Chiclone

I want my money back. Nobody told me that Chicago gets tornadoes. This week there were warnings for the worst storm Chicago had seen in 70 years. Winds coming off Lake Michigan were projected to have the strength of a hurricane. Which is neat. It was supposed to hit its climax at 4 am. I live in a little studio apt right off Lake Shore. So this made me pretty nervous.
I asked around to a couple friends about what we should do. I was told that so long as I stayed clear of my windows I should be fine, and that if it got really bad that I should go into my bathroom. Also, that I would hear the tornado sirens peeling through the neighborhood to warn me. This didn't sound promising. I went to the store to buy some food storage and water, just in case the power and water went out. In hindsight...my purchases were not very smart. I bought a tub of yogurt, salad, veggies, chicken, orange juice, all kinds of things that needed to be refrigerated.....but also, I bought a ton of ramen...which would not taste as good if the water and gas went out anyway.
Well, it didn't take very long for me hanging out in my apartment by myself to decide to migrate inland a little. A friend of mine invited me to come stay at her place, so I didn't have to brave my first intense midwest style storm alone. It turns out, that night wasn't too bad. I did hear a lot of sirens, and I think I mistook a motorcycle for a tornado warning once....but aside from Tiffany talking in her sleep, the night was pretty uneventful. Phew.
Don't get me wrong, the wind was fierce and stuff had blown all over the streets, tree branches were everywhere and stoplights had lost power. But this was no where near the intensity I had mentally prepared myself for. It did ruin my big movie debut, production got all kinds of messed up and consolidated. The worst was supposed to have hit that morning. But that night my entire neighborhood and surrounding area got knocked out. I felt like I was in a scary movie. All the street lights were out. It was terryfying to walk on the streets. When I got into my building there were emergency candles lit on the floor and there was the dull sound of an emergency alarm. None of the emergency lights were working. I had to walk through the halls, up the pitch black steps to get to my dark apartment. Who needs a haunted house for Halloween when you've got Chiclone?
All in all, I survived. It was not as bad as predicted. Though it made for an adventure, to be sure, I came out just fine....the worst of it was only a little bit of spoiled food. I'll know better next time.

Shooting Stars

Funny thing, up until about two weeks ago, I had never seen a shooting star (that I can recall....). Get this, I have seen two in the last two weeks! Crazy-I know! So what did I wish for you ask? Well, I can't tell you that. You know what they say, 'if you don't make a wish it can't come true...' Oh wait. That's not what they say, but that's what happened. I didn't make a wish.
In my defense....they disappear so quickly! My head only has time to process, "wait I think that's a..., dang it! I should have made a wish!" It's not that I don't have things on my wish list....cause I do. Two of those could be crossed off the list if I was on to it! What does this say about me? (Let me make a stretch of a generalization real quick) I think it just goes to show that you can't always take the time to analyze things. Some moments will pass you right on by if you hesitate. So what if it's not a shooting star?-wish first! Seriously.
Don't you worry, next time, I'll be ready with my wish. I'll wish first and analyze later. As I think my generalization does have relevance to my life...I am resolving to hesitate less and live for the moment a little more. For now, I guess I'll just have to pretend that airplanes in the night skies are like shooting stars. Cause I could really use a wish right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn6-c223DUU

The Silver Bullet Parks Again

A wonderful thing happened two weeks ago, I mentioned it in an earlier post. My car is now with me in Chicago! Overall, quality of living has gone WAY up. I love driving, I love not needing a ride everywhere, and I love not relying on public transit to get me everywhere and the shorter commute time as a result! It's pretty much amazing!
There is a downside, I was warned about it too. Parking. Parking in Chicago is like finding a diamond in the rough. Literally, there are all these sneaky, read the fine print signs, which the city will cite you for. There are random handicap reserved spots on the street...some areas require cubs permit parking on the night of games, and so the list of clauses goes on and on. Oh and there are fire hydrants-EVERYWHERE- taking up perfectly good parking spaces. Sheesh, they way they planned these out it's almost as if the city has burned to the ground before or something. It is such a pain.
At this moment, I am continuosly praying that my car won't be ticketed tonight. I drove around for an HOUR trying to find a spot...and the closest I could find is slightly adjacent to a fire hydrant. I stared at the curb for as long as I could. I honestly could not discern where the yellow line ended.....so here's hoping. The really sad thing is that I will get up at 6 am on a Saturday to try and move it to another spot. Hopefully, I will get lucky. I've had to get up early and move out of a spot due to school hours or rush hour traffic. No big deal, I just end up parking 10 blocks away out of the intense desperation that hits....and then move it to another random location in the morning. The good news is: the silver bullet is tiny, it makes parking so much easier and I happen to have mad skills with parellel parking. Good thing. But it is what it is. When I get loaded, or even just a little more wiggle room in the budget.... I will buy a parking spot through my building, and life will be really great!

