gloomy in chicago

It's a rainy day, but I prefer puddles to piles of snow so I'm not complaining. Instead here are a few reasons why I am so happy to call the windy city my home away from home.

1. Buckingham Fountain. I have a thing for fountains, and this one might be the most beautiful one I've ever seen.

2. Summer. Everyone is just so happy that they survived the winter, you don't want to stay indoors. And the wind that chills you to the bone from November to April is much appreciated in those summer months.

3. Wrigley Field. Not a huge baseball fan, but that place is amazing.

4. Millenium Park. Yea, Chicago should have put the billions of dollars into their public schools, or filling the pot holes that stretch across the street, or maybe...I don't know, not a giant bean. But it's still soooooo cool.

5. I have not met one person who thinks having the Olympics here is a good idea. And yet Chicago is still in the running.

6. The el. It is filthy, disgusting, dangerous, unreliable, and really really loud. I love it.

7. No I didn't vote for him, but yea, it is kind of cool how proud Chicago is of Obama.

8. Peeps in the Midwest are just good people. I think the only snob I know here is myself.

9. Michigan Avenue at Christmas

10. OPRAH WINFREY. hello.

"i want to remember us just as we are now"

i hate the fact that brad pitt has decided that he and i are enemies. it was with a heavy heart that i watched "the curious case of benjamin button" and actually have to admit that i enjoyed it. it was refreshing to see brad pitt as one half of a very sweet love story.

"for what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. there's no time limit, stop whenever you want. you can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. we can make the best or the worst of it. i hope you make the best of it. And i hope you see things that startle you. i hope you feel things you never felt before. i hope you meet people with a different point of view. i hope you live a life you're proud of. if you find that you're not, i hope you have the strength to start all over again"

i like each of you a bit more.

i spent friday-monday with my absolute favorite females in the world. it had been nearly 10 months since we had been together and while each of our lives has changed considerably since July, our very special bond has remained the same.

we spent the majority of the weekend in west palm beach the way we spent the majority of our time at jmu: drinking. gossiping. shopping. eating. and then planning on what we were gonna eat in a few hours. our definition of fun has not changed and neither has the fact that we speak far too loudly in public places, receive dirty looks from strangers as a result, have the worst luck with sales associates, fight over the front seat, take 20 minutes to decide between two bottles of wine, consistently over pack, and rarely call each other by our birth names.

i'm delighted to see that the girls who left jmu nearly two years ago, still exist. even if we're a bit more grown up. just don't fall asleep before midnight because i might just punch you in your face.

pittsburgh, south carolina

i am reading "the mysteries of pittsburgh." the general idea: a recent college grad and how he spends the last true summer of his life. silly job, silly romances, wasting money because all you have to do is waste time. it's got me thinking about the last real summer of my life. it wasn't the summer right after graduation, it was the summer before that. like most places i have affectionately called home, i moved without ever visiting. and what awaited me were three glorious months of nonstop fun, and not a single care in the world.


so i pay tribute to hilton head, sc; and some of the best times of my life.

motto

"give what you can to people who need it more than you do."
- state & lake platform