Chicago

Hot on the heels of Hawaii was my trip to Chicago. The occasion was to attend the annual meeting of the Orthopaedics Research Society and thankfully it's a trip that I get completely reimbursed for (hopefully soon). I flew in early so that I could see my friend Dan whom I haven't seen in nearly two years. It was great to see him and find out what he's been up to. For the record Chicago is a city I do like, though it's no NYC or Vegas.

The conference was about what I expected - underwhelming. ORS is never as interesting as ASBMR because there just isn't a lot of bone and mineral stuff, which is what my lab does. The logistics of this conference weren't great either; it was supposed to be in New Orleans, but got relocated to Chicago because of Katrina. The hotels were scattered all over Chicago and the convention center was south of downtown on the lake which made transportation a pain. They did have free internet cafe computers for us and there were a couple of talks that got me more excited about the work I do, so that was nice.

I was happy to get some time to actually walk around Chicago, but unhappy to see several items that I felt compelled to buy. I bought Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on DVD as well as the new tricked out Sin City. I also bought a Dance CD which I listened to in the store and loved, but am not so wild about now (what was I thinking?). I also broke down and bought one of the new Nike hoodies commemorating the original soccer clubs around the world. This was pricey, but I know what I was thinking there (I'm a soccer whore). My romp around the city was made complete when a several thousand person protest against the Iraq War marched down Michigan Ave and in front of my advisor's hotel. Why are we still in Iraq anyway?

Let me mention that Chicago is a great city and, by definition, has great food. Let me also mention that Ginos East is not where you want to go if you want good food. Yes, they're famous for their deep-dish pizza and for letting you write on the wall of their establishment ($$ to anyone who can find where I signed my name), but the fact is, the crust of the deep-dish is like fried corn mean and tastes awful. Also, don't order their antipasta as it's more like a salad with a few pieces of lunchmeat. That being said, Potbelly is the best sandwich store/chain I've ever been in and Portilla's has great hot dogs.

During my last day in Chicago I got to visit the infamous Field Museum which is trying to be the NYC Museum of Natural of History, but isn't quite making it. They have lots of nice exhibits, though and plenty of bones which is a plus in my book, especially when the bone in question rivals me in size. That's one large femur!
I also have to give the Field Museum props for the hilarious on-screen cartoon tutorials they have. The cell to the right was my favorite, but there are some other good ones (check out singleh.shutterfly.com to see the full collection of pictures from my trip).