Author: David Diego Rodríguez, Ph.D.

I teach Spanish and I am a standup comedian.

Al’s Beef


Little Italy, Chicago, Illinois

I went to Al’s Beef with my sons today. Why? Because my sons asked me to take them. Why? Well, I was wondering the same thing myself. They heard about Al’s Beef from the Travel Channel, a restaurant TV show, that showcased Al’s Italian Beef. When they first mentioned going to Al’s Beef, I said okay, nonchalantly. They probably thought I wouldn’t take them because I didn’t sound that enthusiastic. They even doubted if I had ever heard of Al’s Beef. But, nay, I had stories to tell them about Al’s Beef. And told them, I did. Hesitantly. I really thought they would cut me off. But they didn’t. In fact, they kept asking me for more details. This was the longest we had talked in a long time. Luckily, it was about a subject that was near and dear to my heart. Chicago food!

Ah, the memories! I have been going to Al’s Beef since the 1970s, but I couldn’t tell you the exact date. They may be getting a lot of television exposure now, but Al’s Beef is a veritable ghost town in comparison to when I used to go in the 1980s. The place used to be packed, especially in the summer. I remember going there with my friends Jim and Vito. Sometimes I went with my running friends after track practice. We would eat in the parking lot and go across the street to Mario’s Italian Ice for dessert. Then, we’d sit in the parking lot drinking beer! Those were the days.

Al’s Beef is a little different today. It’s the same building. It still has the same charming decor. And, for as long as I can remember, they always have someone working behind the counter who speaks Spanish. It is a universally acknowledged fact that Italian beef tastes better when it’s served by a Spanish speaker. I remember my friend Jim had a crush on a Mexican girl who used to work there. As single men, we often ate at restaurants. But when he discovered this Mexican girl at Al’s Beef, we ate there at least three times a week! I must admit that she was pretty, and she had this cute Mexicana accent. I asked Jim, “If you married her–” “Do you really think I have a chance with her?” he asked me hopefully. “Let me finish! If you married her, would you really enjoy her coming home smelling like Al’s Italian Beef?” He smiled so I could see a sweet pepper stuck in his teeth and said, “That would be like dying and going to heaven!”

DDR

Devil in the White City


The audio book I borrowed from the Chicago Public Library.

I just finished reading this terrific book about Chicago and the 1893 Columbian Exposition. And when I say reading, I mean “reading” as in I didn’t actually read the book. Rather, I listened to the audio version of it on CDs while I drove. So, I’ve been doing a lot more “reading” lately because I’ve been doing a lot more driving (No quotes! I was physically driving.) lately. And that’s all thanks to these audio books on CD. For some reason, I didn’t like listening to audio books on cassette and I only listened to a few. Cassettes just seemed like too much work. For a while, I wasn’t reading as much because I was always on the go. But now I can do both at the same time! I love audio books on CD!

I had heard about this book years ago and I had always meant to get around to reading it, but somehow, I never had time. A few weeks ago, I was in my local library, and I saw this book prominently displayed on the shelf. I love reading books about Chicago! This book focuses on the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, which is represented by one of the red stars of the Chicago flag below. (Note to self: Write a blog entry about the symbols of the Chicago flag.) I learned so much about Chicago history through this one book alone. First modern serial killer was H.H. Holmes who got his start during the World’s Fair.

By being awarded the World Fair, Chicago felt compelled to top the previous World Fair that was hosted by Paris, France, which had set attendance records for a peaceful event. And they also introduced the world to the tallest man-made structure ever built: The Eiffel Tower! Chicago was undaunted in trying to top Paris. From the ashes of the 1871 Chicago Fire, not only did Chicago rebuild itself, but it also topped the Paris World’s Fair. The engineering marvel that topped the Eiffel Tower was the Ferris Wheel that was then the tallest man-made structure. And people could ride it to the top and witness breath-taking views. To this day, most carnivals still have a Ferris Wheel. (In Spanish, it’s call la rueda de fortuna.)

