For those of you who like my calendars and aren't friended with me on FB or read my meryddian.com blog: the Meryddian Photography 2010 calendar is now on Zazzle.

After evaluating several different websites' product quality, I have decided that Zazzle produces the nicest-quality calendars, so although this means my product will be slightly pricier than previous years ($20.95), I feel that you are receiving a more superior product.

The joy of homecoming - a collection of videos of soldiers arriving home and being greeted by their dogs. Just try to watch this without grinning and laughing. The last video is of returning soldiers surprising their kids at school.

This week, the NY Times ran a 2-part article titled, "100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)" and "100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 2)". It was actually pretty funny to read some of the comments, with people writing things like "I know I do not, and will not eat any where with that many rules!"

Restaurants, like any business, require rules and guidelines for not only handling/cooking their food and drinks, but to create the whole "experience" of a given dining experience. The more high-scale the restaurant, the tighter the rules. You, as a diner, might not know the rules, but you experience them and then decide whether you like a restaurant enough to go back.

After reading all those rules for service, I couldn't help but wish there was a similar set of guidelines for customers. I did waitress and counter food service (coffeehouses) for eight years. I can't say I've seen it all, but I've seen a lot, and something happens when people are hungry and looking to be fed. They're both demanding, more picky and sharper-tempered.

I know several of you who read this are also servers or have the serving experience, so I'd love to hear your comments on a "100 things restaurant customers should never do". Here's the first 20 I came up with:

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How to be a better customer at a restaurant (first 20)

1. Your servER is not your servANT. They are a human being who deserves your attention and respect. Their job is not easy to begin with; do not make it worse. Say "please" and "thank you". Just because somebody is serving you doesn't mean they don't deserve common courtesy.

2. Pay attention when your server walks up to the table. Unless the restaurant is empty, you are not the only people enjoying a night out, and making the server wait for any reason causes delays in the rhythm of their service - including their service to you.

3. If you don't know what you want to order, it is better to ask the server to come back in a few minutes, than to make them stand there while you read the menu. See #2.

4. If the menu details all the ingredients, you look stupid if you ask obvious questions like, "What's the difference between your Classic Caesar and your Classic Caeser with Chicken?" If you're doing it to be funny - trust me, the waitstaff doesn't think you're funny, and you're wasting their time.

4(a). If you're asking a question like that because of something like allergies, it is FAR better to ask questions like, "I am allergic to onions, does (this dish) contain any?" If the server doesn't know the answer, then they can get it for you. If you don't tell your server you have allergies, it's not their fault if they serve you something you can't eat, or you have a reaction to. Don't assume your server has ESP.

5. Keep in mind that state laws may allow restaurants to pay waitstaff as little as 50% of minimum wage; they rely heavily on tips to make a living wage. If waitstaff was paid better, your burger would cost $15 instead of $6.99, and then you would complain about the cost of the food. If you think it's not your responsibility to tip at a sit-down, full-service restaurant, then why are you going out to that kind of restaurant? In American full-service restaurants, the expected tip rate is 15%; 18% for tables of six or more. And, as a side note, waitstaff generally has to "tip out" to the busboys, bartenders and wine steward, too.

5(a). If math is not your strong point, most cell phones these days contain either a calculator ($ amount x 0.15), or an application for a tip calculator. If worst comes to worst, you can ask your server, "Can you please add ___% to the bottom of the bill?"

6. Your compliments do not pay your server's rent, electric bill, or car payment. They appreciate the compliments, but they appreciate a solid tip more.

7. Was the service particularly outstanding? Don't hesitate to ask to speak to the floor manager to let them know. The management will be pleased to hear you had a great experience, and it is good for the server, too.

8. If your server is standing at your table and asking if you need anything, take a moment to decide if there's anything you really might be missing - more butter, extra dressing, a fresh napkin. Sending the server back to the kitchen five times in three minutes is really annoying. See again #2.

9. Your jokes like "I married her for her money" and "Oh, we have to pay?" are not funny after your server has heard them 3,762 times.

