Nescio quid sit
As of tomorrow, it's been a week since moving to Chicago. I'm becoming less scared of our neighborhood, although the fact that U of C keeps sending Joel grim emails about not walking alone after dark doesn't help. He starts classes on Monday and I'm more than a little jealous, since I'm absorbed in finding an adult sort of job (read: no more cafes). There is an opening in the U Chicago Press for a manuscript editor, and I suspect I'm in the irritating position of being quite able to do the job without having quite enough experience to feel confident applying. Everyone says that B. A.'s are useless, but really, they're useless.
Apart from that, I've been playing house. So far we have a mattress, a table and chairs, and a futon that's arriving on Monday. So, all the rest of our things are jumbled in suitcases and boxes on the living room floor. The longer they stay there, the more I'm used to them, so I think we need to find some shelves soon and unpack. Even in a state of near total disorder, it's exciting to have a place that's mine. New Hampshire, for a lot of reasons, made me feel like a guest. And even though I hadn't let myself worry about living with Joel in any concrete way, so far it's been great. It's been lovely to have a few days of camping out and working our way through a bottle of excellent scotch that the inestimable John sent as a get-well-present for Joel.
Part of why the job search is stressful is because now I'm faced with making friends without the security of a college scene, or people who know me from high school. It's been strange having little conversations with people in our building, at the Co-op, or in the book store; I'm not quite sure how to turn those into something more substantial, or even if I want to. Meeting potential friends makes me more nervous that if I were just flirting with them, somehow that seems like more of a game.
Once Joel's school and my (prospective) job get started, I'll have more to write about. So far it seems like we're on a little vacation, but I'm looking forward to feeling like I really do live here.
ps- I'm trying to stop looking at petfinder.com, we can't afford a dog or a cat, but how can I deal with finding a kitty named one-eyed-Willy??
Apart from that, I've been playing house. So far we have a mattress, a table and chairs, and a futon that's arriving on Monday. So, all the rest of our things are jumbled in suitcases and boxes on the living room floor. The longer they stay there, the more I'm used to them, so I think we need to find some shelves soon and unpack. Even in a state of near total disorder, it's exciting to have a place that's mine. New Hampshire, for a lot of reasons, made me feel like a guest. And even though I hadn't let myself worry about living with Joel in any concrete way, so far it's been great. It's been lovely to have a few days of camping out and working our way through a bottle of excellent scotch that the inestimable John sent as a get-well-present for Joel.
Part of why the job search is stressful is because now I'm faced with making friends without the security of a college scene, or people who know me from high school. It's been strange having little conversations with people in our building, at the Co-op, or in the book store; I'm not quite sure how to turn those into something more substantial, or even if I want to. Meeting potential friends makes me more nervous that if I were just flirting with them, somehow that seems like more of a game.
Once Joel's school and my (prospective) job get started, I'll have more to write about. So far it seems like we're on a little vacation, but I'm looking forward to feeling like I really do live here.
ps- I'm trying to stop looking at petfinder.com, we can't afford a dog or a cat, but how can I deal with finding a kitty named one-eyed-Willy??