Day 65 - Fixin' to vs. Finda'

Today at work, I was flexing my multi-dimensional skill set. I really ought to be employee of the month. I spent the majority of the day in the textbook department, learning the computer applications and helping customers. I processed web orders and was left a lone for what seemed liked the longest 30 minutes of my life when I was hit with a random barrage of customer questions. Hopefully it will get better in the days to come. One thing that the textbook department has over tradebooks is the limitless supply of random conversation. Today did not disappoint. Patsy is from Tennessee and she says I'm fixin to go to the store. She also has fixins with her big Thanksgiving dinner. Jimmy is from Chicago and he says I'm finda go to the store. They ask me which one have I heard more often. I said finda sounds a little more natural to me, but I try not to say either, because it may be difficult for the average person to understand. This led to my learning that a person from Michigan may call a shopping cart, a buggy and a water fountain a bubbler. Language variation is a funny thing.

The evening was uneventful. I have been riding my bike for the last few days, I think that my lock issues were due to the colder temperatures. Now that it has been a little warmer, the lock works fine. The store is open later on account of rush, so I had to bike home in the dark. I really wanted some pancit from Noodles Inc, but the night and my budget said go home and make ramen noodles instead. Not quite the same, but I'm not hungry anymore. I'm happy that Modern Family is back, and I watched Revenge, the newest Wednesday night drama on ABC. I also attempted to do a little background research on the subjects that Bea suggested from the DuSable Museum. I found out that my friend Lauren has purchased her tickets and will be visiting on October 14, that should be a good time. Exploring will be a lot more fun when one of my besties can join me. I'm off for the next couple of days, let the fun/retail therapy begin!

Day 64 - Bored Dialing

I was not feeling very well today, I came home during my lunch break, I took an hour instead of the normal 30 minutes allowed. Funny how no one noticed, if this bookstore was in a horse race, it would be the horse that never left the gate. That is how oblivious the management can be at times. My interview at Johnson Publishing Company was pushed back to next Thursday. I did get an email from the BMRC archivist about the paid position which includes working with the DuSable museum. It looks like the position requires the candidate to be in school, hopefully they will make an exception for me, especially if I promise to enroll in a certificate program in January. I haven't heard back from Coleman and Rebecca, and that is okay.

I can't tell if people are blowing smoke up my caboose or not, but Arlene and Evelyn think that I am a great writer. So great, that I should write more articles for the museum and help Arlene draft a letter to encourage Black sororities and fraternities to collaborate with the museum. I am supposed to supply a draft of the letter by tomorrow afternoon. I always read what I submitted and I can see all kinds of areas for improvement. I am grateful for the opportunity to add more samples to my curriculum vitae but I am not really excited about being a ghostwriter without any compensation. Why would I shelve books for minimum wage when people who have problems communicating their ideas in writing, are make twice as much as I have ever earned? I guess that is why I am hustling, so that it won't be like this for me forever.

After I watched the results show of Dancing with the Stars and couldn't tell anyone about it because of my time zone, I was bored. I also watched the New Girl, the new sitcom with Zooey Dashenal, it was so cute. I love it when she sings. She plays the same quirky character in Yes Man, one of my favorite films. I'm scrolling through my phone, I called my Aunt Vern, and she didn't answer. I called Christian and he was preoccupied with his own issues, and couldn't talk for long. Who else? How about the new nerd, Rob, from Lauren's Labor Day party?

Of course he answers. I learned alot about this guy in our 2.5 hours of conversation. As I am writing this, the themes that echo are his fascination with the Bible and the corresponding Middle Eastern history and his slightly veiled pessimism. He is so strange, he needs friends in the worst way. Someone to let him know that he doesn't have to be smooth and charismatic for people to want to be around him. For every discouraging notion that he had, I tried to give him something positive to focus on instead. He said that he appreciated my perspective, was glad it worked for me but he was not buying it. He's like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. He doesn't understand why people don't just accept the misery that is life, and he is not going to pretend to be happy for anyone's sake.

