It always amazes me how quickly the time goes by when I don't want it to.

Paul, a very good friend from my days at the U of Salzburg came to visit me this weekend. He and his wife are living in California for the time being, which very often seems just as far away as Austria. I mean, I can't really drive there, it takes 4 1/2 hours and several hundered dollars to fly there... very frustrating.

Anyhow, so Paul came to Chicago on Friday, and from the minute I met him at the airport (topic for a future blog), I was in a good place. Lots of chatting, lots of laughter - I can't tell you how long it has been since I laughed that much. He is a very witty person and I really wish that I could remember the things he said or describe some of the way he says stuff, because you'd laugh your ass off too. I realized from our very short visit that I really don't laugh enough in my current life.

I'm not going give you the blow-by-blow of the weekend. Mostly because much alcohol was involved, and I can't remember every single detail. Also, I suspect the details would bore you, and I wouldn't want that.

I can share this with you though:

1. In my email asking Paul what he wanted to do in Chicago, he mentioned only that he wanted to drink tea and people watch, and that he ate apples for breakfast. During his 2.2 days here, Paul only ate an apple under extreme pressure, and didn't drink the tea I'd made him because he didn't like it.

2. I realized that a phrase that I say very, very often has my origins from him. I'm glad I figured this out, because I've been wondering how this very unmichelle like phrase got in my vocabulary. Can you guess what his phrase is? Hint: I use it to express surprise.

3. I took Paul on the El. He was a little freaked out I think, especially because of the stairs, but mostly because the urban myth surrounding the Chicago Transit Authority.

4. We had a good laugh at a CD he bought in Little India. He really digs Sitar music, and a guy at a media store told him that he thought he'd really like a particular CD. I don't remember the name of the artist, but I couldn't have spelled his name properly even if I did. This music was so ... not what Paul was expecting. We put the CDs on the Wall of Sound, listened to the first one, which was really good. While the music was playing, we were looking at old photos, relaxing and just enjoying life. Then suddenly, CD 2 came on, and it sounded like this. We were particularly amused by the throat clearing and moaning and the sound of what could only be gargling sheep.

5. We attended the Chicago Oktoberfest in Lincoln Square - the ever shrinking German neighborhood. Actually, we stumbled upon it on our way to get some good Austrian beer. Naturally we hung out there enjoying liquid pleasures, and when we finally did leave, it was via taxi. The next morning, when we went back for the car, we saw this. You might not be able to tell what that is a picture of, because I don't have any real photo editing software. It is a picture of a fountain, in which somebody had dumped much soap. There were kids playing in it, enjoying the bubbles and the suds, and a woman with a broom trying to remove the suds... neither the children or the woman took any notice of each other.

6. I was much to busy enjoying life to try to record very much. Besides, Paul was kind of getting annoyed with me trying to take pictures of him all morning.

So that is the short version of my lovely weekend. Perhaps later in the week, when I am feeling more creative, I'll get to the whole airport rant, or tell you about the Oktoberfest crowd.