Saturday, November 26, 2011

A new post?

Since my last post, I have actually moved across state lines... twice... once to Tennessee and then on to Illsinois (both 's's are silent). Since I no longer had to face Utah drivers on a daily basis, it didn't seem exactly fair to continue to complain about them. This was especially true since I soon discovered that Tennessee drivers had their own little quirks that also drove traffic wild (no one in the state drives over 55 mph!). It became doubly especially true when we moved to Isllinois and I started letting the Chicago Transportation Authority handle my commute for me (traffic on the rails is not nearly as bad as the roads - but when they have an accident, it's for real). However, I enjoy writing more than I enjoy complaining about traffic, and since I can't (honestly) do both at the same time now, I figured I could at least take up writing again. So here's a post that doesn't have anything to do with Stupid, Utah, or Driving. Go figure

As you may know, we've been living in Chicago for a few months now - long enough to get a pretty good feel for the city and the people in it. I have to say that, undoubtedly, and I'm being absolutely serious about this, my favorite part of living here is the accent. If anyone is unfamiliar with the deep, blue-collar Chicago-speak, I highly recommend you seek out your nearest Chicagoan and make friends. Barring that, please feel free to search Youtube for those old SNL skits about 'Da Bears'. Unfortunately I don't know how to type Chicago style (and all my google searches to that end are only trying to correct my grammar), but its sort of a mix of the classic Wisconsonian and a lot of weird vowels (often with a healthy dose of profanity). Good times all around.

Wendy is worried that our kids might start to pick it up - especially as they get into school and make more friends with the natives. I'm more worried that they won't. The way I see it, I lived in Boston until I was five, and couldn't pronounce the letter 'r' until I was in middle school. Speaking like a weirdo builds character. (I still can't pronounce 's' - I've got loads of character) I suppose that Chicagoan fits better with a 45 year old man with a bear gut, a mustache, and a Bears jersey than a cute young pre-schooler, but who am I to judge?

There are plenty of other things to love about Chicago - deep dish pizza, hot dogs with no ketchup, wind... lots of wind... but if we move away from here with a couple of young ladies who start every sentence with 'so uh... da bears, eh?' I'll be a happy dad.