shirt is rad.

The festival was great because of the people involved, the guards and the police were both super chill and easy going.  It was super easy to sneak alcohol in and the guards didn’t mind outside food or closed drinks either.  I thought it was great that I didn’t have to buy super expensive shitty festival food and overpriced beers.  Except that the food wasn’t shitty, it was delicious, and it wasn’t even that expensive!  The beer did kind of suck though… Budweiser definitely scored that contract, yuk.

The waterfront park where the festival was held is beautiful with a fabulous view of the skyline and a decent size to make it easy to cross from the north to the south to catch bands.

Lolla was the best.

And now I’m in Chicago, couch surfing with a lovely Detroit native in an amazing apartment with a view of the waterfront.  A waterfront that is perfect for running and for biking to downtown.  And that’s what people do: they bike and run like crazy.  Chicagoans (at least the ones i see) are so fit!  Mind you, I’m pretty sure there’s a pretty big divide between the rich and the poor… and I’m pretty sure I’m in a pretty privileged area.  I’m in the North end, and yes, I ought to stay out of the south side.

Chicago is awesome.  I hung out in Millennium park today (beaaautiful!!!!) and took pictures of the Bean, the waterfountains and kids hanging out on benches.  I went to the Art Institute today and was astonished by their expansive collection and then went on an equally spectacular Architecture boat tour down the canal.

Ah, the US of A.  So close, yet so far.  Things that surprised me (especially since we are only ten hours apart by car) included how friendly Chicagoans are (almost as nice as the Japanese!!!), how different the buildings look and how they know where Toronto is.  I also can’t believe how they eat.  I’ve never had so much food in my life.  We ate at one restaurant that the waiter told us was a ritzy expensive place.

Us: “Really?  This is expensive??” (average cost for a breakfast: $10)

Waiter: “Yah!  We have ten dollar pancakes!”

Us: “That’s typical in Toronto.”

Btw, these weren’t just pancakes… these were pumpkin cheesecake pancakes.  You heard me.

Not only is the food cheap, but the portions are unnecessarily massive.  I went to lunch today to a Creole place that the waiter suggested to me and got what the waitress recommended.  Two seconds later, two big guys sit down on either side of me and order the same thing… sure it’s popular, but it’s also huge!  I’ll just say I’m working on my winter layer…

Alright, last but not for long, as I’m sure I’ll have much more to say on the Windy City (which is not named that for its weather), i tried a really good beer today that i’d never had in this Louisiana style restaurant: Turbodog.  Sooooooooo good.  Try it.  If you can find it.

Oh yah, one more thing: Deep Dish Pizza is the reason for the obesity problem in America, I’m pretty sure.  I just know Oprah’s eating it everyday!  Actually, I can’t blame it all on deep dish pizza… i think eating a hot dog makes Americans more proud to be American, and therefore they eat a lot of fancy hot dogs.