10. Accidents sometimes happen and your server (and the restaurant) will do all they can to help make things right. Threatening to make somebody lose their job over something small and momentary is cruel - especially in today's economy.

11. Don't take your bad day out on your server. It's not their fault that your job sucks, your bf/gf broke up with you, your kids are acting up, or your car broke down.

12. If you put your name down for the seating wait list, and change your mind about waiting, have the courtesy to tell the host that you decided not to wait. You inconvenience not only the restaurant but other people while they have to try to find you - and you've left.

13. Don't let your kids run wild around the restaurant. It's very rude to other customers, and it's dangerous - servers are carrying trays full of very hot, heavy dishes and sharp utensils, and when they are carrying large trays, they cannot always see everything that is going on around them.

14. Likewise, restaurants are not day care centers; don't expect your server to be a free babysitter. And if your kid makes a huge mess - i.e., throws their baggie of Cheerios all over the floor - then be nice and tip a little extra, because your server and the busboy are going to have to spend extra time cleaning up after you and yours.

15. Sitting at a table and wasting condiments, sugar packets, etc. is not only annoying, but it drives up prices at the restaurant for everybody. You wouldn't appreciate somebody coming to your house and throwing salt, sugar and pepper all over the table, would you?

16. Don't get angry at the hostess if your wait for a table is longer than expected, especially without a reservation. The best they can do is give an estimate. It's hard to be patient when you're hungry - they know. They're doing the best they can, but if people linger over dessert or after the check is paid, they can't exactly kick them out.

17. If you sit at your table for long (20-30+ minutes) after you are done eating and the check is paid, and your server continues to check in on you (in a polite way), be courteous, and tip them extra, especially if you're continuing to ask for refills on coffee/drinks. You are keeping the table from being "turned over", which means somebody else is waiting longer to eat, and your server is making less money.

18. If it's after closing time, wrap it up and go home. Restaurant/bar staff still have work to complete that they're not allowed to do in front of customers, and the longer you sit there, the later they get to go home. Don't get mad at the restaurant/bar staff if it's past closing time and they won't serve you anything new or they're cleaning up (putting chairs up, vacuuming). Their hours are posted on the door. You wouldn't appreciate somebody sitting at your job holding you up, either.

19. There isn't a server, bartender or other restaurant staff out there that doesn't have at least one really horrific tale of "restaurant revenge" they know about firsthand -- even if it wasn't something they personally committed. Don't be the jerk customer that prompts them to rack up a new story for their memoirs.

20. If you ever act horribly or are a cheap tipper or anything else detrimental, the waitstaff/bartenders/etc. will share the information amongst themselves. Just because you walk out the door and promptly forget how badly you behaved doesn't mean the people who work there do. You'll be recognized again later, and not in a good way.

When I knew that it would be time to get a new cat, I had planned for years to get one of these two breeds - Ocicat or Abyssinian:

Ocicat .... Abyssinian


Instead I ended up with Kaylee, who displays all the temperament of an Ocicat, but obviously doesn't have the markings for the breed -



... and Simon, who alternates between "don't bug me" and "omg PET ME NOW" modes:

The cake is made by an amazing company in Beverly Hills called Rosebud Cakes. Click on the picture to be able to see a larger/close up version.

Their whole Flickr pool is full of stunning creations that you don't know whether to simply stand back and admire, or grab a fork and knife and dive in.

O.
M.
G.

/edit/ - well bugger, their little widget doesn't work. So here's a link direct to my photo:

http://www.capturemychicago.com/photo/303176

Thank you for any votes. I appreciate each and every one. :)

"When it comes to your own education, what I'm saying is take control. Don't say school is boring and blame it on your teachers. Make your teachers work hard. Tell them you want a first-class education. Tell them that you're here to learn. Block out the kids who think it's not cool to be smart. I can't understand for the life of me what's so great about being stupid. If someone goofs off today, are they cool? Are they still cool years from now when they're stuck in a dead-end job? Don't let peer pressure stand between you and your dreams."

