Goin' out in style

And with gusto.  The first night of my last week in Chicago has come and (nearly) gone; 'twas dinner and conversation with jazz with Alex--we ate leftover meatball soup, brussels sprouts, and baked chocolate chocolate ship cookies--followed by swing dancing at Fizz (I finally made it there, after three+ years of living here).  

I've got quite a lineup for the rest of the week: movie tomorrow night, Pub Wednesday, champagne and oysters Thursday, blues party saturday, Chinatown Sunday, interspersed with work and lunches...  I need to find some time in there to pack, but I'm not too concerned.

On a separate and random note: I keep imagining the taste of Pappasito's tableside guacamole.  And I'm not even that big a fan.  I guess it's a good sign that I'm having vision of Houston though, right?

DONE

...with college.

WTF?

It's true that I still have my thesis to write.  And technically I haven't turned in my final final yet.  But, my classes have ended, I've written my last final ever, and I'm leaving a week from tomorrow.

I'll post something more thoughtful soon.  But for now, this brief update will have to do.

A good day

Snow covers the ground outside.  I am polishing off a late-night snack of leftover pizza, following an excellent-as-always They Might Be Giants concert.  God I love that band.  Good music, good friends, cold-ass weather--all is right in the world.

Tomorrow begins with waffles, and ends hopefully with me having basically finished my last final of college ever (whoa?).

Good night!

For the record:

Old laptop versus new:

At 65%, the Acer netbook has 3:45 hours. The Satellite, on the other hand, doesn't even have a battery anymore. It is also refusing to connect to the internet, despite the fact that it tells me it is connected. WTF, Satellite. You are basically a brick containing all of my photos and music now, except that a brick doesn't have to stay plugged into the wall.

Nostalgia...or not

Earlier this evening, I actually found myself preemptively reminiscing about the chasm-like stairwell of the library. Bizarre. I also realized that tonight was my last show at the movie theater. And I bumped into an old friend in the library who pointed out that this could be the last time we see each other for decades.

But right now? All I want to do is get out. Tonight I was on a roll with my work...and then it stopped going so well. I was happy that I was spending my last quarter of school studying things I enjoyed...and now I'm ready to move past them. It's true that there are people who I like seeing around campus who I won't see any more, possibly never again...but at the same time, most of the people I see these days are unfamiliar to me, and the friends I envision and plan on keeping in touch with are fairly few.

For better or worse, all of it, I suppose.


On a completely different note, I had a thought the other night, inspired by something a professor said in class about how many aspects of modern life have developed as they have because they make things more convenient for us.

Now, I happen to like internet television. However, I believe that there is value in doing things that are inconvenient. Not unpleasant, mind you, but things that do take effort. Maybe it's why I like cooking my own food, or visiting friends on the other side of the city. We should not allow ourselves to become complacent, or satisfied with what we have simply because it is more convenient to feel that way. And I'm not trying to be political here--I really do mean the little things.

Anyway, just a thought I wanted to share.