a building on columbia's campus caught fire tuesday. it has been abandoned for a while, but at one time it was something to be admired. i was working across the street in the computer lab when it started. we saw fire trucks, and we all started to smell like a campfire. when i got off an hour later, adam and i checked it out. the building was quite on fire, but it looked like they had it under control. i walked on. in the past few days, i've learned a lot about that building. it was built by louis sullivan, if you're not familiar with mr. sullivan, perhaps you've heard of the kid that used to work for him named frank lloyd wright. it was a steak house, too. a good one, apparently. but i walked by that place every day thinking, "man, homeless people are definately in there." turns out, there was actually a crew cutting scrap metal inside with torches. it caught fire again today, and the street it is on is now a "fall zone" because the believe it's coming down pretty soon. this is tedious because that section of wabash contains the kfc/pizza hut, dunkin' donuts/baskin robbins, subway, harold's fried chicken, and sushi resturant. these are pretty much the only restaurants on our campus. 'tis a dark day.
it rains every day now. rain may be too strong of a word. it is wet every day. that may be more accurate. you don't feel drops hitting you, and you don't run from it because it's never strong; but when you get home, you're somehow soaked. i've begun to actually wear shoes. and sweaters. and jackets. and beanies. and scarves, and sometimes gloves. and soon enough, boots.
the other day, kimmy and i watched the chicago marathon. y'know, the one where the winner fell at the finish line and busted his head open? when we saw him, he and six or seven other african men were way way way out in front of the rest of the pack. this was the eight point six mile mark. we were there for two hours and it was fridgid. we were both unprepared for the cold, and we pretty much died. we saw super heroes, mike ditka (who kinda is a super hero up here), a knight, thing #1, thing #2, a businessman, and a guy named gavin. i yelled, "my name's gavin, too" at him. i yelled a lot, actually. we had a good time, and it was a reminder that i live in a huge city, and huge events happen here.
tonight, a columbia professor attended rehearsal. at the end, she told us that she didn't have any specific criticisms for the actors. i smiled a little smile. then rob told me i was awesome tonight. i smiled a little bit more. sheldon comes next week. taylor and marissa have decided i'm going to a theatre halloween party with them tomorrow night. which...well...ha. the production is coming along, and i'm ready to perform for an audience again.
i wish i updated my vox more. but my internet sucks. and i hate work because i'm always so busy now. what, with the crunchgear, the homework, the learning of lines, and the actual work that i do in the lab. and, besides, the journal is of the past.
i have tickets for wilco, and sean lennon. i'm probably going to see madlib, peanut butter wolf, and j-rocc on saturday.
welcome to chicago, you old soul. it's time you arrived.
last night, druing rehearsal, i started getting a headache. all of a sudden, in the middle of a scene, my head started pounding. luckily, it was toward the end of the night so i just dealt with it and got on the train to head home. at lake, a thousand people got on. most of them had just seen a show, some of them were drunk. everybody was loud. i was trying to read. i tried to concentrate on the book, but the girl talking about how she pops her zits and lets them ooze on her boyfriend had my attention. she said he thinks it's gross. so do i. it's getting cold out.
when i got off the train, it was windy. and not the fun type of windy that i've come to like in this city, but the kind of windy that makes you want to kill babies, it's so cold. i got back to my apartment and blake wanted to go out. we did, after a little bit of rest head out. we went to a few different bars, trying to find something interesting going on in wrigleyville on a wednesday night. nothing was. we ended up at sheffield's for the longest amount of time. i was beginning to feel rested.
since school started, my schedule has been such that some days (like yesterday), i leave home at 6:30 a.m. and don't return until 11 p.m. it's uncomfortable. i don't like it, and it's beginning to wear on me. last night, it was alcohol that helped me deal with it. more alcohol than i should have consumed.
i woke up late this morning, another headache. i smoked pot to get rid of it, it helped some. i decided to take the bus to school. i decided to stand on lakeshore drive in nothing more than a sweater and wait for the bus to take me to school. thankfully, it was quick. i passed the newly colored trees. gone is green. yellow is in season. i passed north beach, the waves from lake michigan smashing against the shore on a partly cloudy day in which the sun barely made it through the clouds to reflect upon the water making it appear that somebody was shining a light on crumpled, animate tin foil, i passed the greenest grass i've seen in months. on michigan avenue, i passed mayor daley's workers repairing another small, artificial waterfall that lined the streets.
when i got to school, i remembered today was the anti-war rally. "no school, no work, the world can't wait, drive out the bush regime," the sign said. so i answered the call. and now i'm sitting in grant park, on my computer. observing the group of 100 or 150 people assembled to protest the war in iraq. there are volunteers wearing orange shirts, children with their parents, a man wearing the unmistakable mask of death and bearing a sign that says "stay out of iran." someone is chanting in a language i can't understand and there are black girls dancing in unison. i recognize one person. i am the only one writing anything down. there is a man with a hankerchief tied around his face, like he's prepared to do something that he doesn't want the cameras to know about. a world flag. a poster that says "leaders make wars, people stop them." do all of these people believe they are making a change? are they here just to have an excuse to miss school? like i am?
sometimes i need to remember that things aren't as bad as i want them to be. i am on top of my schoolwork, it's great having blake here, we really should get out of iraq. not being home all day and night is not the end of the world. neither is the war. sometimes i need to turn off the computer and join in.
