Pie
August 31, 2005 •
So, who wants to meet for pie?
Sip
August 31, 2005 •
Conversation
August 30, 2005 •
advice
August 29, 2005 •
Hero
August 28, 2005 •
From the same flea market.
Meet Kraig
My new favorite artist.
huh?
August 28, 2005 •
So, I'm tramping around the flea market today when I come across this watercolor. At first I thought it was a print but it's an original watercolor. One problem. I can't read the damned signature.
Any guesses?
Event
August 28, 2005 •
Warrior
August 27, 2005 •
Rip
August 26, 2005 •
Happiness
August 25, 2005 •
I'd love to tell you a story about this photo but I've been sworn to secrecy.
Nevermore
August 24, 2005 •
Point
August 23, 2005 •
Yep, me again
August 22, 2005 •
My first apartment in Chicago.
Why did I move at such a young age?
My mom kicked me out so she could live with her new rich boyfriend.
(Thanks mom)
I stayed with my grandmother for a time and then got this apartment with a friend.
We were both broke.
So we did what any poor Chicagoian would.
We turned to the alleys to find find stuff for the apartment
We garbage picked everything. Our furniture, the decor even some clothes.
Well, almost everything.
The lamp at my right was bought at a shop on Wells Street called Bizarre Bazaar.
It's made of white plastic and shaped like a giant chinese food container.
(it even had the wire handle)
When I saw it at the store, it was a week after I had been kicked out.
I think I only bought it because I knew my mom would have hated it.
A couple of years later she came by to see how I was doing.
(how kind of her)
As she sat on our ratty plaid couch I could see her staring at my lamp.
I looked at her and smiled and said "Nice lamp huh."
I really loved that crappy lamp.
To me it was freedom.
Chianti
August 21, 2005 •
Danger
August 20, 2005 •
Found this in with a pile of photos.
Harvest
August 20, 2005 •
Awe
August 19, 2005 •
Smurf Fu
August 18, 2005 •
I'm never going to hear the end of this one...
Who
August 17, 2005 •
So yesterday I picked up a big old bag of photos from an estate in Hyde Park. When I got home, I dumped the whole bag onto the kitchen table and started looking for the big, happy and fun photos.
About halfway through, I found this dapper dude staring at me. I know I've seen this guy somewhere before but can't remember where. Anyone know? It's driving me nuts.
Druggies
August 16, 2005 •
In the summer of 1977 I somehow talked my mom in to letting me and my friend Mike go to the Pink Floyd concert at Soldier Field. It was the first big concert I ever was "let" go to. (I think mom had a new boyfriend at the time and wanted the apartment to herself). I had no idea what to expect. I was all of 13 1/2 years old. One of my older cousins heard I was going and the day of the concert he pulled me to side and said "Here take this with you." In his hand was a some aluminum foil folded into a neat rectangle. "What the hell is this?" I asked him. "Thai stick" he said. I had no idea what thai stick was but still I looked him in the eye and said "Cool man, thanks." I shoved the foil into my front pocket and ran out the front door to my moms VW bug for a ride to the concert.
After we picked up Mike, mom started in with the speeches. Mom had a variety of speeches and I think I'd heard them all at least a hundred times. The whole way there my mom was lecturing us about "the druggies" who would be at the concert and if anyone offered me anything I was to say "No thank you" and walk away. Mom always warned us about the druggies. The druggie speech was one of my favorites. In my mind, they were crazed Mansonesque junkies who wielded syringes like swords and chased you around until they could inject you with heroin. Then they'd laugh and tell you "Now you're a druggie". Mom was finishing up her speech with her grand finale "You don't want to end up like a druggie,do you?" Mike looked at me and rolled his eyes. It was going to be a long ride.
When we pulled up to Soldier Field, mom asked me if I had my ticket. I reached in my front pocket to check and almost accidently pulled the thai stick out. I just kept my hand in my pocket and said "Yea I got it."
I felt like such a druggie.