He's mad that life hasn't turned out the way it was supposed to, he's frustrated with hypocrites at his church and he tries to rationalize why there is evil in the world. There were times when I wanted to hang up the phone because he fixated on the same point even after I acknowledged that I understood but could never agree. It was like two people taking turns hitting each other with hammers. I told him he was like Silas form the DaVinci Code, an ascetic who berates himself to no end. He doesn't allow himself any leisure, no movies, no music...just documentaries and books. That is ridiculous. I told him that I would help him figure out a way to move to a third world country, find a simple way to give meaning to his life and to those of others, talk about it on TED Talks, garner funding, and use his MBA to create a business that will save the world and put a little change in his pocket. He doesn't know it, but I just solved all of his problems.

Day 63 - Pursuit of a Mirror Ball

Season 13 of Dancing with the Stars has returned and brought so much joy to my heart! This season's contestants are very diverse, and I am looking forward to seeing what they are going to bring. I used to talk to my friends and the volunteers at Civic Center Library about every episode, luckily I have stayed in touch and will be communicating via email my impressions of the upcoming episodes. Lauren has never watched the show, which would explain why she chose to run her mouth through two of the numbers. I kept glancing over her shoulder at the screen, but she wasn't picking up what I was putting down. Ah, that is what Tuesday's show is for.

I think that Lauren and I had a breakthrough last night. She was telling me all about her friendships and her habit of befriending people that need "help" and the way that people have taken advantage of her in the past. So many of her stories involve someone trying to trick her, sabotage her or not giving her as much as she thinks she deserves based on what she has given to them. At the same time, she talks about how she would never bring a man around her single friends and she is wondering how long it will take Ola to get over her, since she broke his heart. I'm confused because how can you have such a high opinion of yourself and allow yourself to be abused at the same time? I can't call it. Today, she is fixated on finding another job because her supervisor is driving her crazy and she might interview at Johnson Publishing Company, the same place I am interviewing at on Thursday. She thinks it would be fun if we worked together and lived together....no it would not. If that happened, I would move out for sure. I'm glad that she likes me. However, it is unfortunate that she doesn't know me very well. I'm the glacier, like Kevin James in Hitch, and that is alright.

Day 62 - Talking out the side of my head

Throughout the course of the day, I had fabulous conversations with all of my favorite people. Thank goodness for free weekend minutes!

I have to add to this entry, because I was stuck in conversation with Lauren last night until 12:30, our trio is officially no more. Here is the scoop:

Rachna has decided to take evening strolls around Hyde Park to clear her mind and figure out what her next move will be. She invited me to join her last night, and I (probably not using the best judgment) invited Lauren and Simba. It seemed harmless at the time. Rachna is talking about how she is probably going to have to go back to India and she is not sure of what to do with her stuff. Apparently, she bought all kinds of household supplies from Wal-Mart and Target, that are unopened and she wants to return them and get her money back. Lauren suggested that she should get storage for all of her things, since she might want to come back to Chicago. Rachna says that storage makes no sense because she doesn't know when or if she will be back.

Here is where my dramatic irony comes in, because I know that Lauren doesn't want to drive Rachna to any store to return anything, but Lauren is trying to get Rachna to think that renting a truck and a storage unit is the best option. Rachna doesn't know why, but she senses Lauren's persistence and is not happy about it. We have been walking for about 20 minutes, and when we get to a corner, Rachna says I'll walk you guys home, and go back by myself, and we are like, no, there are two of us, we will make sure you get home, and we can walk back. Rachna keeps beating around the bush, saying that she wants to walk by herself, then she blurts out, I have something that I need to talk to Chaitra about in private. I was looking at her, like "what?" and Lauren is like "oh I see, BYE!"

I felt like a first grader, with all of these superficial friend alliances. I walked with Rachna, and she told me that Lauren's negativity was too much for her, she has enough stress in her life without that. Our conversation was not of much consequence, but of course I had to go home eventually and deal with Lauren. Lauren said that she doesn't care and I told her Rachna just wanted to talk about this guy she was seeing. I guess when they were at dinner last week, Lauren was not as supportive of that pursuit as she would have liked. Lauren seems glad to be off the Rachna hook, so the issue wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Then Lauren proceeded to talk about her latest revelations about dating and how its depressing that she doesn't have love or babies in her life, when it feels like everyone around her does, a lot of woe is me....poor thing.

