My first impression of Chicago is that it's very gray. That may just be the weather. It's windy and chilly today; rained quite a bit last night. The streets are lined with chain stores. I haven't seen much of the city yet, but so far, it's lacking in charm. But I've been here barely 18 hours, so we'll see.

The trash can in the airport was labeled "Waste Paper." Hopefully not an instruction.

On the flight, the flight attendants were trying very hard to get rid of beverages and pretzels. Usually they're very stingy. This time, "Are you sure I can't get you a can of soda? Are you sure?" "Would you like another bag of pretzels?" "Here's another bag of pretzels." (throws one at me) "For the love of God, have a can of soda!" Maybe all the soda and pretzels were weighing down the plane. Then again, having the passengers eat the pretzels shouldn't solve that problem.

This morning, I'm wandering around the American Bar Association TechShow exhibit hall. It's a trade show, filled with electronics vendors, law firms, and the ubiquitous Lexis and Westlaw. I'm collecting pens. They're all giving out pens. I think I'm up to about 40. Also: a frisbee, a couple of keychains, a coffee tumbler, a paper clip holder, a yo-yo, and a toy basketball. I'm disappointed at the lack of stress balls and kooshes. There's a bias toward pens over toys. Definitely a disappointment. Although pens are okay too. I feel like I seem young enough that none of the vendors actually thinks I'm looking to buy any of their products, so I'm free to grab the pens and keep walking, without anyone trying to engage me in conversation. So that's good. This should occupy another 20 minutes or so, and then I'm off to lunch. One of my friends goes to law school at Northwestern, and is in their Parody show, and I think I'm getting to see the dress rehearsal tonight -- I have plans tomorrow night and Saturday, which are the two nights the show is being performed. So that should be cool -- I'm excited to see that. It should be fun.