the arrival

My return to the Midwest after a long stint on the west coast was welcome. I enjoyed my time over there, learned a lot about publishing and experienced a different way to do life. Really, San Francisco has a lot to offer, especially when it comes to people. I find that it's people that almost always make my travel experience special. I'll forget the memorable sites and the delicious dinners eaten out; I'll forget the trips to the grocer and rides on the BART. But what I won't forget are the ones I did life with. And now I know if I ever find myself out there again I'll have friends, and I won't be the least bit frightened to do the same thing in another unknown city with unknown people and an unknown public transit system.

San Francisco: nearly closing remarks

This week has been a good week. Recaps.

Sunday-Vetoed Sickness, got my operation Christmas Child box, saw Role Models with Brandon. Quality time, well spent.

Monday- Tired, but last week, so on my game, naturally. Have been charming and clever ever since. Caught up on Brothers and Sisters.

Tuesday- Celebrated a friend's birthday, attempted a human birthday present, failed. Somehow got home by 2:30 a.m. Pas Bueno.

Wednesday- Climbed! Up, Up and Up at Mission Cliff. Twas marvelous. Then got delicious quasadillas. Yum. Also got booted from my desk at Ode to make room for the new intern. It was all fine until I then got booted from my other desk to sit in the corner. Seriously. Therefore crept about the office in hopes of scaring people in just the right way, so they'll never forget me. So far it's going well.

Thursday- Office glory days. We all ate lunch together outside and had goodbye cupcakes. It's nice to feel like I actually count at the office. I got a Mostess cupcake, as in, the most delicious cupcake that resembles a Hostess cupcake, yet is somehow masterful in comparison. Yeah, that's right. That cupcake.

And the week's still continuing. Tomorrow, Friday, I will be in the office for a few hours then am headed to the city for San Francisco's Green Fest. That's the only way to clinch my time in this liberal fairy land. The pun was not intended, though is hilarious, so therefore works. My mom will be flying in, so she's going to meet me at the fest and enjoy herself as she basks in all the recycling, sustainable, energy efficient wonders of this great city. Then we'll eat steaks like real midwesterners. I'm looking forward to it.

it all counts. down.

Top Ten Favorite Things About San Francisco:

1. People here. They're all pretty fun.

2. Pub Crawls in the Mission District with pretty much strangers.

3. Museums and sites.

4. Union Square on crisp Sundays.

5. Sunsets here are brilliant.

6. Recycling Bins on streets. What a concept.

7. Mexican food.

8. Office dance parties slash sass.

9. Mountains in the backdrop.

10. Boats sailing away through Golden Gate.

I didn't take this picture. But it's accurate. I vouch.

I'm resurrecting this. Heh.

I'm resurrecting this picture from a post I wrote long ago.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I always do.

Return of the Sick Kid

Sophomore year I used to get sick a lot. So much so that I was always armed with a bottle of Dayquil and Nyquil caps all the time. I'm afraid those days are back. I have no voice. I'm wearing my gray sweat suit any chance I get, and I think I lost a lung somewhere along the way. I've been feeling foggy all week, perhaps why I've posted so much, haven't been able to concentrate on work or life or whatever. I somehow managed a phone job interview the other day. I hope I was coherent. As for me, I really can't say. I am so tired, and it's terrible because it's the kind of tired where you absolutely need to sleep, but can't because you're so congested, you're coughing and you can't get used to the light outside peering through the blinds.

I made some tea. It's that herbal kind that's called something like sleepy time or whatever. It's chamomile and lavender. I like both of those. But I just popped a Zicam, so all's lost, I have to wait 15 minutes to drink anything. Sort of a drag when I really need some fluids right now. Anyone got any "get better" tips?

Also, I'm sorry if I spell things wrong or my grammar is off. It's due to the cold and my inability to notice anything not glaring me in the face. k, bye.

Shocked

A good friend of mine sent me a truly disheartening link to a news story today. It broke my heart a little bit. The story was about a racist hate crime that happened on Baylor University in Waco, Texas. This friend went to school there and is a Barrack fanatic. It's true. So, the story went as follows: after Barrack was elected President of the US racial tensions spewed on Tuesday night between white and black students on the Baptist university's campus. Obama/Biden lawn signs were burned and a noose was left in a tree. No one has been arrested yet.

