Fun At The Fair And A couple Thoughts

I usually avoid the state fair like the plague. The hot temperatures and crowds usually don't add up to a good time in my book. This year, however, the mild temps and hearing about the food ad nauseum drove me out north side to partake in some of the fair time delicacies.

My list of foods conquered:

tandoori chicken (which was so good I will be going to the ethnic festival in a couple of weeks to get more), yaki mandu, grilled corn w/ parmesean garlic seasoning (sorry, Jason), a cheese brat from midstate meats, elephant ear, turkey leg, alligator on a stick, mozzerella sticks, and cotton candy.

All that for under forty bucks. It makes me want to write a book, The All Fair Food Diet, that caters towards underweight people, who I feel are over looked by the diet industry.

Some Random Thoughts:

- While walking on my break last Friday I was informed by a homeless person that, "Abe Lincoln's ghost is a fucking whore." First off, not true. I think Abe's ghost is loyal to the ghost of Mary Todd. Second, if we go by society's double standard, men can not be whores no matter how much they sleep around. And finally, even if Abe's ghost was a whore I doubt he would be sleeping with a homeless man no matter how much the homeless man resembled Fredrick Douglas.

- Speaking of ghosts, I had an interesting conversation with a couple coworkers who think I am crazy for not believing in ghosts. That's fine. To each his own. One of them told me of a haunted house in Equality, Illinois commonly known as the Old Slave House. According to the coworker many have tried to spend the night at this house, but none have succeeded. Even worse; three marines tried to sleep there with horrific results. One died (of fright I'm guessing), one is now a mute, and the third has never been seen since that night.

So, being the cynical bastard I am, I went home and did a little research on the Old Slave House. I could find nothing about these three marines, even though I was assured it had been documented in local newspapers, and was not some type of bullshit local myth. I found that at least one person, a reporter from Harrisburg, IL (yeah, Harrisburg) was able to spend an entire night in the house. I also found an article about three Indiana men who were arrested for trespassing and vandalism when they were found in the house drinking beer and watching TV. Real fucking haunted.

Credit to my friend Bryan for the Sky Lift photo.