- George Bush, address to Alice Deal Jr. High, 1991

I don't know this girl personally; I only know of her through those I know at Bristol Ren Faire. This is her story, copied with permission from the message boards from BRF.

*Please* take a moment of your day to click through and vote for her. You can vote every day and for once, this is a contest that you do NOT need to register or otherwise sign up for. (If you don't have the most recent java flash player you will be asked to get that, but it only takes a minute.)

* * *

Her name is Casey, and she's got osteosarcoma, which is an aggressive bone cancer that is eating away at her as we speak. In about a month she'll be losing her right leg and a portion of her pelvis sufficient to prevent use of a prosthetic.

She's also 19 years old.

She has entered a "Love your body" contest hosted by Victoria's Secret. The shortened text can be found at the link below, but here is the full text of what she wanted to say:

"I don't love the parts of my body that are affected by cancer. I don't love my tumor, or any of the nerves it's currently pressing against. I don't love the bones it has weakened to the point that I will have to use crutches even after the fracture heals in order to avoid fracturing more bones. On the other hand, I love my legs because they transport me, because I like their shape, because they've been pretty reliable for the last 19 years. I love my legs because I can move my little toes out separate from the rest of my toes. I love them because they make it possible for me to get piggy back rides. I love them because they help me dance. I love them because they come in a pair, so even when my right leg is amputated, I can still enjoy these things with my left leg. I love my arms because they support my weight on my crutches and make it possible for me to still get around without having to ask for too much help. I love my fingers for being able to grasp some things while still holding on to the crutches, without always spilling or dropping those things. I love my body's tolerance for pain, and the fact that it can take so much without making me cry in front of people. I love it for the fact that I didn't cry that one time when they were trying to hook me up to the IV and kept digging around the more tender veins in my arms. I love my body even though it doesn't look like the Victoria's Secret "A Body For Every Body" ad to the right of my screen as I type this. I love it even though it's bald and can't sexily toy with its hair, even though it has no eyebrows to arch at men, even though its bra size is only a 36A, even though its weight fluctuates but will probably never have that flat of a stomach, even though it will soon only have one leg and some people will be disgusted by it.
I love it even though it's falling apart. I love it because it's mine."

The prize for this contest is a three-day all-expenses-paid trip to NYC, includung a full spa day and other pampering prizes that she could really use after all of this awful trauma.

http://www.bodybyvictoria.com/#/Gallery/880

That is the link. All you have to do is click it, and click the vote button.

So please. Go vote. Pass along the link to your friends. Because she needs this right now. Not only the support, but also something to look forward to when she recovers from the amputation surgery.

Thank you all!

Best pierogi/Polish festival I've ever been to (and I have been to *many*) - Whiting, Indiana's Polish Fest. Runs through Sunday! But parade was only last night - got my pictures uploaded to Flickr. If you can't read the pic below, click on it for a larger version.

RIP, Walter Cronkite. NYTimes obit here.

Looking for suggestions for places to stay, eat, check out, touristy, museums, memorials, whatever - fun and interesting, especially if it's worth a little detour, around Lake Michigan, primarily:

- lower Michigan, from Ludington up to Mackinac;
- anything in the Upper Peninsula (other than the Painted Rocks National Seashore, already on the list);
- Wisconsin, eastern side between MI and Milwaukee.


thanks!

Less than 72 hours til opening and throw wide the gates at Bristol!

As seen in a food shop in Nassau, Bahamas:



If you can't read it clearly, it is labeled: Jamaican original Caribbean style International Juice - Carrot Juice and Stout.

I'll take "products that make me gag just from reading the label" for $200, Alex.

Of course, I'm sure it's just yum-yum-delish, since they had so much of it in stock.

It's only one picture, but one of my shots from Looptopia '07 is now being used on the City Colleges of Chicago website. :)

Oops. Forgot to give full link - for those interested, pictures from Fan Faire 2009 - Las Vegas are now all posted. :)

The winning costume for the 2009 Fan Faire:

I always have several books being read simultaneously, of course. Recently finished:
-- Hit by a Farm: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Barn by Catherine Friend
-- Jen Lancaster's Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me?.