Side note, even with my umbrella evening dew/mist/rain devastated my hair do, :( Lauren used her super hot flat iron to try to flattened it out. It is no use, it has puffed up. I am really considering locs, if I get a better job that will allow me to go to the salon to maintain them, I'm going to do it!!

Sometimes I wonder if I am two faced, clearly I say things to Rachna about Lauren, that I would not want Lauren to know, and vice versa. I feel like they are two very self-involved people and I don't mind being a sounding board, and its my natural inclination to empathize, so it feels pretty harmless. I have plenty of time and opportunities with my real friends and family to re-charge my batteries, preventing myself from wallowing in a puddle of insecurities and disappointments.

Day 61 - Coleman's Birthday Party!

I really think that I do everything for the people I love in this world. Tonight, when I went to Andersonville for Coleman's party, I thought that Lauren Smith would love to shop on Clark street, Joseph and Christian would love to date the men that were at the party, Travis would have joined to conversation about the value of vinyl, and Loren and Hope would have busted out their salsa moves when Suavmente came on. In that movie, "Playing with Hearts", Sean Connery has a line where he says something like when you fall in love with someone, you see yourself the way that they see you, so you actually fall in love with yourself. My friends and family do represent me and the fact that I thought of them while out with these strangers definitely made me feel a lot more comfortable, and made me miss them alot.

I talked to so many people tonight, I am actually sipping water now because my throat is sore. Jordan is Coleman's neighbor and he is a professor in the art department at DePaul. Chris is a graphic designer and he is from the "quad cities" on the Iowa-Illinois border. Scott works with Coleman and told me that I should stop complaining about my roommate because he once lived in a converted pantry with a schizophrenic for a roommate. Anthony is from Oregon and he has shoes that are older than me. Kirk is a lawyer, he lives downtown and he walked with me to the train station after the party. I met alot of women too, I just can't remember their names. Topics of conversation ranged from the scary ways that facebook is removing all privacy, the end of cohesive albums (artists just produce singles these days), things to do in Chicago, favorite vacation destinations, Chicago neighborhoods, and what I could expect in the winter. Although I smiled and listened to everyone's advice, I am a little rattled. Never before had anyone told me that I need to track storms on TV and go to the grocery store in advance, because I could be snowed in for three days! Tomorrow, I want to go shopping for some of this uber-necessary winter gear.

I felt very rebellious and a little scared when I decided to drive my car to the train stop and take the train all the way to Andersonville at 8:00 PM. Lauren always says that she doesn't ride on that train in this neighborhood, but she never rides the train at all. This was the most convenient way to get there, why shouldn't I do it? In my mind I could see the news, "local woman's body found dead, 150 yards from a Red Line train stop" Lauren in the interview, "I hate to see this happen, but I told her to keep her Arizona ass off of that train...there is a room available at..." I made it without any problems, I swear if you dress modestly, keep your head down, walk fast and mind your own business, nobody has anything to say to you. Based on the documentary I saw, most violent crimes involve people with a history of conflict between each other, these people don't know me from a can of spray paint.

As I was riding the train, I was wondering why I don't worry about the additional danger that comes with me walking around as a young woman. It is because I wasn't raised with that mind set. I played sports, I used to wear big t-shirts all the time, and if I hit my brother he socked me right back, there were no allowances because I am a female. I never think about crying to police officers or blaming my attitude on my period, these things just don't occur to me. So when I was saying goodbye to Coleman, and a lady overheard how I was getting home and said, a pretty girl like you shouldn't be riding the train at night, Coleman you better give that girl some cab fare...I was like no, don't worry about it, I'll be fine...they eventually let it go, but it definitely surprised me. Its not that I can't turn up the feminine fire when I want to, I just forget that in this world, it is impossible to turn off. I can see why heterosexual might women wear boxers, baggy jeans, sneakers and baseball hats, they are probably less likely to be victims when their femininity is hidden.

Overall, the night was great. I figured out how to get somewhere new and I met some interesting folks. Coleman is definitely a good contact to have.

Day 41 - She is shy?!?!?

