DTW is the best large airport based on customer satisfaction. those of us from detroit might find this surprising, considering the weird tunnel in mcnamara to get to the B and C terminals (i’m at the airport, not a lava lamp, thanks). but JD power and associates says so, and as a former expert on rankings, i know that rankings never lie.

in other news, two of my other most frequently used airports are LAX and PHL, both battling for last place. way to go team!

i was in the chipotle motherland (denver) this week, and took pics of the original. this is interesting to my friday burrito work peeps, so others, please don’t make fun.

more importantly, while in colorado, i kept running into people pronouncing “chipotle” as “chee-pole-TEE.” at least a half dozen people. in fact, it was always said like this. what the hell?

wikipedia tells me that chipotle, as in the flavor, should be pronounced “chee-POTE-lay.” the “T” is obviously before the “L.” why would you ever think to reverse it when saying it? this has been labeled a colorado pronounciation FAIL. this is particularly bad b/c there is a large mexican/hispanic population in the state. ask for a little help, white people. not that hard.

fort collins also introduced me to my first honky tonk bar. or at least i think it’s a honky tonk bar, but i can’t really know for sure since i’ve never actually been to one. it was like scorekeepers in ann arbor, except with country music and cowboy hats and giant belt buckles and line dancing. and not just bad wedding shuffles to 70′s-era stevie wonder, but lots of different complicated line dances. and separate ones for different songs. and the menfolk dance too. it was nothing short of a revelation. besides for the white/asian thing and likely conservatism, these are totally my people.

(note: i did not take this picture. i do not have access to a helicopter or plane or blimp, but the pics i took were crappy and honestly, if the pics are crappy and unfunny, what’s the point? besides copyright infringement)

i know i could look this up on the internets, but could someone explain to me why you get dehydrated from the altitude? so so so thirsty, goddamn.

this is me with a walking stick at the top of the mount looking over the historic downtown.

there was both granola and dried fruit on this trip, despite my best efforts in stalling my descent into utter cliche.

why newark sucks.

1. you cannot get to terminal C to terminal A at 4:30am without exiting and entering a security checkpoint. that suckssss.

2. in fact, you can’t get from one section of terminal A to another section of terminal A without exiting and entering security. that’s just stupid.

3. the “newsstand” i went to find food at looked as if it had been looted. there was one sad-looking bag of pretzels and a torn open box of triscuits, and that’s about it. empty shelves, empty newspaper racks, torn magazines.

4. when i went to a deli stand to buy a juice, i handed him a $5. he asked if i had smaller bills b/c he had no change. … um, right. then i asked for ice water. apparently they don’t do ice at 5am, but i did get a nice cup full of lukewarm tap water.

in conclusion, the redeye is killing my soul.

notes from the conference
1. workshops galore on how minorities are screwed in health, wealth, education, prison, everything. apparently we minority journalists are supposed to write stories about it all.
2. a quick guide on how to tell a print journo from a broadcast journo.

we don’t really care about radio, but they’re probably more like faceless print journos than anything else.

3. the senegalese president was speaking at this conference about free speech. there was quite the kerfuffle, and a fist fight actually broke out amongst critics and supporters. missed the fight, but did get to see a lot of angry people.

as for my many friends who live in chicago, our one night of partying can basically be summed up by this pic:

i just wish i could remember what song was playing.

doesn’t jimmy look fancy standing next to statues of animals serving food and golfing (with terrible form, no less)?

other highlights from san fran include dim sum, a mini asian high school reunion, seeing the golden gate bridge up close and personal, fog-blocked fireworks, smelling urine everywhere, watching the 5th element, not going out at night at all, vintage shopping, and lots and lots of walking. most importantly, we made our way to berkeley to see the tree sitters i’ve been writing about at work for MONTHS. they’ve been up there for almost 20 months now. they even waved at me. this is the best shot i could get of their humble abode.

and i miss the perfect weather already.

honestly, i’m too tired (read: redeye flight) to blog much more, but i felt as if i should get the good ol’ nubby fingers ready for my ironic take on a typical family vacay. i’m off to finish “atonement,” which i bought at the worst-ever airport bookstore. book’s pretty good, although i’m always embarrassed to carry around a novel that has the characters from the movie on the cover, but apparently that’s the only thing air passengers want to buy and read.

also sad is the fact this is the first time i’ll be using the “books” tag on this blog. yikes. gotta read more.