A Look Back: Kuma's Block Party

When the weather gods are kind enough to give another glorious summer day in Chicago, it is wise to enjoy the sunshine as best as you can before they change their minds. Keeping this in mind, my boyfriend and I decided to head over to Kuma's Corner for their block party.


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Celebrating its four-year anniversary, Kuma's went all out, closing off a section of Francisco Avenue for over 200 revelers to enjoy music, free food and cheap beer. The restaurant is widely known as serving the best burgers in the city. Kuma's famed burgers are named after rock bands with a dizzying array of toppings, like the Led Zeppelin (10 oz. burger with pulled pork, bacon, cheddar, pickles) or the Lair of Minotaur (same juicy burger with caramelized onions, pancetta, brie, bourbon soaked pears).

We stayed long enough to enjoy the tale end of one band's performance, free pulled pork sandwiches and polish hot dogs, and $3 PBR. The crowd made for some cool people watching - tattoos, stretched earlobes, and big beards were plentiful.

Have A Little Pride

Advanced Warning: Pictures for this blog post include half dressed men, gyrations, costumes and simulated sexual actions. All photos were taken by Anthonia Akitunde

In the close to five years I have lived in Chicago, I have never been to a Gay Pride Parade, a shameful streak I broke today. One of the many highlights of the season, Pride takes place in Chicago's Boystown neighborhood, a center of gay life in the city.

Gay pride celebrations have occurred since the infamous New York Stonewall riots in 1969. This year's 40th Gay Pride Parade in Chicago saw more than 450,000 participants according to the Sun-Times.

The parade started at noon on the corner of Belmont and Halsted. After making my way through the throngs of people lining Halsted Street in the heart of Boystown, I managed to get a place on the bleachers with my friends to watch the parade unfold. I felt that while people were aware of the weightier issues that inspired Pride festivities - equal rights, not being ashamed of ones' sexuality - Pride was really all about having fun.

And have fun we did. Look through the slideshow below for pictures from this year's Pride Parade.

Ruling the Roost

After getting out of class at noon on Tuesday, I decided to stop by a store I saw while gazing out the 22 Clark bus windows.

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All photos were taken by Anthonia Akitunde

Roost (located at 5634 N. Clark), a vintage home decor store, has a hodgepodge of flatware, art, vintage books and oddities scattered throughout the store. With stacks of odd-ball and straight-off-the-farm items at every turn, I had fun poking my nose around the small and tightly packed store, inching around other customers to examine piles of old mason jars and salt shakers.

The store would suit someone who doesn't take design too seriously; someone who favors the kitschy over streamlined modernity. Placed on book shelves, ladders, couches and hutches, each item exuded an earthy whimsy that made me feel like I was inside the pages of "Little House on the Prarie."

For more pictures from Roost, watch the slideshow.

My Day in Albany Park

Nanook of the North Side.

Footsteps on the Metra North Line Platform at Ravenswood.



The first people I interviewed today. The question: Do you think Governor Rod Blagojevich should be convicted?



I can't read what this says, but I like how the cracks in the stencil makes the characters look like rib cages and bones.



"Kiss me, I'm Serbian!"



Outside the Kimball Brown line stop.



Dresses at Grisel's Bridal Shop.



This was spinning and colorful in all the gloom.

Honk.

Beginning Half of How I Rang In the New Year

My camera experienced technical difficulties after the first party Derek and I attended (they're all worked out now, apparently slamming it against a hard surface is something recommended by camera professionals), but here's how the first half of my New Year's Eve looked:

Hot sake and sushi at Tokyo Marina (5058 N. Clark), an establishment that comes highly recommended. Good price and a lot of extras (tea, cucumber salad, and miso soup) for free.

Mood lighting at Laura (an old co-worker) and Shelby's apartment, our first stop of the evening before ringing in the new year with champagne cocktail of Cassis, champagne, and strawberries at Derek's cousin's loft.

Noisemakers are not fun to be attacked with, boyfriend of mine.

See What Develops

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays! My boyfriend and I returned to a very wet and warm Chicago late last night after spending a few days with his family in Absolute Delight, a cabin in Maryland. I always love spending time with Derek's family and enjoy sharing in their love of storytelling and tradition.

Now that we're back in our apartment, we've settled into our routines: me sprawled out on the sofa, checking out my favorite blogs and sites; Derek at our desk, turning around every so often to update me about something ridiculous (i.e. a website where you can download free B movies like "JC," a tale of teenaged Jesus Christ reincarnate who rebels against his extreme Southern Baptist father and leads an LSD fueled pilgrimage out west); NPR streaming from his laptop. I've jumped from one emotional extreme to the next these past two weeks, so it's nice to have things moving at a familiar and happy medium.

Speaking of familiar and happy mediums, Polaroids are making a comeback despite the company's decision to discontinue the technology beloved by model casters, party photographers, and hipsters alike. A program called Poladroid takes JPEG images from online or from your digital camera and creates the iconic high contrast images surrounded by a white box. PC users can now download the program, and below you'll find some of my pictures from the past two weeks.

Lights on the Plaza in Kansas City, MO.

Little brothers, Ladi (19) and Tunde (13).

Stockings! (I forgot to bring one for myself so Derek and I made do with a pair of my thick winter stockings.)

Derek learning how to knit.

Cousin Tim with the cutest puppy ever, Nora. I want a puppy.

Squeal! Little Gracie snuggling on the floor with the puppy.

Pictures from the Rally

I'm so glad I got to be a part of the rally. The magnitude of Obama's election didn't fully hit me until I saw Jesse Jackson cry, saw people dancing in Kenya, spoke to my father about how family in Nigeria called and congratulated him as if he had won, and did a quick review of civil rights history unmarred by talking heads' analysis. Being of my generation where a lot of the groundwork has already been done to become whatever I want to be, it's easy to forget or gloss over how far African-Americans and women have come. I had a "post-race" view of the election; of course Obama would win—he was the best man for the job despite the racially driven anxiety and attacks right wing voters.

But man... he has broken a tremendous glass ceiling for African-Americans. He had the weight of an ugly history on his shoulders, and is toting it along with acknowledgment of its presence but a confidence that it can be shaken off, allowing for a united America.

Enough with my ramblings. Click here for a slideshow sampling of the pictures I took:

My Morning in a Picture

Then why do I always end up having teary goodbyes at O'Hare?

My Day in Pictures

Answer to all the spending in the city that works. CTA Red Line, Belmont Stop. Around 4-something in the a.m. Full question: Why are there so many CTA personnel at this station?


I went to an early book club meeting and then read the book I was supposed to have finished for the aforementioned book club at the park by my apartment.


The view from my bench before I decided to lay out on the itchy grass.