Lots of folks out and proud this weekend. It's Ecuadorian pride, apparently and my neighborhood is awash in the flag. This is how you demonstrate pride in Chicago...one big-ass flag tucked into the hood of your car, flags off every passenger window and antenna, a big flag attached to a mast on the trunk, tiny flags on the windshield wipers, and maybe a guy leaning out the window with a flag.

I have a flag tattoo, it's the Tennessee flag. "Tennessee" is as much ethnicity as I can claim...I'm white but I don't know what varietal I am. I kind of wish it wasn't red, white and blue. A guy at the pool on Friday asked me if it was an Aryan nations symbol. Sigh.

Also the Korean street festival a few blocks from my house. Folks might get excited about St. Patrick's Day, Puerto Rican Pride, gay festivals, but I didn't get the sense that people traveled from the metropolitan area to see the Korean street festival. Mostly older folks manning booths with younger, bored kids on their cellphones.

I went to the big Market Days street festival yesterday and today and I saw the greatest prop in the world. A man was carrying a Labrador puppy. Who doesn’t want to stop and scratch a puppy? Excellent choice.

The utilikilt people had a booth. If you’ve ever wondered why no one has combined the functionality of cargo shorts or carpenter’s pants with the freedom and breeziness of a skirt, your journey has ended. Never having worn a skirt, I’m skeptical. The website encourages us skeptics to not underestimate the power of “an un bifurcated garment”. Judging by the folks at the utilikilt booth, it’s mostly the leather folks who are enjoying the power of un bifurcation. “Bifurcate” is the sort of word that doesn’t get used very much in conversation and it seems like wearing a kilt is already enough pretension without using that sort of language.

To sum up; Labrador puppies? Yes. Kilts and their attendant lack of bifurcation? No.