Here is a little New Years diddy to get you in the mood for the better of the two holidays of the holiday season. Hope every one has a safe and Happy New Year.

Could that old office building be an archtectural gem?  On Tuesday, December 20, WBEZ radio had a feature story about a group of students and faculty from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who have taken on the task of documenting architecturally significant municipal, commericial and religious buildings in the Cook County suburbs from the frequently-overlooked 1930-1970 period.  These and previous findings constitute the Landmarks Illinois "Recent Past Survey," which includes many Arlington Heights buildings, such as St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church and Grandt's Shell station on Northwest Highway.  You can search/browse the full database (for Arlington Heights and many other communities) or enjoy some slideshows of select communities from the Survey's homepage.  If you're further interested in Arlington Heights history, you may want to check out some books on the Village's history from our collection.  Also make sure to take a look at the site for the upcoming 125th anniversary celebration (quasquicentennial).

Seems like I've been hearing this argument my whole life! What better time than now to make it happen. I'm sure some candidate could get some traction for pushing the death of the penny.

Originally found on ritholtz.com

There was a UPS truck dangling off the Rt.53 overpass at Northwest Highway early this morning. Might be a delay for some of Santa's presents getting delivered today.

It's been a busy week and haven't had much time for H.Ave, twitter and such.

To break the drought, here's a video from an album I've been enjoying a lot lately. It's not the latest album by The Horrors, but it's new to me. Digging that retro sound.