We waited in line forever. finally the doors opened and everyone ran on the field towards the stage. We had great seats about thirty feet from the stage. We were out of our minds with excitement. We were also some of the youngest kids at the show. There were a group of older guys who were standing next to us and one of them was telling the others how bummed he was that they didn't have any pot. One of the other guys said "Yea that would be cool". I looked at the first guy and said "I've got some thai stick". They all turned at the same time and I swear they all said "Dude!" at the same time. I gave them my thai stick and they put it in a pipe and smoked away. When the pipe was passed my way, I gotta tell you I was scared shitless. I didn't want to end up a druggie so I pretended to take a hit. Mike saw what I had done and did the same thing.
Our new friends started talking about how awesome the blue blue sky looked. They were really stoned. Mike pointed to the top of Soldier Field and said "I wonder what it looks like from up there?". I looked over at our stoned friends and they had started wrestling on the grass. I told Mike "Lets go man." and we started walking up the stairs. When we got up to the top, we were looking down at a stadium filled with 90,000 people. Mike was like "Oh we gotta get a picture of this". I had this crappy little kodak instamatic camera with me. When I took the picture below, it was about an hour before Pink Floyd took the stage.
It was one hell of a concert.
Chicago Antiques Guide
August 15, 2005 •
Since we both sell overpriced old junk antiques, my friend Brian and I decided to join the rest of the world and drone on and on blog about it.
Introducing
The Chicago Antiques Guide
It hasn't gone live yet, so let me know what ya think.
Not me
August 15, 2005 •
Friendship
August 14, 2005 •
Fear
August 13, 2005 •
Marked
August 12, 2005 •
Candy Coated
August 11, 2005 •
After I posted that pre high school dance "Darth Vader Helmet Hair " photo of mine, I asked if anyone else had a photo to post from their past.
Suzanne of The Farmers Wife took me up on it and sent in this fine fine photo. Ladies and gentlemen, Suzanne. Va va voom!
In her own words;
"The year - 1965. I was a geeky beatnik type with really long hair. This was
a couple years before we turned into hippies. I wore ugly glasses and dressed
in black! My mom and I shopped at Marshall Fields for fabric and she made
this dress for prom, so that I would be wearing an "original". For some reason
still unknown to me, I made an appointment to have my hair ratted into a style
any greaser would be proud of. Got myself some little white gloves and pearl
earrings and I was ready to go. By the way, I left those ugly glasses at
home.
When I walked into the prom, no one knew who I was, and since my date was a
college sophomore and not a classmate, they couldn't get a clue there.
Everyone was sure this dumb bunny had showed up at the wrong prom!"
Me Again
August 10, 2005 •
Me
August 09, 2005 •
Rest
August 08, 2005 •
So once again, I'm being haunted by my upskirt past. I signed up with Google Adsense figuring with all the crazy traffic Bighappyfunhouse gets I'd actually make a few bucks from all of this. Adsense is an active system which places different ads on your site relative to your content. One problem. Google is seeing what people are searching for when they arrive here. This is one way Google decides what to advertise on my site.
A sample from todays searches;
Upskirt
Free Upskirt
Upskirt Legs
Upskirt Photos
Upskirt Pics
Upskirt Girls
You get the idea. Anyhow, the Adsense program seems to think I'm a great place to advertise "Womens Apparel" and "Wholesale Womens Skirts". I've made a glorious .27 cents from the advertising.
I remain
The upskirt king of Chicago.
Guide
August 07, 2005 •
Lend a hand.
Hire your local Beatnik today.
(note the upskirt)
Announcement
August 06, 2005 •
Stretch
August 05, 2005 •
I really don't know why I like this pic so much.
Aim
August 04, 2005 •
Cheese
August 03, 2005 •
I've decided to give up the crown of Upskirt King of Chicago ™.
Now, I just want to be known as the guy who posts pics of Ladies Cutting the Cheese ™.
(man, I really need to get out of the house more often)
Legs
August 02, 2005 •
I added some new stuff to the "Big Found" links.
Box of Slides
Flickr Found Photos
Happy Palace
Old Haunts
Oookpik's Negativity
Santa and Me
Favorite
August 01, 2005 •
A typical class photo. Everyone dressed in their best clothes. That morning, there were cries of "Ma, I don't want to wear that." and "Jeeze, do I gotta wear this?". Parents would reply "You're wearing it and that's the last I want hear about it."
Except in one house. In that house you heard " O.K. son, if it's what you really want to wear, that's fine with me."
Some parents are too cool.