The Chicago World’s Fair, or the World’s Columbian Exposition as it was also known, helped shape Chicago as a modern city and introduced the world to many modern inventions, including electricity on a wide scale at the White City. The main feature of the fair was the White City that was constructed by Daniel H. Burnham and company. This provided the creative spark for the Emerald City of Frank L. Baum when he wrote The Wizard of Oz. And the White City also influenced Disneyland and other amusement parks. The White City is also mentioned in “America, the Beautiful,” as “alabaster cities.”

DDR

J’adoube


My former blog at http://chicago60643.wordpress.com

I’ve worked really hard on my new blog. Actually, it’s my old blog, but I’m updating it a little bit. I never did like my old title of David Diego Rodríguez, Ph.D. It just seemed too vain and oh so pompous. But that’s also exactly what I liked about that title. With this new blog, I wanted a new title, so I changed it to Estados Unidos Mexicanos. At the top, I have placed a picture of my Mexican passport. I like the ambiguousness of the title the United States becomes Estados Unidos in Spanish. Since I was a boy, I have always known that the official name of México is really los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. In the U.S., it’s just Mexico, without an accent mark. So, I like the title because I like to write about mexicanos in los Estados Unidos, and that includes both countries. 

If you think this blog is schizophrenic, I will correct you and insist that it’s multifaceted! Yes, I know that it’s titled Estados Unidos Mexicanos, but it’s located at chicago60643 at wordpress.com. Of course, the four categories of this blog have a tenuous relationship to each other. You’re probably wondering how Life 101, Chicago, Mexicans, and Spanish Lessons all are related to one another. Actually, I have written several blog posts that could fall under any one of the four categories! 

However, I have a confession to make. I don’t like the new title, either! But I can’t think of a good title for this blog. Perhaps one of my longtime readers may have a suggestion or two. Please be gentle! Part of the problem is that I write about whatever comes to mind, regardless of its relevance to reality or current events. Well, my blog ID does locate me in Chicago on the South Side. And I’m damn proud of that! All the other good IDs I wanted were already taken. I’m surprised I was able to get this ID. I mean, who wouldn’t want chicago60643 for a blog ID? So, I snatched it up! 

For a while, I toyed with the idea of having several blogs, one for each different category about which I write. But then the organization of maintaining several sites became unbearable. I want my blog to be fun for me. I don’t need another burden in my life. In fact, now that I think of it, I use my blog as therapy. This is a place where I can kick off my shoes, let down my hair, and soak in my imaginary beauty bubble bath to disseminate my innermost thoughts to the world. Whether they asked for them or not. I feel a renewed psychic cleansing with each new blog post. I really can’t speak for my readers, though. I enjoy writing, so I don’t worry that much about whether or not anyone actually reads my blog. 

Lately, I’ve been going back to previous entries and categorizing, tagging, and editing them. This is a very time-consuming process! But all the same, it’s also very therapeutic. And I am such a perfectionist, too. My students accuse me of having OCD. If it doesn’t come out right the first time, I repeat the process repetitively, redundantly, and repetitively. So get used to it! I mean repetitiveness and redundancy. I’ll do it over and over again repeatedly. There I did it again! 

Oh, yes, the title. I used to play chess religiously in high school. Even though I no longer play chess, I constantly think in chess terms or strategy. Or I just plain think about chess. So, I want to say to all my readers: J’adoube. Meaning, I say, “J’adoube,” as in I’m adjusting a chess piece and therefore, I am not required to moved it. J’adoube! I’m adjusting my blog. But I may or may not move it in the future. It’s my move. You’ll just have to wait to see what I’ll do! 

DDR

WordPress.com


WordPress: The iPhone App!

So, I’m using an updated version of WordPress.com. I didn’t want to, but I had no choice. I used to post my blog on my website at http://davidrodriguez.us using WordPress blogging software that I kept on my website. It worked fine for the first two years or so. Then one day, my comments section was filled with spam. Beaucoup spam! One spam message left in a comment was so long that my blog never finished loading. And I couldn’t log into my own account and update my blog. Or remove all the spam. This happened to me again. Two more times, in fact. Whenever I contacted my ISP, I was told to contact WordPress. The last incident caused me to stop blogging for months! At first, I thought, “I broke the Internets!” 

