Chicago!

It's a gorgeous spring day in Chicago, IL and I'm sitting at a Starbucks on Halsted. I'm sipping some $1.50 coffee because I can't afford my usual tall hazelnut latte with cinnamon sprinkled on top. I'm pretty sure the barista's head was about to explode when I asked for such a plain beverage.

There are a few Greek flags hanging from the wall above the condiment bar, signifying that I am in Greektown. Thank you, Starbucks. I couldn't tell from the plethora of Greek restaurants lining the street. What would I do without you? All joking aside, I really do like Starbucks. Good coffee, free WiFi, great music (usually. I have heard the occasional train wreck played here) A nice place to just sit back, people-watch, and slowly kill myself due to caffeine intake. Hooray for the cooperate monster!

I really do like this city, though. It was the first major city that I had ever visited. I was in a college preparation program, we had a big trip at the end, and we went to Chicago. We stayed at the Knickerbocker hotel, there were ants in my bed and nobody talked to me, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I vowed that I would move here some day, and six years later, here I am.

It's kind of cathartic, fulfilling a dream from my younger years. It seems like such a long time ago, I was a completely different person then. Timid, bookish, and friendless. However, I fell in love with this city, a love that was not surpassed until I hit the New York City streets for the first time. I'm starting to think for the sake of my younger self (and my wallet) that I should stay here for a while. Perhaps go to school, slow down, get a job. I've been feeling like I need to do everything RIGHT NOW since I moved away, as if I'm running out of time or something. I know I'm not, my life is only just starting, but I think we all do that when we first move away from home.

An Update and Thoughtful Thoughts

An update!

I'm leaving Pittsburgh for Erie to visit my brother from another mother. After that, I'm heading to Chicago for a month and then it's off to New York City for a while. I'm ecstatic.

I will now leave you with my thoughtful thoughts. They're kind of heavy.

-------------------------------------------

1. The night before you leave a place is always so surreal. No matter where you're leaving, a room, a house, or even a city, the same thing happens. You lay in bed and stare at the ceiling as memories from the past however long you were there fill your head. You smile when you remember all of the adventures you've shared with your friends and push everything else to the back of your mind. The bad, the mind numbingly boring, and whatever else you don't care to remember. Though we may forget the exact details of these things, the sour taste will linger, poisoning the feeling you have towards the place. Nowhere is necessarily bad, it's all about the memories we associate with them, opinions can change as time goes by. But life goes on, bigger and better things are always on the horizon for those who are willing to look.

2. Living with people is a very different experience than just simply being their friend. The charming facade that they present dissolves after a week of constant contact. After that, all that's left is who they really are, their core being. You have to decide whether you still like that person or otherwise. Their mask can differ so much from their real face that it is almost alarming. There's nothing wrong with the masks we adorn, everyone does it. If we were exactly who we are all the time, the world would be a much less peaceful place. Sometimes friendships grow stronger after this period, other times they fade into nothing but resentment and sadness.

Osama's Dead, Now What?

The Internet is a-buzz with the news that Osama Bin Laden has been killed by US troops.

Great! One more life lost! So what?

True, he was the leader of Al Qaeda, but it's not like that's going to stop them. It isn't like the man was the final boss of a video game and now everything is going to be hunky-dory now that he's gone. Life doesn't work that way. There are still hundreds of people wanting to rip apart our country, and now that we killed their head-honcho, they aren't going to be very happy.

Nothing good can come of this.