It's particularly heartbreaking because even earlier this morning I received a link to an Ezra Klein blog post from The American Prospect.. This post had me ecstatic. I even wrote about it on Ode's Exchange. I hope that our country can get over the history we have endured, and I'm just perplexed that we haven't yet.

Below is the photo Klein writes of:

Revitalizing

So, I have an affinity for sad songs, it appears. In which case, that's strange. This isn't the first time I've been told I'm a little depressing when it comes to music. I don't know what it is. I remember a post from Brian and I about a year or so ago chronicling this notion of me and sad music.

Sometimes good lyrics are all you need

For some reason I have listened to this song around five times today and probably will listen some more.

"Juner," Polydream, off of Send Me to the Sun

I’ve left my mind
With hopes of finding
A reason for this life.

I’ve learned to long
To lose what I’ve loved
So it goes, sometimes.

I think my life is fine.
There’s no use in asking me why.
Sometime my dreams are to die,
And I wonder what it’d be like to fly.

I’ve left my mind.
You lose and you learn...
I’ve been bitter
But I’m much, much better today.

I’ve got so long
You only live once.
I don’t know what you said
But it just don’t matter now.

And I'm doin' fine.
I think my life is fine.
There’s no use in asking me why.
Sometime my dreams are to die,
And I wonder what it’d be like to fly.

What you have is all you need.
Talking out of sympathy.
It's a final serenade.
Consider this your serenade.

Well, I think my life is fine.
There’s no use in asking me why.
Sometime my dreams are to die,
And I wonder what it’d be like to fly.

I think my life is fine
There's no use in asking me why
Sometime my dreams are to die,
And I wonder what it'd be like to fly.

Exchange/ Caricatures/ College: no cohesion

Recently I've been posting a lot of entries on OdeMagazine.com. It's been a nice change of pace. I'm writing short blurbs on interesting events, people and places—plus I'm commenting on other exchangers' posts. We're trying to drive more traffic to the web, and one way to do it is by adding more content regularly throughout the day. This is where I and my colleagues come in. Oh, and you too. We're planning on redesigning our site in the near future to make it more of a social utility allowing readers to have more of an interactive experience with Ode.

So far there haven't been a lot of comments on stories, posts or profiles. I've taken it upon myself to start writing on random strangers' exchange stories. Whether they're argumentative or in appreciation doesn't matter much. I pretty much just write a caricature of what I would have said in real life if an actual friend of mine had said whatever it was whomever wrote. I use the word caricature all the time, and what about those people who make funny drawings of people who pay a rather large sum for something a 6-year-old would have done free and with more enjoyment. Anyway, I always used to want an actual picture caricature of myself, but now I'm glad I don't have one—though there was this one time a neighbor of mine had an artist friend visit from Finland or somewhere in Scandinavia, and he drew me. It was too true to form though to be a caricature. Anyway, caricatures are neither here nor there.

ODE. Yes, Ode's been cranking out web pieces left and right. I've been writing around 3-6 web stories per day along with completing various other tasks. My point in all of this is to simply say, check it out, here, if you will. You can even add your own pieces. I like interactive story sites like Ode's offers. It's none of that iReport crap that CNN.com has. I seriously hate that stuff. Sometimes they'll write full stories based solely on iReporters. It's stupid. Plus, aren't they stealing that whole "i" thing from Apple?

Sorry this is scattered, I've got a lot on my mind, and it doesn't help that I cant' concentrate because I'm sick. I've had Dayquil, Nyquil, Zicam, Benedryl, Allegra, cough drops and chamomile tea—still, I am sick. Season changes never cease to ruin me (I had reunion me, originally, that's how scattered I am). Speaking of changes, or rather transitions, I'm moving back to Chicago in a bit. My last day at Ode is next Friday, November 14. My mom's flying out, we're going to spend the weekend in SF, then drive down the coast in a rented set of wheels to LA. We're visiting my sister and my college roommate, Elizabeth Steele, and it is going to be glorious. We'll be back by the 21st. Life is just going again. Pretty soon I'll be 40, and then what will I have to write about. Gees. I miss college. I never thought I'd be one of those people, but I am. I look at the photos of my friends who are still in college and really just want to be there too. I'm seriously thinking graduate school. International studies? History? We'll see. I miss classroom learning.

