workflow

so. back at the argo tea. it appears that the internet didn't turn on, and doesn't intend to. i've been told to buy a month to month plan by my sublessor, and that she'll refund the rent and lower the month-to-month cost. she fricken better put that in writing.

you know, this is the second time this year that i've been somewhat promised internet service (or at least asked if it was an important aspect in a homestay) and it hasn't been there. I don't like this pattern at all.

the guy who made me my deeeeeeeelicious mojitea (mint tea with bubbles and delicousness!) is trying to flirt with me by trying to involve me in a conversation about video games and anime. My not really likeing anime, and deprivation of video games isn't helping is case.

(funnily, i just wrote that and he came, sat down, and started to chat me up for like....20 min. then he blamed his forwardness on espresso.)

anyway..................workflow!
I really like the gallery where i've been working. it's a pretty small community - maybe 10 people total including myself, and not everyone is there everyday. The athmosphere is really relaxed and everyone acts like they're part of a family. I'm learning the culture fast, and I really like it. Everyone is pretty young too, so that helps on a relation level (and they all deeply sympathize with my internet issues). Things generall jump from one thing to another, getting small bits of everything done. Next week we're taking down the show that's up right now (richard hunt - sculpture/old man in his 70's extrodinare) and exchanging it for one that looks AWESOME called "Golden Ratio." I'm super psyched. So far i've gone through submissions from random artists, sent out rejection letters, updated databases, wrapped some peices for shipment, participated in meetings, and a whooooole bunch of other stuff. but i have a lot to learn about the artists so that i can really answer questions when people come and look around the gallery.

So far I havn't seen many people around that i know...Sherrick, the scholar from beloit (my year) is here which is nice and we're hanging out. DJ (another scholar) just arrived today, but won't be around until the weekend. Emily (my roommate) gets in on sunday, and then Timila (another scholar) won't get in for some time yet i think. My friend Saika is visiting this weekend, and things are starting to get rolling. we even had some sunshine today!

regardless of the internet situation, things are finallllly starting to move along. now hopefully this awkward barista won't ask for my number.

love to all, shabbat shalom!

Memory

Photos are big. really really big. usually. the ones i take are generally on the larger side. the larger they are, the more detail they tend to include. unfortunately, each one therefore takes up a lot of memory (if they happen to be digital).

so I'm back in chicago. I arrived to find the appartment kind of messy, the futon broken (though i think it may still be usable as a bed?) and the internet not functioning (though recent communications say that it WILL START TOMORROW!). while all this made me panic-y and upset yesterday, today i'm feeling better about it. the building is GREAT, very nice with a super gym on the 3rd floor. i can see the HUMOUNGOUS AND AWESOME supermarket from my window, and we live downwind from a chocolate plant (which, i recently discovered, DOES SELL CHOCOLATE).

the flight over was very easy, regardless of travelocity's attempt to make everything go wrong, and i got the the appartment quickly and easily. I sat between step-siblings in the exit row. great for my legs, but one of the siblings was wearing a caluculator watch, was in his 40's, and hadn't flown in something like 30 some-odd years (except for the flight he took to the east coast a few days previous) and kept fidgiting trying to look out the window. at the beginning of the flight i offered both of them gum, which i then placed in the pocket in the seat in front of me, only to have him halfway through the flight lunge forward and grope around for it before turning to ask "oh, was that gum yours?"

now that i'm back in chicago, all i can think about it last years experience. the bus stop i stood at, the museum, my old building (which i have to admit, at least at this point, i liked living in more. while this place i'm staying in now is more decorated and furnished, i definately like the location of the old building more.)

this also makes me think about the home in NJ. I probably slept in it, ate in it, and showered in it for the last time. this is weird. I wonder how i'll feel at the end of the summer, when i'll still probably be in the area a fair bit, but not living there. will i even find a reason to ever go by my house? what will i do with my keys? It was a big part of my life. the memories there take up a huge part of my life. the memories in chicago are also pretty large. france too. where am i gonna store this all? can i buy a harddrive for my brain? should i invent the Harry Potter "pensive" bowl to "collect my thoughts"?

enough's enough. catch ya on the flip side