Day 50 - Oh Happy Day!

This entry is called Happy Day for two great reasons. For one, Oh Happy Day was the song that the choir sang that brought down the house in Sister Act 2, starring the one and only Lauryn Hill. I went to the DuSable Museum and witnessed a beautiful portrait of Lauryn Hill, composed of paint and broken vinyl records. I am a huge fan, and if that piece is still available when I get ready to decorate a house, it will be mine! The second reason that this is a happy day is that, I was in an extraordinarily good mood today. It was cool enough for me to bust out my light weight pleather jacket, and calf high boots. There was a chance for me to run into my ridiculous crush, DeMarcus at the museum. I didn't run into him, but that's ok.

As I was getting ready, Megamind was on television and I had been wanting to see that for a long time. I rode my bike to the museum and examine a few exhibits a little more thoroughly. I had planned to drop in on Mrs. Julian, the archivist/librarian, but she was too busy to meet with me. Not to be discouraged, I sent her an email later on in the afternoon. I also RSVP'ed for a workshop and lecture at Northwestern University for next week. I spent time working on iTunes music library and revising my article. Lauren cooked broccoli, brown rice and some sweet and sour chicken, and she shared it with me. Apparently, this is the last great meal before she goes on the South Beach Diet...parts of her personality that I don't understand... I knew that I was in a good mood, because I was dancing, all day! In the mirror, in the kitchen, down the hallway, I was getting it. The cabbage batch, the running man, Jersey turnpike, whatever the feeling brought. Melanie and I would have dance breaks all the time, it was the best. Life is good, what more can I say?

Day 49 - All in the Family

Lauren's plans of a Labor Day barbeque came to fruition. I can say that I stayed out of the way for the majority of the preparations, but I did watch the chicken on the grill when Lauren had to run an errand. She asked everyone to be here by 2:00, but no one arrived until 3:00. The first guests were Lauren's parents, then her aunt and her grandmother showed up. These are some of the most vibrant and friendly people that I have ever met. Lauren's mom, Pat, was borrowing purses from her closet, her dad took his shoes off and made all kinds of clever comments about the tennis match on television. Aunt Joann is Pat's sister, and the grandma's name is Vera (coincidence, I think not). They talked about their relatives, old times and the old school concert they were attending later on tonight. They asked me all kinds of questions about home and my family, and I don't think that it was my rum and coke that made me feel so comfortable.

Later on Rob, Jerry and Kay came over. Rob is Lauren's friend from college, which she thought I would get along with. Jerry and Kay play tennis with Lauren. I didn't get to speak to Kay and Jerry very much because I was locked into conversation with Rob. To put it simply, Rob is a nerd, which in this case means, a man lacking swag. I thought that I was a nerd but he takes it to another level. Not to say that he wasn't entertaining, but let me say that the conversation ranged from how Hitler could have won World War 2, how he spends his time reading textbooks (he graduated last year), how he will go all day without eating because he refuses to eat out. He doesn't have a job, he wants to join the Peace Corp, and he lives at home with his parents. Grandma Vera asked him when he was going to get married and have babies. When he said he wanted to get a job first, she said that would be best. Once he got wound up, it was hard to get him to stop talking, another opportunity for Conversation Exits 101. However, I am trying to explore the city more and he is from here, so he may be quite useful. He has interests in history and nature, so he might be a good companion on city strolls.

I was having some serious doubts about my compatibility with Lauren over the past couple of days, but today was very nice. I felt that she was super sincere and generous with all of her friends and family, I believe that she is a decent person. There are certain aspects of her personality that don't make sense to me but they are tolerable. By the way, autumn is coming proceed with caution...

Day 48 - Lords of the Strings

Last night I set my alarm clock to wake me up for church. After a quick breakfast of strawberries and bananas, I got ready and walked to the United Church of Hyde Park, a Presbyterian denomination. It was a glorious morning, and I probably could have spent it just communing in nature, but I made it to church with 15 minutes to spare. The church is very large and traditional. The aisle took on a downward slope and the pews were set up in the stadium style. Probably because of the holiday weekend, the congregation was small, especially compared to how many people the church could hold. Once again there was no choir, they just sang hymns. Several people read from the Bible and the Reverend gave a sermon about being ready for change like the Hebrews were ready to leave Egypt after Passover. Other readings from the Bible emphasized loving your neighbor, I appreciated the messages. The highlight was two special musical selections from a local band composed of elderly string instrumentalists. The four musicians played the cello, the viola, and there were two violinists. I am not a huge fan of instrumental music, but I was enchanted by these musicians. The music was beautiful and the concentration that it takes to hold the instrument and move the bow at the right angle, all in front of a group of strangers, impressed me to no end.