Ryan Adam and the Cardinals: Cardinalogy

Sometimes I will go weeks without listening to music solely. When I was in high school this would have been a travesty. I listened to music all the time as a teenager, but that's all I would be doing. I would be staring at the ceiling listening to music. Now, I'm lucky if I remember to flip on my iTunes as I get ready in the morning, or remember my iPod or can cook with music on. This thought all came about because I recently acquired the new Ryan Adams and the Cardinals album Cardinology. I've been listening to it on repeat as of late. I quite enjoy it. It's great to listen to when working, when getting ready before work, and in the evenings. It's something I can listen to just by itself. I don't feel like I need to be multitasking when I listen to it. It's because I don't feel like I'm being idle when I'm listening to it. I emailed it to a friend of mine the other day when asked to recommend some good Ryan Adams tune-age. I started with Fix It, and then realized that couldn't just be it. There are so many good ones on this album—pretty much all, except "Magick." And that once was obviously going to be not the greatest based solely on the spelling. It makes it seem like it will be about the card game Magick, popular with Dungeon and Dragons fans the world over.

In any case, "Cobwebs" is my new favorite today.
Somewhere impossible light still shines and every smile is as if new
Sometimes I feel like the static in the attic is making me just confused

If I fall will you catch me?
If I'm sorry, sorry enough
If I fall will you pity me?
Will you confuse my love for the cobwebs?
Confuse my love for the cobwebs?

I always pause if I can on fifth avenue look uptown with my head in the stars
Somewhere the buildings give way to sunlight give way to east and west central park

If I fall will you catch me?
If I'm sorry, sorry enough
If I fall will you pity me?
Will you confuse my love for the cobwebs?
Will you confuse my love for the cobwebs?
For the cobwebs?

Will you confuse my love for the cobwebs?
Confuse my love for the cobwebs?
For the cobwebs?

Happy Election Day.

Is it horrible that I am more excited for the election tomorrow just so I don't have to talk about politics with everyone left and right? It's not that I'm not jazzed about gaining a new leader. I'm glad that life is moving on and the political process is moving again. It's funny. The last time there was an election I accidentally voted twice. I think. To be honest, I can't remember. I know I requested an absentee ballot for Illinois, but I distinctly remember voting at Quad freshman year at the UI.

In any case, my roommate at the time was very much into a Kerry presidency. Having just left home, ie the land of Catholic small business owners along Chicago's north shore, I was effectively brought to vote for President Bush. I mostly did it in protest of my roommate. She was really annoying with all the Kerry campaign garbage, and I was more interested in annoying her than giving an opinion. I suppose that's the 18-year-old way? If not, then I guess I was just immature. In any case, it didn't matter anyway. Iowa went to Bush and Illinois never had a chance to go to him.

I find myself in a similar situation today. I had the option of voting absentee in Illinois or at the booth in California. I enjoy getting the sticker more than anything announcing to everyone that I voted, so I chose California, naturally. I'm wishing I voted over the weekend at city hall. Tomorrow I have to wake up at 6 am to walk two blocks in order to get to the polling place. Oh well. My sleep is what I'm willing to sacrifice for democracy. Anyway, I know "every vote counts," but at the same time, both California and Illinois are going to Senator Obama. I could see it mattering if I voted in Iowa or Illinois. Swing states, and all. But, is it just me, or does it seem like the popular vote doesn't matter anyway? We all saw Al Gore lose, and we saw Florida fumble last time—I suppose it does matter. And I will be seen voting tomorrow, wearing my sticker proudly, and I'll be watching the announcement on television with other seemingly like minded individuals. I'll be toasting to a renewing four years, and I'll be glad that life is moving on, and Saturday Night Live will have more to coast on.

But what I'm most happy about is that this is a time where the United States gets a chance to revitalize our stance in the world. We get to not so much get a do over, but we get a chance to remake ourselves. I'm just happy that it seems we'll have a president that cares about how we look to the rest of the world. Honestly, that's one of the most important things to me. There's nothing more detrimental to a country than to boast, and say you can go it alone. Because, really, we can't. We're one country in one world, and everyone else matters.

Not Exactly a Halloween Spider Web

Instead of doing Halloween this year I somehow roped myself into creating my own website. I'm a big fan of it, but maybe that's only because I've been awake for almost 22 hours straight. I should probably hit the hay.

Anyway, here's the site, if you're interested.

HERE

Enjoy!