Summer in the City

Well, to start things off, I am just gonna go ahead and say what everyone already knows. Hayden Christenson is a HORRIBLE actor. I am watching the second Star Wars movie, and just...wow. He makes Keanu Reeves look good.

But anyway. On to something more relevant. This weekend was rather busty, I suppose. As I still haven't unpacked my apartment. Friday evening, Mary came over and we walked around the neighborhood, observing the different types of people who were going out to the different bars. WAIT....I forgot about my exciting Thursday evening...

Spiderman came in town, and after walking all around to meet up , we decided to try the bar that had Iowa flags out front that I had discovered the night before. So we sit down, try the special ($2 domestic bottles) and order delicious spinach artichoke dip and tater tots. A bit later, the bartender comes up to us and says,
"Hey guys, just wanted you to know that it's open bar for the next hour.""
us: "What do you mean 'open bar'?"
him: "Well drinks and drafts are free."
us: "WHAT?!?!?!"
He blew our collective mind. Seriously. And he even experimented for us, and gave us some non-well alcohol. We had 7 drinks between the two of us. It truly was a Good Bar. Which was its name. In fact, it was a GREAT bar.

Back to Friday. Mary and I had ice cream from the 24-hour Baskin-Robbins/Dunkin Donuts/Deli across the street. Then we discovered that the bars in the two blocks around me practically have a dress code on Friday nights...short black dress, high heels, caked on make-up and lots of hairspray. I think it's because I live close to DePaul. Going a bit farther north, you notice the more eccentric type people. And the eccentric stores...And then if you go all the way to Wrigleyville (which is like...15 min walk, tops), you see people who are a bit older than the people who were down here.

Saturday I slept in pretty late and found out that if I sleep past 8, the sun shines directly in my face. I need to get some curtains or something. Later in the day, Rory came over for a bit, and after an unsuccessful attempt to install my AC, we went to Starbucks and then to the free Stevie Wonder concert at Taste of Chicago where we met Carol and Christina.

I noticed a few things: Firstly, everyone who goes to Stevie Wonder concerts like Obama. Or...maybe just everyone in Illinois. It's hard to tell. But I did see a LOT of Obama shirts. And let's face it, who would want to wear a shirt with McCain on it anyway? He's old. I don't wear shirts with my elders' faces on them. Ew. Ok, my second point was that it was rather humorous to see all the older people who were singing/dancing along. Or the groups of people who would just SCREAM out lyrics. I was entertained.

After the concert, and after Christina and Carol had to leave, Rory and I wandered around until we found a somewhat affordable restaurant that was open. We settled on a Cajun-style one that tried to look like Louisiana inside. You know, signs on the walls, mardi gras beads, bayou dirtiness. Like a Crackerbarrel, but Southern-themed. The food was delicious, though. Rory and I had a nice chat about Notre Dame, people at Notre Dame, the past, etc.

Sunday was also a pretty exciting day...first...I GOT CABLE AND INTERNET! It was weird when the cable guy was on his rickety ladder outside my window. I thought he would fall for sure...but he didn't. I am not a fan of Comcast's high prices, and I think it is probably good for me not to spend all my time online or watching TV or whatever, but it's nice to have. And now I can watch Saved By The Bell before work!

I went to meet Spiderman and Tracey and Brad at the Southport stop (to walk over to the "Alliance" together and eventually a party), but they were running a little late, so I had time to buy a sandwich and a personal item which I had neglected to apply before I left. (ok, so your mind doesn't jump to crazy conclusions...deodorant).
Overall, it was a day of backtracking. We first got lost on our way to Maddog and Devlin's house. Twice. Then we picked up Erin and headed to the parade. The parade was fun, lots of people wearing crazy multicolored outfits, lots of really nice men bodies and not so nice female ones, and alcohol. When we realized we would have to cross the parade to get to the party, we decided to go to a liquor store and buy beer. Which we promptly opened in the parking lot. And then Brad and Devlin and I got lost in the parking lot labyrinth. It started to rain a bit, which gave us the perfect opportunity to cross the street and get to the party! We watched the rest of the parade from a covered balcony.

One observation...I saw WAY more girls making out than guys. What's up with that? Brad had a funny quote, as we walked through the insane parade crowd: "This is like the gay Backer on a football weekend." It was probably the best discription for it. But I didn't get as much beer spilled on me.

After the parade/party, we went to Bar Louie. And yeah, that was my day. Time to move the narrative along...

Yesterday after work I went to a Tapas restaurant with Carol, Rory, and Carol's friends from ND and people she met through a U of Chicago get-together. It was fun to get a bunch of people together and do something like that on a Monday.

Ok, I am getting tired of writing and i need to grab dinner. Tomorrow there is a work-sponsored party thing after work...free food and beverages! Maybe I will make some friends, although I tend to do much better at stealing them. I opened a bank account today. Like a grown up...ish. (Ok, this makes the 3rd one I have. Whatever.) AND...I got my Chicago card today, so i can ride the el AS MUCH AS I WANT!!! Yeah! (not that I couldn't do it before, but now that I have unlimited rides...)

Additionally...you should check out the new Girl Talk album...AMAZING. So many good songs! Anddd...Happy 4th of July! Makes me want to sing proud to be an american! (but only at 3am) Ok, one more thing. I am really tempted to just take the South Shore to South Bend one of these days to go to the backer. Because I can.