Another problem I had was upgrading the WordPress software to my website. My ISP didn’t automatically upgrade the software even though they provided me with the original version. I only attempted one upgrade and my blog was down for about a month. Somehow, mysteriously, I accidentally deleted my entire website! After hours of reading WordPress documentation and multiple attempts to install the new software, I finally had my blog up and running again. That was my one and only WordPress upgrade. I swore to never upgrade again. Now that I’m using this new version of WordPress software, I realize I was lacking many features and widgets that I now take for granted. I love the way new features, themes, and widgets mysteriously appear without me having to upgrade.  

If you look at my archives list, there is a huge gap between June 2009 and January 2010. That was the period when I didn’t know what to do about my blog that had been hijacked. And I was really in the mood to blog! I tried other blogs, but I liked the WordPress features the best. I did open an account at WordPress in 2008 when I was previously locked out of my own blog, but I never actually used it. Finally, I told myself, I want to start blogging again. I really missed blogging! And now I’m blogging, as you can well see.  

So, here I am back blogging with WordPress. I like all the features available. My current blog already strongly resembles my old blog. Okay, so I’m a little resistant to change. I mean, I’m not very pliable. Except for all those new widgets that I’ve added to the right column of the blog. I also like the way my blog appears on my iPhone. When I open my blog on the iPhone, it’s so much easier to read than in the regular browser. It’s so much more manageable. I also like the WordPress App that’s available for my iPhone.  I plan to use it very soon.  

But I promise that my current blog will be of the exact same high quality as ever. And, of course, you remember how low high I set the bar before, right? Well, I can’t vouch for the quality, but I can guarantee you quantity. Much more than you ever asked for. My goal is to write a blog entry every day for a month. Okay, I picked February because it’s the shortest month of the year, much to the consternation of African Americans who were awarded February for Black History Month. And since this isn’t a leap year, I should easily be able to write twenty-eight blog posts. Right? I sure hope so!  

Vote, vote, vote


My receipt for voting.

Lucky us! We get to vote on Ground Hog’s Day! So, if a candidate sees his shadow … Oh, never mind. Ground Hog’s Day is such a silly holiday, anyway!

I got a phone call to vote for Jim Ryan for judge. When I said I would vote for him, the caller asked if I would like to put Ja im Ryan sign on my lawn. Then, last week, I got two unusual calls from politicians soliciting my vote for David Hoffman. One was from Paul Vallas who doesn’t even reside in the state of Illinois anymore. And the other was from Miguel del Valle who also solicited my vote for David Hoffman in Spanish. I must admit he spoke Spanish very nicely. I’m not sure if Paul Vallas really wanted me to vote for David Hoffman. Or if, as I suspiciously tend to believe, he wanted to remind me that he still existed so that I would vote for him upon his imminent return to Illinois politics. But that’s just me.

I also received voting instructions for early voting in English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. Okay, I’m not actually sure if it’s Mandarin Chinese, but I wanted to sound knowledgeable. Everyone wants to sound knowledgeable around election time, no? In Chicago, all the polling places are multilingual. If you’re an American citizen, you’re entitled to vote even if you don’t speak English! But this is typical of every election in Chicago.

The Chicago election is always very confusing. For whom do I vote? There are always a few obvious candidates for me. But others, I never even heard of them! I know we’re supposed to vote for candidates intelligently. However, I only seem to be aware of candidates who raised enough money to pay for radio and TV ads. So how do I vote for everyone else? Including the completely unknown candidates? I vote for the Chicago Way! I voted for all the candidates I knew from before election day would get my vote.

What happens to my votes for the rest of the candidates? In a general election, if I’m not sure for whom to vote, I vote the straight Democratic ticket. It’s the Chicago Way! In a primary election when I must declare myself a Democrat, I vote for all the Irish candidates. It’s the Chicago Way! Of course, I once met a Judge Cunningham who was elected as judge because of his Irish name. Judge Cunningham was African American! So, I guess voting for an Irish or Irish-sounding candidate is very egalitarian. It’s the Chicago Way! Next in the pecking order are female names. If it’s a female candidate with an Irish name, so much the better. That was in the old days. Now that we have more Hispanic candidates, I automatically vote for a Spanish name. The election slate is so long for some elections that very few people would know every candidate very well. However, I want to exercise my Constitutional right to vote! Even if it’s the Chicago Way!

DDR