Life at an Intersection

Chicago Phoenix, indemnity bonds, journaling, really really really want a zigazig ah, travel, books, travel books, relationships, values. It is hard to pinpoint precisely, but I'd say about 82% of what you read here is true. The rest is fictional nonfiction.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Rock River

It seems that I am a single man once again. Furthermore, it seems that every time I become a newly-single man, I celebrate by purchasing a new bedding set.

Whatever, judge me, whatever. It helps me.

I actually rearranged my entire apartment yesterday. My apartment is a studio, so no big deal. But those small changes have given me a bit more space, a breath of fresh air, some nice tweaks. Oh, I like that last sentence! How I would like to apply it to my life writ larger.

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Sometimes life is like a pretty bowl full of something that looks a lot like diarrhea.

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I played pool boy one lovely Sunday afternoon this summer. I think this was, all things considered, the best summer of my life. I might be overselling it.

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This pigeon waiting nervously at the bus stop with me was tagged. I thought it worthy of a photo.

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Lincoln Karaoke is really Lincoln KTV. I went with a couple of Koreans. These aren't them. It was pretty fun.

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I still look the same. I still wear that same hat.

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Had to go to the last movie in the park (aka Chicago Outdoor Film Festival) alone. This is my favorite summer thing, these movies in the park, but it turns out that I don't like to go it alone anymore. Not after I had such wonderful company for so many weeks. Miss you, Marv.

I'm hoping to take some time off soon. I have a nice long weekend for the Labor Day holiday coming up. I should be going to visit my family down in Virginia the next week, and I'd like to make it out to Portland sometime in the coming months. I need to stretch my legs a bit, get out of this nutty metropolis.

Currently Reading:
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott


Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Buddy

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It was my birthday. We went to a slightly pretentious Asian restaurant that I've always wanted to visit, replete with beautiful waitstaff, deafening music, and snobby people. I drank this watermelon martini. It was delicious.

So I'm 30. And big deal. Like I said before, as long as people are surprised when they find out that I'm 30, I'm okay with it. When I actually start looking 30 and acting 30 and having the kind of responsibilities that most people acquire around the age of 30, that's when I'll get all bitter and depressed about it. For now, it is cool. But I'm not changing my age on any of my online dating profiles.

I didn't do any sort of blow-out, big deal wham-she-bam or anything like that. I decided that since the events of my August - work and school-fizzle related - conspired to make this an unfortunately-timed watershed moment, I'm gonna have to really tear it up for my 31st. India in 2010, anyone?

I had a really great birthday, though. Everyone treated me very well, and for days on end, actually. Thanks for your cards and gifts and wishes and words.

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This is Coldplay, when they came out into the audience to sing! Yeah, we weren't that close. But the concert was awwww-some.

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This will be one of my favorite people to think about in the coming months. His name is Scott, and he looks exceedingly like James Marsden; four out of five friends who have been consulted on this agree. He leaves for Madrid next Tuesday for a year of schooling. He has made my summer wonderful in a hundred ways. He is kind, thoughtful, loving, adventurous, fun, and challenging. Because of his plans for this fall, our relationship had an expiration date stamped on it the very first time we met. But I'm happy to say that our friendship won't expire, and I look forward to having him in my life in the future.

Ending on good terms! How nice.

Currently Listening to:
Stupid Love by Mindy Smith

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Saturday, August 1, 2009

Grand Mall

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And so the older sibling abuse begins: new nephew Jesse with old niece Ellie

Currently listening to Sufjan Stevens. Currently watching Watchmen. Currently reading something with the rather trite title A Fraction of the Whole - it is much better than the title suggests. Currently drinking root beer and locking my big toes together.

There is no taste more nostalgic for me than the taste of root beer. It is the taste of my grandparents' house in rural Ohio, the taste of the incredibly exciting visits there during holidays and summers. The tractor rides or trudges through that oh-so exotic substance called snow, the Christmas mornings or summer birthday parties with Dairy Queen ice cream cakes. Mine was the one in the shape of a log, Amy's was the heart-shaped one. Oh but the root beer - I remember the exact place in the pantry where the root beer was kept. I remember looking at it often, admiring it. Ignoring the other bottles of other flavors that were obviously for the boring taste buds of the boring adults. Ginger ale, anyone? Blech. Faygo was my grandma's brand. Didn't make any difference to me at the time, though now I suspect that seemingly innocuous bottle label may have had an acute effect on my adult sexual identity.

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This afternoon on my bus ride home from work a woman in the front of the vehicle experienced some sort of medical crisis. It was intense and heartbreaking. The bus was full but not crowded, I was far to the back - my preferred seating - and the first indication that something was wrong was when this very loud, practical-looking woman with a shopping bag said, "Bus driver, I think we have an incident here." My first thought, hilariously, was that someone had touched her inappropriately, and she was gonna take care of business right there in front of us all. Instead, she crossed the aisle to this young African-American woman who appeared at first to be sobbing rather heavily. After a few seconds, it became clear that she was in fact experiencing some sort of seizure. Her head was rolling and jerking and her hands were moving very erratically. Another young lady from the middle of the bus moved quickly to the front to see to the girl. I thought they might have been together - funny how irrationally one can think during these critical moments - but it turned out that she was a nurse. I think she was a wonderful person to have on the bus, not at all shy about helping out or employing her skills. In a simple, understated way, heroic. These two ladies calmed her, encouraged her, and gave her comfort until the ambulance came to take her to get help. They are good people.

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So, I bought one of those big hand soap refills and a 6-pack of toilet paper today. Guess I'm staying in Chicago. I actually did get an acceptance letter on Thursday to the school in Savannah that I applied to back in February. Ha ha, fuck you and all the snails that work in your admissions department, AASU.

I am still romantically involved with that handsome, vegan Jew that I told you about earlier. He's away for the weekend at a family wedding - oh my gosh, a Jewish wedding, how fun! - so I'm using these days as practice for returning to life on my own. He's leaving for Madrid in just a few weeks, so I'm wringing every drop of fun out of him that I can in the meantime. We went to a Coldplay concert up in Wisconsin last weekend, we've attended every Tuesday night movie down in Grant Park so far this summer, and we are now on a first name basis with the staff of the restaurant Crisp just down the street here. He's not big on shopping or the beach, so I get plenty of me time too.

What a great summer it has been. I hope that yours has been great, too. Let's have tea sometime soon and talk about it.

Currently looking forward to turning 30, just to get it over with already.

Twitter / Davie_St

Words That I'm Living By - 5/2/2010

Time, as I've known it
Doesn't take much time to pass by me
Minutes into days, turn into months
Turn into years, they hurry by me
But still I love to see the sun go down
And the world go around

Dreams full of promises
Hopes for the future, I've had many
Dreams I can't remember now
Hopes that I've forgotten,
faded memories
But still I love to see the sun go down
And the world go around

And I love to see the morning
as it steals across the sky
I love to remember and
I love to wonder why
And I hope that I'm around
so I can be there when I die
When I'm gone

I hope that you will think of me
In moments when you're happy and you're smiling
That the thought will comfort you
On cold and cloudy days
if you are crying
And that you'll love to see
the sun go down
And the world go around
And around and around

"Around and Around" by Mark Kozelek

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