Day 3 - Improv.
Much harder to get up today. A lot of walking, not a lot of sleeping; typical signs of time well spent!
I managed to discover how to get cold water out of the faucet this morning:
Just turn it to the hot side. That's clearly not right - perhaps I should file a maintenance request...
Anyway, today I'm gonna rock the transit system! I'm confident I'll get this right - so much so, in fact, that I'm busting out the headphones.
Izzy iPod, my closest companion. Half her screen may be broken, but I just can't bring myself to put her down after all we've been through!
. . .
I met James while waiting for the Blue Line - he asked to borrow a pen so he could fill out a magazine subscription form he'd found on the ground. 'Homeless people ain't got a lot to do - so I fill these out and read the magazines!' He's 64, and has been hustling since he was 30. He used to be a professional pool shark - tournaments, trick shots, whatever he could find. 'Them cowboys, they used to shoot pool from horseback in the olden days! 'Course, they be shooting crack too. Baaadddd stuff, that was!'
When he asked for change to get a coffee, I confessed I didn't have any cash on me (I had already given away my only $2, so I didn't have to feel bad about lying every time I was asked for money).
'That's okay, brotha', I take charge cards too! Naawww... just messin' wit' ya. Hey, you got any socks or underwear you don't need?' Probably, but not with me... As I left the seat next to him to step off the train, he yelled out, 'Mr. Jeromie, you be sure and get yourself to church. I mean that now!'
Strange... Every free second I've had so far I've spent devouring anything and everything this city has to offer, and yet the most enjoyable part of the trip so far was a 10-minute convo with a stranger. Either we are meant for community, or I'm a freak of nature.
Probably both.
. . .
It was raining when we took our first break from class:
Fortunately, it had stopped again by the time we got out. Speaking of which, I survived the class! Parts were good, parts were bad. I've always been attracted to the incredible beauty and elegance of physics/mathematics; unfortunately it doesn't take long to get dejected by my complete inability to comprehend anything... Hmm, perhaps analogous to my experiences with women?? I digress...
Today was the day I'd get to meet up with Lindy Voeltner, a friend from the U of M now living in the Chicago area. So I hopped the Red Line, headed for Wrigley Field. Getting off on Addison, I was confronted with yet another surprise - huge crowds of people dressed in bright, vibrant colors and far too scantily clad for my comfort. Turns out today is Chicago's Pride Parade. I kept a low profile (the last thing I needed right then was for girls and guys to start asking for directions to the bathroom), and crossed the street to our rendezvous point:
Lindy and I grabbed some Chinese (not in Chinatown, cuz we're rebels like that), then some ice cream from McDonald's before heading to IO Comedy Club to see an improv show with a few of her friends.
We decided to stay for the late show too - hysterical!! Lindy was pulled up on stage as a volunteer. Honestly, she saved my life tonight - the emcee was looking right at me after a long, uncomfortable pause with no volunteers, and right before she could extend her finger to pronounce my death sentence, Lindy dove in front of me and took the bullet. Whew! Even better yet, it ended up being the funniest skit of the night!
The show got out and we took the subway (Lesson #5: the 'late' show is, in fact, late.) to Lindy's car, hoping it wasn't towed again. Apparently Chicago has some pretty unusual parking laws - like no parking on the left side of blocks immediately following even Streets (Avenues and Boulevards are okay), unless it's a partly cloudy Thursday afternoon. Or a leap year ending in '6. She was explaining how she knew all of this firsthand after getting towed last weekend - I guess less than 25% cloud coverage is designated as partly sunny instead of partly cloudy. Poor Lindy.
As we said our goodbyes, I was sort of amazed at just how much our friendship had grown over the last few hours - we had some great conversations about challenges, transitions, friendships, comedy, life... Thanks, Lindy, for an awesome time!
Made it home - my longest subway trip yet, but somehow managed to not get lost! That's right, I'm awesome. Logged in to work quick and filled out my time-card, since it's due in the morning, and now off to bed. 3am - this trend of not sleeping seems to be getting worse. But worth every second so far!
To be continued...
"Probably both" = hilarious.
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