I had great plans to check out the Chicago History Museum today but some laziness got a hold on me. I wound up spending the morning and early afternoon dozing in and out of sleep. Lauren and I watched The Blind Side, Flipped and episodes of Basketball Wives. We spent commercials talking and getting to know each other better, and after 19 days of discussing her disappointing love life, she finally asked me about mine. I summarized my three transformative relationships with the following statements....
Bachelor #1 - I loved him, he loved someone else
Bachelor #2 - He liked me, I was not ready for him
Bachelor #3 - I liked him, he played me
You all can guess who these lucky bastards were. At any rate, I felt a little exposed, so I took a little walk. It rained in the morning but it looked like the sky was cleared up and the temperature was cool. When I got back Lauren decided to go to Border's to use her gift card, I invited myself to join her. Since she works at the downtown campus of Northwestern, she can get covered parking near the Magnificent Mile for free all the time. After parking, we took the bus to the South Loop for Borders. Then we got some Garrett's popcorn, a Chicago classic. We waited in line for 40 minutes to cheese flavored mixed with caramel flavored popcorn. It was good, a little rich for me, I can only eat a little bit at a time. Then we took the bus back uptown to check out Nike Town and The Gap. When we were leaving the Gap, the rain started. Everyone was crowded at the entrance trying to wait out the down pour...not us. We tied up our hair and our bags as best as possible, and made a run for it. It was fun at first, and then it was cold, damp clothes and cool breezes are not a good mix. I love that Lauren was not too prissy for the rain, I think that we will continue to get along.
Ola came over later with some Nigerian food, it was alright. I had a long and thoroughly entertaining conversation with my dear sister (I'm still waiting on that list of 25). Finished up the night with the latest episode of True Blood, nothing to complain about on this side of the Mississippi.
Sunday 7 August 2011
Day 19 - The Big Easy
I took the Admiral out for a spin today. I biked to the 57th Street Beach. It was overcast but still pretty warm. I rode around the lakefront a little further, found a bench and read a little bit of my book. I'm reading Susana Clarke's "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell", although it is science fiction and very long, I am determined to finish it. After awhile I went to find something to eat. On 55th and Cornell, I saw a brunch special at the Big Easy restaurant. I ordered catfish, scrambled eggs and roasted potatoes. I ate all by myself, just listening to other people's conversations and watching people walk by. A highlight were these honey covered, raisin filled ho cakes that preceded my meal, very delicious. Next I rode to Powell's bookstore on 57th. I spent two hours in this amazing place. As soon as I thought I had browsed all of the shelves, I saw a door, went through it and there was another room, twice as big as the first. Books about Photography, Chicago, Greek History, literary critiques, anything you could think of. Then I saw a staircase, I go downstairs and they have all the discount books, manga books, science fiction, and travel books. One drawback is that they want you to buy and leave, there are no comfy chairs and well lit corners in Powell's bookstore. I was sitting on step stools and leaning on bookshelves to flip through books. After that I rode home, it was a nice break in the monotony. I've got the Admiral's lock up procedure down to a science.