The Social Network

So, I just got back from watching The Social Network and I really dig it. It felt a little long at moments, but I think everyone must watch this movie! At least anyone from our generation. Honestly, regardless of age, it has value. I was pretty blown away by how they chose to tell the story. It was brilliantly done. The method of story telling is the reason I'm choosing to blog about it.
I don't think the following post really requires a spoiler alert...but if you're one of those who feels like any detail from the movie would ruin the experience, skip this post. The story of the development of Facebook jumps back and forth between the depositions of founder Mark Zuckerberg and his opponents. It gave excellent context for each of the lives of the parties involved. They depicted seemingly inconsequential events as catalysts for life changing decisions. For example, the beginning of the movie shows Zuckerberg and his girlfriend break up. He then goes home, drinks, blogs and develops a network that starts a bit of a snowball effect in his life that ultimately leads to Facebook. It also shows how the context and emotional state of each players life affects their involvement with Facebook and how Zuckerberg chooses to react to each of them.
The story itself has so much to learn from-the energy and vision of Zuckerberg and those involved, etc. But it really resonated with me because each character was so human, so relatable. Event, lead to action. Feelings lead to action. Life just happened and this thing we all know as Facebook is the result. It's crazy-but that's the way life is. It just happens, one choice at a time. So choose your own adventure right? You never know where it's going to take you. You just might end up becoming the next youngest billionaire.

Milwaukee Getaway

This weekend I went to Milwaukee. It started off a little rough as there was road construction,virtually, the entire drive. I don't like traffic. I was actually looking forward to a nice leisurely drive with my car (we were just reunited this week)...but that was not to be. What was supposed to be an hour and a half drive turned into a three hour drive. Dirty trick. As I sat behind the wheel, I couldn't help but think how much my life feels like it's stuck in traffic. Especially since I was looking forward to cruising on the freeway of success, aka my internship that was supposed to lead to a long happy career. Instead, I hit road construction. You can't help but think in these moments, should I have taken another route? Is it too late to change course? Should I turn around and go back? It's tough to say. In most cases, the best option is just to keep moving forward on the path you're on...and just learn to be a little patient.
So, for those of you wondering, I did persist and made it to Milwaukee for the weekend. I was supposed to be up there early to practice a duet.....didn't get much practice....but performed none the less. It was the fulfillment of a secret dream of mine, to perform Lionel Richie's, "Hello". You know you love it too! Though the actual performance was not quite how I imagined it.....oh well.
I did get out and about a little. We painted the town(green)! We also got out and enjoyed the beautiful fall scenary. The colors are pretty spectacular!
The journey home did not go as planned either. We had wandered to a cabin a ways away from Milwaukee and I left for Chicago straight from the cabin. The GPS couldn't figure out where I was initially...so I had to just drive for a bit til I could get a signal, but then it lead me to a road closure. So I did my best to follow the detour route and the GPS did not like it. It kept saying I was off track. I believed it for a while. I was getting pretty frustrated and anxious, knowing that this was adding a bit of time to my trip home. Then I realized that I was alone on an open road in the middle of the beautiful Wisonsin scenary and that I was finally getting my leisurely drive that I wanted so much. Life's funny that way-sometimes you get what you want at unexpected times....and you might not even recognize it by the time it comes to you. The second moral for today's blog post is to remember that attitude plays a huge role in the outcome of your adventure. That's the other choice. Just as important as the path you take. Being adaptable, patient and optimistic can help you not miss out on the good stuff.