Just started:
-- Geoff Nicholson's The Lost Art of Walking: The History, Science, and Literature of Pedestrianism
-- Arthur Herman's How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It
-- Antonio Graceffo's The Monk From Brooklyn: An American At The Shaolin Temple. (Graceffo's book sadly is nowhere near as entertaining as Matthew Polly's American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China; but both are interesting reads after having visited Shaolin).

For a change of pace and a much shorter title, I also recently started Terry Pratchett's Nation.

So, what's on your current reading list?

Free shipping on my Zazzle products through the end of June - use code "JUNESHIPFREE" when ordering!

If there's been any photography of mine you'd like to see on a product... now's the time to ask me to put it on something! And if there's a Chicago neighborhood you'd like to see for the In The Hood selection, state it now. (Anything I don't get posted in the next two days, I'll post on the 29th). I'll get the wider selection of designs from here over on Zazzle today or tomorrow.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Zombie March Chicago 2009 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/meryddian/sets/72157619823988210/

Chicago Steampunk - pictures from the June 4 expedition to the Art Institute modern wing are being added here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/meryddian/sets/72157603808422965/ (more to come later tonight)

I have been meaning to go to Molly's Cupcakes (2536 N. Clark St, Chicago - between Diversey & Fullerton) for quite some time, but let's put it simply, shall we? It is a good thing for my diet/weight loss efforts that the city's choice cupcake emporiums are all in Lincoln Park and thus, a major effort for me to go check out. Because seriously? Diving face-first into a cupcake display case is not a good look for anyone. And Molly's treats are *just* that awesome.

It was with some relief that I found that Molly's cupcakes are normal-sized - that is, what you can make with traditional, 12-to-a-pan old-fashioned sized cupcakes, not the massive, bigger-than-your-fist sized muffins/cupcakes that you find in the coffee shops today. (You know, the ones so huge they can be mistaken for softballs.) So, to try them out, I ordered six different flavors and took them home. Granted, I'm not proud that my dinner was a sugar-fest, but I only managed to eat approximately 3-1/2 cupcakes' worth before I keeled over in a combination of omgnomnomnom incredibly-rich goodness, and sugar shock.

Flavors in question: red velvet with French buttercream frosting; classic chocolate with cream cheese frosting; and then four "center-filled" flavors - Boston cream, cookies-n-cream, tiramisu, and strawberry shortcake. Seriously, each one was so deliciously tasty in rich that even after trying a forkful of each one, I had a hard time deciding which was tastiest. I think my favorite was the tiramisu; and the strawberry shortcake was the lightest. The Boston cream is a knock-your-socks off chocolate piece of sin (and what honestly did me in, although it was awesome).

Between 15 different daily flavors, plus cookies, bars, tarts, cakes, cheesecakes and other yummy treats, you can also design your own cupcakes from four base flavors (vanilla, chocolate, red velvet, and carrot cake), five frostings, and a dozen toppings.

Are you vegan? Don't worry, they have four different kinds of cupcake for you, too.

And if that's not enough incentive - Molly's donates a portion of every sale to help out local schools in their community.

So I'm marking Molly's as a special indulgent dietary splurge in my books, but like I said, it's good they're not local for me - because they are that incredibly delicious that I just want to run right back there!

So I was wrong, but this (really!) would've been my 2nd guess (battle debris, anyway) - they finally announced where you see R2-D2:

During the Drill Machine sequence as the Enterprise comes out of its barrel role amidst destruction of the other Federation ships above Vulcan, we cut to an interior Enterprise bridge over the shoulder of Kirk that is looking out through the front viewscreen. In space, R2-D2 is floating in the debris from about the top middle of the screen to the bottom right.

Yes, I am laughing at the fact that 1) they spelled "barrel roll" as "barrel role"; and 2) ooo some bad English there. Grammar police, activate!

(And now I must see the film again. Hmm, when does it come out on DVD?)