Carl Kasell's voice on our home answering machine!

So, we don't actually have a home answering machine, but we do have Carl Kasell's voice! Listen below, or call us between 9am and 5pm and hear the prize that I won on Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, from National Public Radio.

Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!

Most readers of this blog (family members and Facebook friends) already know that last weekend I was a listener-contestant on the NPR news quiz (from Chicago Public Radio) Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me! But, since this blog functions not just as a news-spreading tool but also a scrapbook/journal, I thought I'd record the experience here.

It was really fun to play on one of my favorite radio programs! Mike and I went to a live taping of the show in Chicago in August 2008, which was one of our favorite Chicago adventures, so I had an idea of how the taping would go. A few months ago I called the radio program to see if I could be a contestant. Then one of the producers called me just a few weeks ago to let me know that I'd been chosen. (I don't know why. Because I live in Laramie, WY? Because I'm a librarian? Because my voice sounded good on their voicemail? I have no idea how they choose contestants.) So the producer called me at the beginning of the show and I waited for the host, Peter Sagal, to ask me some questions. I'd been following the news extra closely that week and got all three questions right. My prize? Carl Kasell's voice on my home answering machine!
Now we just have to figure out what we want Carl to say and email the script to producer Emily Ecton. Then Carl will record the message in studio and we'll get a CD in the mail. Call me in a few weeks to see what he says!

Another Trip to Chicago (The Last for a While?)

Last weekend we had a super-fun, super-quick trip to Chicago. It may be our last visit to the Windy City in a while, since we're hoping (planning) to move back to the West this summer. (More on that later, once I actually have a job. Don't want to jinx it by saying too much too soon. But I have a few interviews in the next few weeks.)

We ate dinner at one of our all-time-favorite Chicago restaurants, Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinders. Problem is, it's everyone else's favorite, too, and we waited an hour and twenty minutes for a table. But it was worth the wait. After dinner, we went to The Second City for a hilarious show, America: All Better! We spent some lovely quality time at the Art Institute. One of the best parts was an exhibit of portraits by Yousuf Karsh. He photographed everyone, from Elizabeth II to Walt Disney to Audrey Hepburn, and the exhibit was really fantastic.

We went to the Chicago Public Library main branch for the first time and it's a lovely place. The picture above is an atrium on the 9th floor. They also had an interesting Lincoln exhibit.

This was one of my favorite "library" quotes on the walls of the Chicago Public Library. "The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man." T.S. Eliot.

One more picture from the library -- a future librarian!

The main reason for our trip to Chicago was to see This American Life, live at the Chicago Theatre. It was amazing! We got to see it again in a local theatre on Thursday night, and it was maybe even more amazing in the movie theatre because we were seeing Ira Glass's face up close and huge on the big screen instead from 2 balconies back. We're huge, giant fans of TAL. You should listen to it if it's available on your local NPR station. My favorite story from the live show was Dan Savage's story about faith, loss of faith, and his mother's death.

Below are just a couple of random photos from our walk around Chicago. First, some cabbages growing in a flower pot and second, a giant "American Gothic" statue with the two iconic people as world travelers.

Chicago: August 7-8

For Christmas 2007 I gave Michael two tickets to one of our favorite NPR shows, Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me; the show is taped live in Chicago on Thursday nights. Mike was finally able to cash in his Christmas present last week (talk about delayed gratification!) and we went to the show on Thursday, August 7th. It was all we ever dreamed of -- funny, clever, lots of dirty jokes that they edit out for the radio broadcast . . . etc.

Last week's major joke was the Paris Hilton campaign ad that Funny or Die produced in response to McCain's attack ad against Obama (starting line: "He's the biggest celebrity in the world."). Great stuff.

We spent two days in Chicago, and besides the radio show we also:

• Went to the Museum of Science and Industry.
• Walked around Grant and Millennium Parks.
• Ate some awesome Chicago pizza. Nom nom!
• Went on the Chicago Architecture Foundation's river tour -- a major highlight of the trip.
• And spent time on Chicago's trains and buses finding our way around town. We're smitten with Chicago -- it's such a fun city!

We took way too many photos to post in this little blog, so check out our slideshow of Chicago fun.