I woke up to pet duty, I will be glad when Lauren gets back. At least I was up and productive afterwards. I finally figured out how to work the television in my room. I washed all of my linen, and swept the floor. I believe that I was being propelled by my breakfast of champions, a Bloody Mary (garnished with celery) and a bowl of carrots. It was like a V8 with a kick. I continued working on material for my "make a goal, pick a goal. daily" initiative, which will be in effect tomorrow morning. After a quick nap, I decided to go out with a bang before I start cooking, and ordered some Giordano's. If you don't know about Chicago style stuffed crust pizza, you better ask somebody! It literally looks like a pie with a light flaky crust, and all of the cheese and toppings are layered beneath the tomato sauce, it is ingenious. I picked it up and had a delicious late lunch. I was prepared to keep researching and exploring opportunities on the computer when Rachna called.

She was in the area and needed to pick up the credit card that she left in my purse on Friday night. She was going to the library and she asked me if I wanted to check it out. Of course I said yes, because up until then I was not able to enter university libraries because I don't have a student ID. The woman working at the front desk (named Croatia) said that I could get in as a guest of Rachna, and as she was filling out the form Rachna asked her about employment in the library. Croatia was very friendly and I told her about my background and she said that I would be a good candiate for some of their positions. She encouraged me to keep checking in and applying on the HR website. Rachna tried to say that I should come back and talk to more people, and Croatia was like that's not really cool, everyone would just tell me to check the website anyway. Then Rachna leans in to this woman, and says, "she's shy, so we can use any insider information that we can get". I cringed. Croatia then commenced to give me a pep talk about projecting confidence, being persistent, and having a stellar resume. I appreciated her encouragement but it would have been completely unnecessary, if Rachna wasn't always running her mouth.

As soon as we were out of earshot of Croatia, I told Rachna that I did not like her speaking for me as if I wasn't there. She said that she was sorry and she didn't mean to offend me. I told her that I appreciated the help that she was trying to give me but she needs to give me space to operate at my own pace. Even after I left her to her work, 20 minutes later she apologized, and she texted me 3 hours later with the same sentiment. I told her it was just a bump toward us getting to know each other better. I am over it. My senstivity to the situation stems from three fibers of my being. One, I try to put myself in other people's position and nothing good comes from Croatia thinking that I am too "shy..(translate) insecure" to communicate my ideas. Two, I hate to be "put upon", if I can/want to help I will offer it, she/I should not have to figure out a nice way to say no, because other people can't get it together for themselves.Three, just because I am quiet and agreeable, it does not mean that I don't have opinions and preferences. Maybe I vented too much, and she feels like she needs to save me from my under-employed misery, I am capable of saving myself.

I know that Rachna is coming from a good place, she just needs to be careful of overstepping boundaries. I am proud of myself for letting her know that her behavior bothered me. It's good to know that some of my mother's lessons are sticking, she also wanted me to speak up for myself more than I did. My first instinct has always been to "let it ride" or "don't rock the boat", but that's no way to live. I know that I will never call someone out maliciously, so anyone that cares about me will take my concerns seriously. For me, there is never a, net negative outcome for listening to the little voice that says, "I'm not feeling that!".  

Day 39 - The Intelligence of the Universe

After Arlene's compelling pep talk at the last volunteer meeting, I decided to give her any time that I had available. On Wednesday she sent out an email asking for help with a DuSable mailing. I called her this morning to volunteer, she asked if I could come earlier to run an errand to the post office. I said sure, not realizing that this would be the most time consuming and convoluted trip on Earth. I found out that D'Angelo would be driving me to the post office in the museum van, I had to wait 30 minutes for him to get clearance to take the van, and then driving to and waiting at, the post office for this giant order took about an hour. D'Angelo was very cool, in the car he gave me all kinds of fatherly and encouraging advice about adjusting to a new city. I left as soon as we got back, because I didn't intend to spend my whole day there. Overall it wasn't terrible, but as a former event planner, I know that my time was not effectively used if they were trying to get invitations out for a September 18th event. One great thing about being a volunteer is that I am not responsible for the outcome of these projects.    

