I'm Yours

I had heard of Jason Mraz (he's referenced in a previous post), but I didn't know any of his music. Then I heard a song on the radio and wondered who sang it. It turns out it was Jason Mraz! Here's the song:

At the same time, the viral video below came to my attention.

Cocomero - Champaign, IL

Housed in the former location of Moonstruck Chocolate, Cocomero (709 S. Wright St.) is a hit with the Campustown crowd. It was even very busy on a brisk fall day (yes, I know this post is delayed!). A sign informs you "how to cocomero":

How to Cocomero:

1. Grab a cup
2. Swirl your own Yogurt
3. Add your own toppings
4. Weigh and pay

I selected samples of four different flavors of yogurt and covered them goodies!

The line wraps around the store and most of the seats by the tables and the bar by the window were filled. More patrons gathered in the cozy second level that overlooks the campus.

Tinsel

Hank Stuever's new book, Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present, is an intriguing account of his time spent with three families in Frisco, Texas (an affluent exurb of Dallas). I listened to the audio book in my car and found that I had to wait in the car several times after reaching my destination because I wanted to find out what was to happen next. Mostly affectionate, sometimes mocking, Stuever documents the history and myth, consumerism, frenzy, and loyalty people have toward the winter holiday.

• Tammie Parnell, a gated-community wife and supermom who runs her own Christmas decorating business. She charges her clients up to $1,000 a day to put up their artificial trees, garland and other trinkets, even as it distracts her from the cozy, perfect, family holiday she envisions.
• Jeff and Bridgette Trykoski, who own that house every community has, the one with cars lined up around the block to see the lights display, which, at Jeff and Bridgette's place, dance in time to music. Now Jeff has been hired to create a display three times as big at Frisco's newly developed town square. But what's life like inside the brightest house in town?
• Caroll Cavazos, a hardworking single mom who struggles stay upbeat during the production of her megachurch's Christmas pageant, focusing on the "reason for the season" even as she finds herself navigating the throngs at Best Buy at the Black Friday sales.

Walnut Room - Chicago, IL

Get a classic dining experience at the Walnut Room in Macy's on State (111 N State). Open since 1907, this is one of Chicago's oldest restaurants. The restaurant is on the 7th floor; shoppers on the 8th floor can look down to the diners below.

Sit beside a 17-foot high marble fountain.

Happy 2010!

News Highlights from the Past Decade (from wikipedia)

2000

• March 10, 2000 - NASDAQ peaks at 5134, before beginning a downwards descent as the dot-com bubble collapses.
• March 26, 2000 - Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia.
• September 15, 2000 - Games of the XXVII Olympiad open in Sydney.

2001

• September 11, 2001 -Hijackers associated with al-Qaeda seized and crashed four aircraft. Two of them hit the World Trade Center, one hit The Pentagon, and another missed its target (crashing inShanksville, Pennsylvania), most likely The Capitol Building. In all, nearly 3,000 people died.

2002

• Euro replaces the currencies of 12 of the EU's 15 members.
• October 12, 2002 - 2002 Bali bombings - Islamist terrorists bomb nightclubs in Bali, killing 202 people

2003

• February -March 2003 - A major SARS outbreak takes place in China and spreads through Russia, and Canada. Threats of SARS entering the United States were verified, but no SARS outbreak took place.
• February 1, 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia breaks up on re-entry to Earth on STS-107, killing all seven occupants.
• April 9, 2003 - U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein, during the Iraq War
• December 14, 2003 - Saddam Hussein was captured.

2004

• January 4, 2004 - Spirit Rover lands on Mars.
• March 14, 2004 - Russian presidential election, 2004: Vladimir Putin wins a second term.
• August 13, 2004 - Games of the XXVIII Olympiad opens in Athens.
• December 26, 2004 - Boxing Day Tsunami - Around 230,000 people are killed when a tsunami hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other states in the Indian Ocean.

2005

• April 2, 2005 - Pope John Paul II dies. Joseph Alois Ratzinger is elected to succeed him, and becomes Pope Benedict XVI.
• August 29, 2005 - At least 1,836 are killed, and severe damage is caused along the U.S. Gulf Coast, as Hurricane Katrina strikes coastal areas from Louisiana to Alabama.

2006

• October 9, 2006 - North Korea performs its first successful nuclear test.
• December 30, 2006 - Saddam Hussein is executed after 2 lengthy trials.

2007

• December 27, 2007 - Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, approximately 2 weeks before a national election in which she was favored to be elected president of Pakistan.

2008

• May 12, 2008 - Over 69,000 are killed in central south-west China by the Wenchuan earthquake.
• August 8, 2008 - Games of the XXIX Olympiad open in Beijing.
• September 14, 2008 - Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, laying the catalyst for the Global financial crisis
• November 26 - November 29, 2008 - Gunmen attack Mumbai, killing up to 175 people.

2009

• January 20 – Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th, and first African American, President of the United States.
• June 11 – The outbreak of the H1N1 influenza strain, commonly referred to as "swine flu", is deemed a global pandemic, becoming the first condition since the Hong Kong flu of 1967–1968 to receive this designation.
• June 25 – The death of American entertainer Michael Jackson triggers an outpouring of worldwide grief. Online, reactions to the event cripple several major websites and services, as the abundance of people accessing the web addresses pushes internet traffic to potentially unprecedented and historic levels.