With her killer graces
And her secret places
That no boy can fill
With her hands on her hips
And that smile on her lips
Because she knows that it kills me
With her soft french cream
Standing in the doorway like a dream
I wish she'd just leave me alone
Because french cream won't soften them boots
Adn french kisses will not break that heart of stone
With her long hair falling
And her eyes that shine like the midnight sun
She's the one
She's the one

That thunder in your heart at night
when you kneeling in the dark
It says you're never gonna leave her
But there's this angel in her eyes
That tells such desperate lies
And all you want to do is believe her
And tonight you'll try
Just one more time
To leave it all behind
And to break on through

The Boss was in town Wednesday night, playing US Cellular Field (affectionately known as "The Cell" around here, mostly because of fan tendency to run onto the field during games). I did not have a ticket. I felt VERY deprived. I missed last September's concert because I had class (and did not feel I could ditch it at the time tix went on sale). This time I was in Europe when the tix went on sale, and accordingly had no hope of getting tix. Damn. Heard it was another awesome performance too.

Apartment Hunt = the adventure begins...

*Sigh*

This is definitely not going to be easy. I drove downtown Wednesday to look at some apartments, after meeting some ex-co-workers for a nice lunch. While perusing the ads, I noticed an ad for a one-bedroom right across the street from the law school! How fortunate could one be? Step out the door, cross the street, and - shazam! - you're there. Transportation costs? Nil. And the rent? Right up my alley, at $750 a month. Too good to be true, right? Right. I called. It was only 550 square feet, almost half of what I live in now. And the building didn't look so great either. I took a pass on their offer to show it to me.

I'd called earlier on another place, showing at 4:00. But when the guy on the other end told me the area, I became wary (plus his comment about how the owner wanted only a 'certain type' didn't help. Don't know exactly what he meant, but I didn't want to chance it). Turns out I was right; in a drive-by later the place was on the 'wrong side of the tracks' so to speak (I definitely got some 'what are you doing here?' looks), and the building was not in the best condition.

I took my first plunge in an apartment on Deming. After getting directions (just off Clark) and finding parking (a challenge in Lincoln Park), I walked in - and was less than thrilled. The place was 600 square feet (approximately) and going for $865 a month. For you math maniacs, that's $1.44 a square foot. Heck, I only pay $1.29 a foot here, and I think that's pricey. The next three places fared no better - one even had flaking paint and a hole in the ceiling where water had leaked through (the fact that the building manager dismissively pointed that out - "oh and there's where she had a leak, but it never really bothered her" - also bothered me, and dear old dad's opinion was that the paint was flaking because there was more moisture in the apartment that I couldn't see) - and not only were the apartments small, and in generally poor condition, the buildings were too. Oh, but from outside, they looked good. Too bad the inside didn't match.

So the search goes on. More to come next week...

And then, depression set in.....


Great. I got the email today. You know, that email. The one we all dread....



Hi, Greg

You are invited to the Shepard High School Class of 1983 Reunion!

When: October 10, 2003.
Where: Holiday Inn, Matteson
Cost: $65 pp...

Oh. My. God.

Two months to find a date. Can I do it? Should I go? Am I really that old?

*sigh*

More Photos

I got back the rest of the pictures from vacation.

Total developing cost (US): $150.
Total developing cost (Italy): approx $55.
Total film cost: approx $130
(due to fluctuation in value of Euro, it's impossible for me to be exact here).

That means my photos cost me a total of $385. Annika, in a comment a couple of weeks back, pointed out that I should have just went digital, and in retrospect, she's very much correct. But at that time $400 seemed like a lot of money, and since I'd been to both Oxford and Rome before, I didn't think I'd be snapping that many photos. And then Interlaken happened. And Paris. And Kassel. You get the point. Part of my developing costs included photo CDs, so I could post the pictures easily without having to bother someone to use their scanner, blah, blah, blah...

As I slowly get my life back in order (and settle arguments with Dell, and T-Mobile), I'm sure I'll post more about all the fun I'm not having trying to find an apartment, figure out school, etc.

Believe me, it's been exciting so far.

Best part of last weekend was the entire weekend: I went to Battle Creek, Michigan with my dad for our annual golf weekend. While there, I finally managed to break 100 - twice. Saturday afternoon, it looked like rain, so we decided to forgo the afternoon round for some other diversion, which at first looked like time in front of the TV back at the hotel room. But then we stumbled across Cruise the Gut, sponsored by the Battle Creek Police Department. What is it? A car show - and what a show. Cars from all over Michigan showed up, from a hand-crank start 1916 Ford (which still ran!) right up to mid-80's Hurst Olds 442s. There were T-Birds, Camaros, Firebirds, Mustangs and Corvettes galore, a few Studebakers and even a Nash. Dad and I were in seventh heaven as we spent almost three hours walking downtown looking at at least 1,000 cars. Or at least it seemed like 1,000. It might have been less, but there were cars everywhere - on the street, in parking lots, on the sidewalk - for blocks on end. And where there wasn't cars, there was people. At five o'clock or so, the cars began driving up and down the main drag. Needless to say, it was quite a sight. We thoroughly enjoyed every moment, and didn't get back to the hotel until after nine. And we'd first stopped to look at the cars around three-thirty...