I went to Popeye's for lunch, and I am pretty sure that they are serving food behind bulletproof glass. In the drive thru and inside the restaurant, I know this because I paid in the drive-thru, pulled forward, and my food never came. I parked, walked inside and gave my best evil eye to the cashier. She apologized and gave me three extra chicken nuggets, yeah I'm kind of big deal around here. After I ate and watched the Conspirator (not James Macavoy's best work, but it was bearable), I walked to the grocery store. By the time I got back, Rachna had called and wanted to go to dinner. She came by my place and we decided to drive to Chinatown. We wound up at Jai-Yee, this restaurant with a spiral bound menu with 500 items, all with an accompanying photograph. We started with tofu spring rolls, I got chicken and rice, and Rachna had some spicy vegetarian dish with noodles. The highlights were the beverages, she had a mango smoothie and I had pineapple lemonade, so refreshing!

After dinner we wandered around Chinatown, Rachna bought all kinds of rice, dried mushrooms, seaweed and soy sauce from a Chinese grocery store. We pecked and prodded merchandise in random curio shops, and then decided to head back to Hyde Park because I had to walk Simba. Lauren is out of town until Sunday night. We were still pretty energetic and we wanted to check out our local bars. We went to the Woodlawn Tap, where they only accept cash payments. The place is small and noisy, so we had one shot and went outside to smoke, mostly her, I can't take more than a couple of puffs. We met these two random guys who were talking about all kinds of foolishness. After Rachna was sufficiently propositioned by a big eared, hairy chested, pock marked Serbian, we decided that it was time to leave. We walked down the street to the Seven Ten bar and had another drink, as we started yawning and conversation was winding down, we closed the tab and walked back to my place. Rachna got her stuff out of the car and I waited with her until the shuttle came to take her, to her apartment. This was a very nice day, a stiff and welcome contrast to yesterday. 

All throughout the evening, we TALKED. Conversation jumped from one random topic to another, it was actually hard to tell a story from start to finish because we moved from one tangential point to another. I suppose the major topics were Lauren (pros and cons), the ups and downs of creating a career, our families, and how much we miss our friends from home. I found myself talking about my mother alot, and even though Rachna looked at me with a face full of pity, she seemed to believe me when I said I was alright and I didn't need a therapy session tonight. I told her how my mom had thrown a huge engagement party for my brother, 10 weeks before his wedding and 6 weeks before she died, as if she knew what was going to happen. Rachna started to tear up and told me how her grandfather had died the day after her brother's wedding, she said that he had waited. Trying to lighten the mood, I asked her if she thought our relatives were negotiating with death and she said no, it is the intelligence of the Universe. I've always known we were living within a master plan but I've never heard it put that way. It's like a giant game of Wizard Chess, I may not understand every move, but the Universe is already thinking three steps ahead, maybe I should find a church with an altar to Bobby Fischer.

Day 30 - Tres Reinas y un Rey

I woke up early this morning and walked to the grocery store. Among other random items including a container of rosemary and fresh baked bread, I found a ham sandwich on an onion bagel. Onion bagels are my new favorite. How come no one ever told me about these before? The work day was so-so, but I did follow up with Rachna afterwards. We, including Lauren decided to go to Edwardo's for pizza at 9:00. The conversation was boring at first but then we got into a nice rhythm. Lauren is a very analytical and straightforward person with an endless supply of ex-boyfriend stories and career advice. Rachna is very analytical and smart too, she just happens to be 100x more expressive and audacious than me or Lauren. How do I fit in? I feel like I am the white paint that makes the black turn grey and the red turn pink. I'm too much of thinker to co-sign with the strong opinions that they have on certain topics. Our server's name was Rey and he was a super cutie. We made so many offensive comments about him and asked him questions with all kinds of sexual innuendo. He kept grinning and playing along so I am assuming that he wasn't offended. I love how Lauren and Rachna are older and no longer bashful, they see men, jobs, clothes, anything that they want and they flirt, connive, save, ask until they get it. I have so much to learn.

