Went out for dinner last night and this was the scenery on the way to the restaurant. One cool thing about living here...

i watched the whole keynote (which you can do from apple's website) and actually followed the keynote live yesterday via various sites that had audio feeds and in some cases, video feeds. in all that i've read and listened to thus far, there seem to be two kinds of critics - the one who analyzes the features and what it does/doesn't have or can/can't do, and the one who actually had a chance to play with it yesterday at the media event.

yes, it can't do this and doesn't have that. no video camera. no multitasking. no flash. and yet, when you read the experiences from someone who actually played with it yesterday, you get a totally different story. it's different than anything you've ever used. it's fast. it works exactly the way you think it should based on experiences with the iphone/ipod touch. it's intuitive.

i remember when the first ipod nano came out. it wasn't the aluminum ones they have now, but rather had that polycarbonate front, kinda like the older imacs had. i went to the apple store just to look at it...and after seeing it and holding it in my hand, i ended up buying one. it was that beautiful and that amazing. i couldn't have understood that based on any keynote, any picture, or anyone's word. i had to see it for myself.

that's what's going to happen with this iPad. people are going to question it, diss it, etc. but they'll play with it and hold it in their hands...and i'm guessing more than a few will end up buying it when they had no intention of doing so at the start. i imagine juri and i will get one...we travel enough that it's something we would make good use of...but who am i kidding - we'd find a reason to buy one anyway.

seems like everyone knows of my fondness for bacon. I'm the "bacon-loving vegetarian"...nice part is that I get interesting goodies as gifts. Some of my recent loot - bubble gum, floss, chocolate, and band aids.

we had chance to check out the new modern wing at the art institute last wednesday.  it was nice, though not jaw-dropping.  it reminded me a bit of the tate in london, with the long wooden stairs.  the best part of the modern wing is that it overlooks millennium park, and their new restaurant, terzo piano, has a patio area that overlooks the park as well.  the video is of that patio area, obviously unavailable for dining, but absolutely beautiful with the snow.