Here I am at 7 p.m. on a Friday night in the heart of Chicago's magnificent mile, a place that people come from the world over to shop (Neiman Marcus, Tiffany & Co., Coach, Lord & Taylor, etc.), and what am I doing? Hanging out in the MAC store blogging.

Nothing else to do. I sure as heck can't afford anything in this city.

I have been walking around "shopping" for a few hours now & I'm struck my the same feeling I have every time I come to this city -- a weird sort of sadness and shame in the human race. The excess here is ridiculous and just outside of all of these overpriced stores with all their overpriced merchandise, the homeless beg for spare change.

The juxtaposition of it all is just too much for me. Such complete poverty mingling with obscene wealth (and, trust me, if you can shop Michigan Ave. in Chicago, you are wealthy).

I don't know why, but it just makes me sad.

And it makes me miss our little city -- where things make sense.

And no one would pay $145 for a purse.