John Travolta, I Feel Your Pain

A year ago, John Travolta stood on stage at the Oscar’s and pronounced Idina Menzel’s name as: Adele Dazeem. At this year’s Academy Awards, Travolta had the chance to redeem himself and succeeded in the pronunciation, but did a strange amount of chin touching, treating Menzel’s face like a mound of clay at a pottery... Read more »
By Chris OB,
Monday at 8:29 am

Sometimes You Hop in the Car with a Stranger

Sometimes you have to break up with your dentist. Not because of anything they did or didn’t do, but because your health plan changes and naturally, well, you just kind of drift apart. It’s a situation that shouldn’t be stressful at all, but since I am the king of turning the simple into sizzles and... Read more »
By Chris OB,
February 16, 2015 at 8:30 am

The Escalator Dictator

I try to respect every form of commuter. Everyone from the, “I still need space to read my Kindle on a crowded train” to the, “Just want to let you know, I’m gonna sneeze all over the place,” these are my fellow Chicagoans, we are all trying to survive the long winter commute. When I... Read more »
By Chris OB,
February 9, 2015 at 7:20 am
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Let's Get the Beans out of Chili

Winter is chili’s season to shine and Chicago is very much a chili city. Chili brings people together in the cold, takes hot dogs to a whole ‘nother level of heartburn and even the most conservative work places will support a chili cook off. I am at the point in my life where I would... Read more »
By Chris OB,
January 30, 2015 at 7:30 am

Finding Value in the January Blues

Six years ago, and I think it may actually be six years ago to this day, I sat down in the computer lab on the third floor of my college dorm and started typing up a poem. Technique, formatting, the fact that I hadn’t written a poem in years, none of that mattered. In that... Read more »
By Chris OB,
January 26, 2015 at 7:28 am

Fighting off the January Flu

I am not a believer in the flu shot. This is not an anti-medicine stance or a skepticism of the shot’s effectiveness. I fully believe the flu shot works. Just not against what I’m fighting each January. The flu shot protects you from outside forces, giving you peace of mind when the guy on the... Read more »
By Chris OB,
January 19, 2015 at 8:48 am
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Rethinking New Year's Resolutions

I never remember having school called off because it was too cold outside. I don’t mean for that to sound like the ol: back when I was a kid we played tackle football and never had sriracha flavored anything, but all I can remember were snow days existing on two occasions: either an overnight avalanche... Read more »
By Chris OB,
January 12, 2015 at 9:12 am

Oh January - You Cold Sad Month

January and I have a bit of a history. An ongoing battle that is nowhere near being finished. Every other month comes and goes, just another page on the calendar. But January, I get chills typing the name. I think my apartment  just dropped 10 degrees. January is my Voldermort and the aching forehead scar is... Read more »
By Chris OB,
January 5, 2015 at 9:25 am

But what if you just moved Christmas back a week?

I have let down my fellow squirrels. Throughout this series I’ve made squirrel-ism seem like a disease. I have been too forgiving toward the shoppers and grasshoppers. Offering advice left and right on how squirrels should give in, put aside our cheapness for the Christmas season and enjoy spending money on expensive gifts. That all... Read more »
By Chris OB,
December 15, 2014 at 10:08 pm
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Taming the Squirrel - Last Minute Christmas Ideas

Before diving into the Taming the Squirrel Christmas Edition finale, I wanted to cover a few stray pieces of Christmas advice. Ideas that, individually, I couldn’t write an entire blog post about, but they might make good appetizers leading up to potentially my squirreliest, stingiest, Scroogiest idea yet. Stray Squirrels  1. What do you buy... Read more »
By Chris OB,
December 15, 2014 at 7:04 am
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    Chris OB

    I was born and raised in Midland, Michigan and moved here to Chicago a couple years ago after graduating from Hope College. I live in the city with my beautiful wife Ashley. A little bit about me - I go to bed early, I enjoy greasy food and would wear sweatpants everyday if I were allowed to. I just signed up for a year-long Divvy membership, but could very well be the slowest bicyclist in Chicago. I write the Medium Rare blog and will have a new post up every Monday.

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