Transience

A little while ago, I was walking through Hyde Park and, for some reason, totally freaked when I saw that this one record store we'd visited as freshmen was no longer there...only to completely chill once I saw that it had only moved to a new location. This was definitely an 'uh, what' sort of moment. I mean, I didn't have any attachment to that place...nor have I been the best community dude of Hyde Park, nor have I even been here for three months....

This doesn't make sense to me. Maybe the problem is that we rely on places to remain unchanged for far longer than we expect anything else to change. The only way to avoid this is either to spend no time in one place, or to spend all your time in one place.

P.S. Why did half the stores on the North Side shift around. UNCOOL, guys.

Dead Celebrities

...I guess it's not so bad, this obsession everyone seems to have with the mysterious death of Michael Jackson at age 50 from an alleged heart attack (ha! more Google hits for me!) and all those other dead or fucked up celebrities, at least for a month or two....

When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle supposedly killed off Sherlock Holmes in one of his books, people actually wore black bands of mourning on their arms. All this, for a fictional character!

Not to mention the weird attachments people develop to cartoon characters and suchlike. Nevertheless, I'll never get fixations on some famous person, even if xxxxx defined your childhood or whatever--you didn't even know them, and the aspect you did know is immortal (well, until every last copy of whatever is destroyed).


On a side note, does anyone else get those epiphany moments of finally understanding what a word means upon the first time seeing an example of it?

Uh, What.

Bring your guns to church--or, more interestingly, there's been an upswing in the amount of guns that people are buying these days.

Allegedly it's a combination of the failing economy, a fear that Obama will tighten gun restrictions, and the fact that Obama has so far not done anything about gun restrictions. Either way, I'm starting to think I should find a range soon...(yes, I want to learn how to shoot a gun. No, I have no idea where to start, especially since I probably couldn't take the kickback on a pistol that is the gun equivalent of a miniature poodle).


Also, all dead famous people were killed by TMZ and your complete failure to have a real life. :O

I'm actually really impressed at how huge Michael Jackson's following is. He hasn't made music since the '90s...most bands sink into oblivion after a year or two of not producing.

Have I Really Changed?

Thus far (well, at least since last year), I've been inclined to blame all the seemingly new social ineptness and especially arrogance, particularly as regards the intellect of the average human being, on UChicago. But I was going through old blog entries (the oldest, and for the most inane reason possible--except that it's impossible to avoid reading everything even though I'm trying, so I've noticed things), and I'm starting to wonder if I either am the same person or if, through some oddly convoluted route, I've ended up in the same place.

Either way, it's a bit frustrating. Isn't college supposed to be some amazing...something? Journey? I hear that employers like undergrad degrees because having one is a sign that you're able to commit to a big project. So there's the summary of four years of highs and lows....

The worst part is, I think what I called the "angst" (no, I never wrote poetry...thank god(s)) is trying to make a return.

G † R † A † D † U † A † T † I † O † N

To put it frankly, not half as thrilling as high school.

For starters, it was raining--and I mean genuinely, honest-to-god pour here's a plastic bag with which to cover your diploma and a poncho, better put it over (or under?) the gown, and shit that hat is really melting, god damn so fucking cold, don't want to stand teeth chattering trying to smile for the official photo my hair is a mess...all matter of nonsense, but it would have easily been salvaged if there had been enough enthusiasm remaining after all that shivering for us to all throw our hats in the air and really cheer it out.

Of course, this didn't happen. I guess there's just something about UChicago that makes you more burned out than thrilled to be out...not to mention the shitty, shitty economy, and of course the special case of this being the first convocation ever to have major rain (in 497 past events, there have allegedly only been 'serious misting'). God damn.

On the other hand, it's now great outside. Aaaargh....

Oh yeah, so. Thoughts. I continued my trend of learning one thing: this time, it was Texas Hold 'Em (Egyptian Ratscrew/European War in H.S. and Speed in middle school). But, honestly, I'm not going to miss college. Yeah, there were some good classes and all that, but there was never a single quarter that was so amazing that I'd want to relive it--not even the Study Abroad.

I don't know...to be an optimist, I guess it's obligated to get better from here? At least I have summer jobs.

Hmm, this really isn't too positive.  You'd think I'd have better things to say, but it seems like all the experiences in college have been lessons about control more than freedom, if that makes sense and if it doesn't I have no plans to elaborate.

Wait, No

I may have been hallucinating yesterday when I said that everything was just the same. Here is a list of things that have changed:

• Baskin Robbins has officially adopted the Calvin and Hobbes font for their logo.  I think something had started up when I left, but it wasn't so obvious....
• Construction by Union Station
• "Free Enterprise" buses masquerading as the CTA!
• Landscaping and a mysteriously large quantity of clean green parks along the LSD (no, I do not in fact get tired of that name)
  
• My sister's mouth (orthodontia, if you really need specifics)
• White Hen Pantry has been bought out by 7-11
• The weather makes even less sense than it used to
• My room has been horribly abused
• STORES.  I swear half the mall and the North Side have been shuffled around/completely redone.
• Bath and Body Works has a new bottle style
• Clothes.  They suck now.  I mean, I thought that dumb shit was limited to being printed on T-shirts in countries where they don't know what those words mean.

Hmm...I know there's more.  But this brings up the point of mutability.  Stuff changes all the time, yet as long as it's gradual we notice nothing.

Return

I'm back in Chicago. It is exactly what I expected it to be.

So close, yet so far away

I just took my last (undergraduate) final...ever...as has been pointed out to me, strangely enough in Greek 150. What is Greek 150, anyway?! Not to mention that this is a class I had absolutely no need of, save in reality (being in Greece = knowing Greek useful).

So. Well, here I am. Less than two more days in Greece. I'm going to go shopping tomorrow, and maybe even buy things.

See ya soon, America.

Leaving

So, at last, our time in Greece draws to a close. I feel a little like I'm writing an obituary for someone still breathing, since I do still have one last week here (not to mention we're taking a trip to Aegina, so more things left to see). But still, things are winding up: I've used up all of my cookable food and detergent, I'm contemplating ways to make things last longer or finish sooner, I'm debating tossing my sneakers that have served me so well so that I have less luggage--in short, all the preparations are made, the right mindset has been reached. I think I may be a little too accustomed to moving....

Anyway. I can't say too much about Athens. I will definitely miss this place, even if there are individual facets I haven't enjoyed too much--no place is perfect, and the geography is such a pleasant change from the dreadful flatness that is Chicago; and everything reminds me of something else. Maybe the truth is that life is just one vast network, like some sort of crazy spiderweb that can't figure out when to stop connecting to itself.

Okay, so less on a thinky note. I think there's a lot of stuff I won't notice was different until I get back, but I've been making a list: the air, the fact that the metro stations aren't disgusting and smelly in Athens (actually, they're pretty icky in Paris), the stray animals, the stray animal shit, the food...oh god I am going to miss the food so bad...although of course I'm also missing all sorts of food right now. I want red chili!