After church, I stopped at Dunkin Donuts for one glazed donut. I decided to cut through the park on my way home and give my brother a call. We spent a little over an hour discussing our lives and giving each other unfiltered feedback. I told him that we disagree on alot of things but I will never deny that he is a fantastic conversationalist. He doesn't think about what he is going to say while you are talking, he listens and then responds with his point of view, it sounds simple but many people have not mastered this skill. When I left the park, I went home to have lunch and then go to the library with Rachna. Rachna had so much drama losing her ID and not having her laptop. I asked her to just sign me into the library and wished her luck with sorting it all out. Three hours later, she came back when I was on my way out. I like the University of Chicago library, it was full of students on Labor Day weekend! I sat in a quiet study room and completed about 85% of my first article.

Day 47 - Library Card

I rode my bike to the public library today. I had Delilah and all kinds of books and notepads, in order to get to "work". I obtained a library card, and scanned the whole library for an electric outlet. This library is essentially four large rooms. The first is for children, the second houses their general collection, the third holds the audio visual materials and the fourth is a reference room. There were two power strips underneath a table in the third room. Everyone with a laptop was crowded around this table. That's one way to get to know the folks in your community. I staked out a spot, stretched out my power cord and got to work. I had grand plans of drafting emails, researching repositories and tweaking my resume, then I realized that I had committed to writing 3 articles for the DuSable museum by September 10th. The articles are supposed to provide background information on the some of the exhibits in the museum. As I was researching and writing, I realize that this is something that could be published! I will continue to work on them tomorrow and into next week. After a couple of hours to break up the monotony, I cracked open my Archivist Internship book that I bought at the conference. I went through the exercises that the authors proposed and came up with the description of my perfect position. This is valuable information to have as I approach potential mentors and employers.

Of course it starts to rain while I'm in the library. Once again my bicycle seat was soaked, but I had my sweater, wiped it down and went on about my business. My plans to go with Lauren to the jazz festival fell through so I spent the afternoon cleaning and watching college football. After a couple of hours I walked to the grocery store to get the ingredients for the recipe that I pulled 4 days ago. It was a tomato/pork chop stir fry over brown rice. I will be eating it tomorrow and the next day because I wound up meeting Rachna for sushi tonight. When we were talking, I happened to mention, in jest, that she was indecisive/picky about ordering, and she said that I had offended her. I felt a sickness in the pit of my stomach. I said that I didn't mean to make her feel that way. Then she compared it to the "shy" episode from last week, and I couldn't argue. She explained that she is trying to find her niche for vegetarian foods in our neighborhood, and it is important that the servers get it right.

She also said that perhaps because of my age, I may not be accepting of other people, I assume that she meant her choice to be a vegetarian. I wanted to argue and tell her about the diversity of my friends but I did not stoop to that cliche. In the paraphrased words of D.L. Hughley, if you can count how many Black people have been in your house, you might be a racist. I am up for self evaluation and constructive criticism, but this is just not true. I may not agree with people but I do not try to change them or degrade them because of their position. It wasn't worth continuing the argument but it is frustating when people get the wrong idea about who you are. Between me, Rachna and Lauren, our issues with ourselves and one another could fill the Space Needle. I don't remember having such a turbulent early friendship period with people that I have met in the past. Maybe because there is money (rent), new to the city concerns, burgeoning careers, and experienced women involved, it is harder to stay on the fun, superficial side of things. I thought that I had a good grasp on how to interact with Rachna, but I guess I need to keep scanning for landmines, and never lose touch with the ones who know me best.

