You are currently browsing the archives for April, 2006.
1. If any of you reading this know CSS and can help me fix the banner at the top of my blog, PLEASE email me. Please. I have done as much as I can on my own and am currently at a loss. Thank you so much, Ezra!!
2. I have been invited to be a Youth Guest at the Baha’i National Convention this weekend. I attend Convention every year, but this is different. (National Convention is where the Baha’is of the United States elect their National Spiritual Assembly.) I am very excited…not only to I get to spend time with friends, but I get to watch this beautiful process happen. Such a blessing.
3. I got to see three of my closest friends last night, at different times, and it made me happy. My friend Sarah is here from Conneticut… I don’t think Chicago will be able to handle both of us. Mwahaha.
4. Wedding invite #4 for this year so far. Oh yes, I’ve got the dancing shoes ready. 
5. Brought out my bike on Monday! It is so much more efficient to pedal around the city sometimes. I get my errands and my workout done at once.
I got up from my desk this afternoon at work to grab a can of Pepsi from the refrigerator. As I walked across the salesfloor, something didn’t feel right…I wasn’t as tall as I should be!
I looked down in horror. Peeking out from under the hem of my brown slacks were…
MY BLACK FLIP-FLOPS!!
I quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed I was wearing flip-flops at work. I grabbed my soda and walked quickly back to my desk. The offending shoes were banished under the desk and I resolved not to leave my desk all afternoon.
I realized that in my rush to leave the house after lunch today, I had forgotten to put my heels back on. Not only did I commit a fashion error (hahaha) but footwear at work must be more professional.
I contemplate my upcoming hour of lunch with trepidation. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my freedom and food. But it seems like it takes more planning than I really want to deal with these days.
Have I become more picky? Sure, I can’t eat the usual fare of burgers/pizza/sandwiches, and so I must find alternatives. The cafeteria at work, bless them, has good breakfasts but often has below-par lunches.
(my ideal lunch)
I used to be more critical of those who eat out on a regular basis. But my exhaustion and hunger when I get home from 9 hours at the office often prevents me from making a full meal from scratch. I have to scramble (haha, get it?) to even get a lunch together for the next day…and forget breakfast at home! Sleep is much more important.
I have sampled most of the restaurants in the 10 minute driving radius around my office. Thai, Mexican, Chinese buffet, the hot dog stand down the street from my house, Japanese, and Greek. I’ve also lived in the same 2 sq mile area for the last 5 years. The lady at the Thai restaurant asks about my family every time I go there, and the guys at the hot dog stand know that I like curly fries with cheese on top…and that I rarely order anything else.
I am organizing my recipes now, though, and am trying to jump back into cooking. I need a personal robot cook. And while I’m at it, can I have a pony and a castle?
I want to write.
I want to write like I used to, with a sense of joy and strength underneath. Somehow I hold back, something is not right. I am dizzy from thoughts and sounds and the life that surrounds me.
I am swept up in a constant current of broken-down houses and rainwater gutters, stoplights and ambulances. There are no stars here, I wish I could wish but I’ll inhale the smog that passes for air in the passageways between streets.
Spinning wheels around the metal enclosing our eyes behind beige corridors, high above reality in the realistic sense. I hear pieces of music scattered around me, can’t create but I’ll watch and wait…
It is amazing how much sunlight (or the lack thereof) can affect my mood. It has been gray, gray in Chicago (big surprise), and yesterday’s sudden sunlight made me goofy.
Ok, well, I can be goofy with no assistance, but…you know what I mean. In the late afternoon yesterday some friends and I were walking by the Lake and discovered a shiny new playground. I love playgrounds, and they’ve gotten a lot fancier since I was a kid. For a few minutes, I was just swinging in the air…no thought or reaction required. We should do these things more often.
The other night I was by Navy Pier at midnight…a large group of acquaintances and friends walking ahead of me. I looked up at the skyline of the city, foggy and misty with the remnants of rain, harsh lights softened by the moisture in the air. My recent restlessness was stilled for a moment by the knowledge of my city
certain streets
horrible diners
street performers
tucked-away parks
little italy, greektown
rush-hour avoidance
lake shore drive (how many times have I driven on that road in the last 5 years?)
The accumulated details about the place I live. No other city’s downtown has buildings that are tall enough for me. Everything I compare to Chicago.
Is is strange that sometimes I miss riding the L around Chicago?
Mostly, I think I miss the stories that come out of late night Red line madness. The Blue line isn’t nearly as interesting.
Maybe I’ll use it more when the weather gets warm. (Have you ever noticed how many things in this city get put off “until it is nice outside”?)
oh yeah.
On one of the Baha’i web forums I am on, someone posted about Tabula Rasa, a new Baha’i arts magazine. I just read through the entire premiere issue, and it is professional, well-written, and informative.
From the site:
Tabula Rasa, where art and spirit converge … gently, intelligently, meaningfully…
…Tabula Rasa has been created to celebrate the Creator in all of us, to express our pure wonderment and joy at God’s revelation of the word “Fashioner” and to explore its myriad meanings….
I am very, very impressed. They’re calling for submissions. I keep saying that I am surrounded by incredibly talented individuals…and I feel like there are some of you that don’t share that talent with the world nearly as much as you should. It is not meant to be kept hidden, or only shared with a few friends.
The purpose of art, in my mind, is to rejuevenate, uplift, raise questions, and inspire awe.
I’ve also updated the links on the right. I’ll probably be adding more as time goes on, so feel free to send me an email if you know of a link that I should have up.