chicago '08

we went to an awesome indian restaurant last night. in a review I read, the owner was revealed to run the entire operation alone. you order from him, he runs in the back and cooks, and he brings food to the table. he must be doing well for himself because there was an actual waiter there last night. the owner came out to talk to us when we finished eating. Hugsband asked about his favorite dish, butter chicken, which was not on the menu. the owner said that if we come in and he's not busy he will try to make it. the dishes we had were awesome, among the best indian we've had anywhere.

I spent the day with 130 kids with sickle cell anemia at the hole in the wall gang camp. they were awesome, and Paul Newman is my new hero. the camp is amazing, better than anything I imagined. however, the psychologists who brought us could not grasp the fact that I did not go away to camp as a kid. (somehow a week in a dorm at band camp doesn't seem to count.) the staff tend to see medical issues as the only barrier to camp attendance. someone asked me, "what did you do all summer then?" and I thought he expected me to describe summers sailing in the Carribean or another acceptable alternative. um… I went with my mom to clean people’s houses, I played by the railroad tracks at the trailer park, I went camping in a tent with my dad, I read books. camp was awesome, though, and I am glad these kids had the opportunity.

I spent the day with the blue team at arts & crafts, where a Bob Ross-meets-Truman Capote type lead a painting session. he was some kind of genius; I left with a vivid desert-scape and a new appreciation for the color pink. every child produced a gorgeous picture.