Day 46 - Promise to be more careful

Today I bought a new computer and I promise to me more careful with it. I can actually remember the moment earlier this week when Stokely (my old computer's name) decided that he had enough of my abuse and bowed out. I was in bed looking at the computer and instead of making room on the messy night stand, I lowered it over the side of the bed and let it drop, about 2 inches from the hardwood floor. The next morning, I couldn't get Windows to run, and the rest is history. I was looking up why or how a hard drive could be ruined, and dropping the machine as well as chronic improper shut downs could be the culprits. I am guilty of both. To add insult to injury, none of my files are backed up, so I have no music, no photos and no zillion versions of cover letters and resumes. It was an expensive mistake, but I am moving forward with light weight and svelte Delilah (my new computer's name).

I had a 45 minute conversation with my Dad this evening, and I was truly comforted. I called him because Lauren was getting on my nerves, and he helped me feel like I wasn't crazy for my point of view. Even though I can't agree with the majority of his decisions lately, he is responsible for so many of the personality pieces of me. The one that came up today was "god bless the child that has got his own". Lauren seemed frustrated that I didn't call her for advice about getting my computer and implied that I spent way too much. My dad was like it doesn't matter how much you spent, you handled your business, he understood why I wouldn't have waited for a hook up to save a dollar, when I already had the conviction and resources to take care of it myself. To see my thought process echoed through the words of another person is always welcomed, gave me validation.

He went on to tell me how he misses his old life with my mom and my siblings. It is hard to describe if you weren't there, but from about 1990 to 2005, 321 E. Rimrock was the place to be. Our house was full of LOVE, we were always laughing and enjoying our time together. We did have some challenges and even when we fought, we always came back together, in that house. I don't think that we are finished seeing the after effects of the loss of everyone's rock (my mom) and our house. What choice do we have? Mope in the rubble or take the love and go build something else.

Day 45 - Lazy Undergraduate Days

When I was in college at The University of Arizona and North Carolina Central University, living on campus, I was poor but very happy. In Tucson, Melanie and I would wake up and go to whichever class we had, meet in the Union for crispy chicken wraps, go back to our rooms and sit on our computers and watch our favorite movies, maybe get a nap in there somewhere. At the computer, we would be listening to music, watching funny videos, and instant messaging people three and four doors down. When it got cooler, we might go work out at the Rec Center, go out to dinner or do some homework, whatever we were in the mood for. We would probably stay up really late laughing with our friends or going out somewhere else on campus. In Durham, swap Melanie for Jeania, the Union for the Caf, and crispy chicken for flat out fried chicken pieces. Maybe instead of going to the gym, we would play Spades and Phase 10 with our friends. Throw in the weekly foreign film screening, open mic night, progressive speaker or college sporting event and life was full. These were some of the best days of my life and I will always love everyone that was there with me.

Today, I felt as if I was transplanted back to those days. I was off from work, I had three text conversations that lasted between one and three hours each. I was on the computer applying for jobs and writing emails. I did laundry. I was checking prices for plane tickets and netbooks. It was very productive, but I didn't budge from the computer desk for more than one cumulative hour all day. Yesterday, I went to dinner with Rachna and had pancit and crab rangoons from Noodle Etc. It was a very relaxed affair, she wants to talk about my goals more than I do. I continue to be motivated by the faith that others have in me and the incredible acts of kindness from relative strangers. I also visited the Oriental Institute on Wednesday, and spoke to the volunteer coordinator. They have a very organized program but there are fees associated and there is no guarantee that I will be able to volunteer in the archives. I will keep exploring other collections. I will be eating the last of my chicken florentine tonight, so tomorrow shall bring a culinary innovation.

Day 44 - Coleman Evans

Today at work, I met a man who might be willing to give me a job in his department at the University of Chicago! Trent and Coleman were chatting when I got back from lunch, I joined when they started talking about Arizona. Trent had to leave but Coleman and I kept talking. His undergraduate degree is in Sociolgy and he watches Martin Lawrence stand ups too, what more do two people need to have in common? I followed up with him in the hopes of finding a new friend and his first text asks me if I would be interested in a job in curriculum development in the College of Medicine! I said maybe, please send me the description. We will see if he does. I don't want to get geeked up about it, but if that doesn't show the power of networking, I don't know what does.