Holidays pt. 1.
Virginia has departed, and I'm quickly slipping back into my usual caffeine/internet haze. Also, iTunes just informed me I have a song called "Beer, Bait, and Ammo," which fact threatens to overwhelm my fragile psyche. I swear I did not download this... alas for my redneck past. [Update: I also have "The Fucking Moon" by The Evolution Control Committee. Perhaps my computer is bored by my more pedestrian taste in music.]
Thanksgiving for us was pizza and pumpkin pie. We spent the morning downtown: just missed the parade, but walked around the Christkindle Market, which was neat. It's managed by the local German community, so even the bureaucratic permits on the sides of booths were in German. Heaven for nerds, of course. In general, though, the huge Germanic/Slavic-speaking population of Chicago makes me feel like crap. Under-educated crap. I eavesdrop on them to the best of my ability, but that is slight revenge.
Otherwise only two things are open in Chicago/Evanston on Thanksgiving: the grocery stores and Blockbuster. We stayed downtown for a while, walking around on State St.; it was seriously cold, however (snow on the ground), and that's not Virginia's thing. So we came back up, drove around (Northwestern does have a football stadium, as promised. It looks like it should belong to Stanford or something... very warm, golden stucco), and concluded that we weren't going to find much to do. Luckily, the aforementioned stores were open. Ingredients and a movie rental later, we were back to the apartment.
Friday was suburban shopping (including the ginormous IKEA), which netted me socks inter alia. Better still, at Target we got a silly kit to make Christmas cards. If you're reading this, you might still get a calligraphy dealie. But these collage-y ones were really fun to despair over, and in any case a necessary compromise if I want to get my papers finished. School is interfering with the things I really want to do, surprisingly enough.
Saturday was downtown shopping. Before you conclude we're hopelessly materialistic, let me make a couple of observations. First, Virginia lives in a town of 7,000, which means limited access to H&M (or Target, for that matter. Also, she looks amazing, so it was time for new sexy clothes). Second, Mom sent us some money with instructions to use it. Yet even after two days of shopping, we didn't come close; V and I are just not very acquisitive, even under orders. Between us we got 2 shirts, a pair of earrings, various kitchen implements (me), Indian food...
I think Virginia kept hoping we'd do something big and dramatic, like see a play or go be cute in a swank bar. Unfortunately I'm a boring sort of person. Still, we enjoy one another's company, and even our minimal adventures beat three days alone in Robinson and my apartment, respectively. I made her some CDs for the ride home (*waves to the RIAA*): Christmas, Other, and Other Other. She claims to have purchased one for me, which raises all kinds of questions. We shall see, come Holidays pt. 2.
Thanksgiving for us was pizza and pumpkin pie. We spent the morning downtown: just missed the parade, but walked around the Christkindle Market, which was neat. It's managed by the local German community, so even the bureaucratic permits on the sides of booths were in German. Heaven for nerds, of course. In general, though, the huge Germanic/Slavic-speaking population of Chicago makes me feel like crap. Under-educated crap. I eavesdrop on them to the best of my ability, but that is slight revenge.
Otherwise only two things are open in Chicago/Evanston on Thanksgiving: the grocery stores and Blockbuster. We stayed downtown for a while, walking around on State St.; it was seriously cold, however (snow on the ground), and that's not Virginia's thing. So we came back up, drove around (Northwestern does have a football stadium, as promised. It looks like it should belong to Stanford or something... very warm, golden stucco), and concluded that we weren't going to find much to do. Luckily, the aforementioned stores were open. Ingredients and a movie rental later, we were back to the apartment.
Friday was suburban shopping (including the ginormous IKEA), which netted me socks inter alia. Better still, at Target we got a silly kit to make Christmas cards. If you're reading this, you might still get a calligraphy dealie. But these collage-y ones were really fun to despair over, and in any case a necessary compromise if I want to get my papers finished. School is interfering with the things I really want to do, surprisingly enough.
Saturday was downtown shopping. Before you conclude we're hopelessly materialistic, let me make a couple of observations. First, Virginia lives in a town of 7,000, which means limited access to H&M (or Target, for that matter. Also, she looks amazing, so it was time for new sexy clothes). Second, Mom sent us some money with instructions to use it. Yet even after two days of shopping, we didn't come close; V and I are just not very acquisitive, even under orders. Between us we got 2 shirts, a pair of earrings, various kitchen implements (me), Indian food...
I think Virginia kept hoping we'd do something big and dramatic, like see a play or go be cute in a swank bar. Unfortunately I'm a boring sort of person. Still, we enjoy one another's company, and even our minimal adventures beat three days alone in Robinson and my apartment, respectively. I made her some CDs for the ride home (*waves to the RIAA*): Christmas, Other, and Other Other. She claims to have purchased one for me, which raises all kinds of questions. We shall see, come Holidays pt. 2.