Day 29 - Little Yellow Minions

The highlight of today was discovering that Patsy and I share an affinity for "Despicable Me". That is one of the best kid's movies that I have ever seen, and it is on everyday on HBO, I can't get enough. I spent the evening, doing laundry, watching movies and writing thank you notes to the individuals who wrote letters of recomendation for me. Rachna called to see if I wanted to get dinner, I had to shut her down. Isn't that terrible? Even if I'm in a new city, I'm still me..I like keeping my money in my pocket and relaxing on my own terms. Do you realize how much energy it takes to get to know people, more than I had tonight. I will call her tomorrow to see if we can go then. Rachna would be a nice chnge of pace, she is always talking to strangers when we go out. She may just be the wave I ride into a real social circle.

Day 28 - Bright and Early

This was my first early day at work, 7:45 to 2:15 and the morning flew by. I had terrible lunch, when the Lean Cuisine box says 9 minutes on 50% power, they are not kidding. If you can't change the power, it would be better to cook for a few minutes and then assess, then you might not end up with a burnt up mess like I did. After work I gathered all of my materials to take to Dominican University in River Forest. I made a quick stop at the post office, and then I made my way (in my car) over the 14 miles of freeway to the school. I wanted to check out the downtown Oak Park area, but there was nowhere to park and my drive down the street didn't reveal any store that I wanted to visit. The neighborhood is famous because Frank Lloyd Wright designed a few buildings and his studio is  located here. I've taken the tour before.

Lauren had a GroupOn for our local Mediterranean restaurant, Cedar's. I met her for dinner, the food was good. I had spare ribs with a pomegranate sauce, tika chicken, rice and vegetables, all for only seven dollars. Unfortunately, conversation took a turn for the worse, as we circled back to the well worn subject of her love life. Between her, my co-worker and several of my friends, they are determined to figure out what men think. As if men were babies whose signs we have to interpret....its killing me. Excuse my language, but I couldn't give a rat's ass about a man who can't communicate what he wants, or if his actions demonstrate something that I don't want. We probably could have a cure for cancer if we put these "man hours" toward something constructive. I'm stepping down from my soap box, its just that my patience is running thin.

Thank God for my friend, Lauren Smith (from Phoenix) who I talked to today, who also feels this way and has assured me that I'm not crazy. Let's all send positive vibes to Lauren Smith because she is planning a move to New York City to pursue her dreams, it's our time, 80's babies, prepare those rocket launch pads!

Day 25 - Shoeless Joe Jackson

I went to work at noon today and stayed until the store closed at 6. I now have a locker and I met the final manger, Patsy. She says toats instead of totally. That's cool, in retrospect, I think it is something that Paul Rudd said in "I love you, man". That was a funny movie, so she can have some cool points. Trent gave me all kinds of projects and then disappeared so it was a nice day of working at my own pace. I found time to read parts of the book, Chicago's Most Wanted. This book had all kinds of stories about the city's infamy. I read how Hugh Hefner started Playboy magazine in Chicago, after he graduated from the University of Illinois. I learned how the "Shoeless" Joe Jackson was baned from professional baseball after he was suspected of helping the White Sox throw the 1919 World Series. It was a nice format because all of the vignettes were short and to the point. After work, I returned my Red Box movies and ordered a calzone from "Pockets". "Jumping the Broom" was sweet but had the same format of every movie with an all Black cast, I am praying for a break from the formula. "Source Code" was not as good as my sister said it would be. It was like Groundhog Day with higher stakes, I actually talked on the phone for part of the movie. When I got home. I watched a couple episodes of "Frasier" and then had a marathon conversation with my travel buddy, Jeanetta. We have tentative plans for Thanksgiving in Charlotte.

Day 20 - Let the Rain Pour Down

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.

Day 18 - Seven Ten Lanes

If anyone comes to visit me, we will take a stroll down to the Seven Ten Lanes bowling alley/bar/restaurant and game room. There is something for everyone. Lauren, Ola and I went down there tonight. We played two games, I came in third on both. We had two rounds of drinks. Then walked ourselves on home. I felt like my buzz was wasted, no one to flirt or dance with. That's alright, soon enough I'll find some fun single girls to go out with. I spent the day reading my book, watching Forrest Gump and cleaning the kitchen. I did go out for a few hours, searching for work clothes. I found a Burlington Coat Factory and a Marshall's close to my place, so my goal was achieved.