Last Week of Freedom

Sorry Rachel, no puppy yet, and I am writing a blog entry! Rachel has been receiving so much positive feedback on her entries, that she hogs the keyboard all day (with one eye in a book and the other on the TV). Don't worry though, she has proclaimed tomorrow as "Puppy Day."

So now I am taking control, with only a half-week before Northwestern orientation begins. As you can see in the pictures above, even the art is on the walls and the curtains on the rods - not without a few choice words for both of them. Plaster walls from the 20's, old metal pipes, and metal wall reinforcements are not good ingredients for a happy hanging experience.

Besides that, we love the place. For some odd reason, I actually enjoy the feeling of open windows and ceiling fans... I think it reminds me of vacations at the lake or friends' beach houses. Also, the indoor hallway leading up to our place still has the original lighting and staircase. It has the smell of my grandfather's old building in downtown St. Matthews where he would take me after loading up at the pharmacy with Chick-O-Sticks, Reece's Pieces, and a Coke. Overall, the place is tough competition for our apartment in Greenville, even without the pool, tennis courts, and weight room. I think the $300 rent difference and winter weather may sway me later on...

Our place here in Evanston is in a great spot - a Thai restaurant, public transportation, two grocery stores, an ice cream place, and Starbucks within three blocks. I told Rachel's parents it was sort of like their street in Bangkok, minus the homeless guy who set up permanent residence on the sidewalk calling himself the "Soi Cowboy." We build muscles carrying our groceries back from the store, but it sure beats gas which is above $3.00 up here... hurricane or no hurricane.

I'll wrap it up, but mention that today we were able to see the Art Institute of Chicago (ARTIC for short... aren't they cute?). We saw everything except Rachel's and my favorite period... Impressionist and post-Impressionist art. As usual the museum closes at 4:30 and they start ousting you 15 minutes before that. The Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmarte section was without a doubt the most well set-up temp. exhibit I have ever seen - with paintings that inspired him (Van Gogh, Degas) and paintings by the people he inspired (Picasso, et al). They had original paintings from inside the nightspots like the Moulin Rouge and Chat Noir, plus sections on the dancers who inspired the artist's giant poster-advertisements that appeared all around late 19th century Paris. It will be hard to top that on our sightseeing adventures, but "bring it on Chicago!"

I ran across a quotation of an urban Chicago artist today who shares my thoughts about our new home - "All the adventure in the world within a block of my home; all the foreign nations within a mile."