i finally got around to furnishing my place after months of sleeping, sitting, and standing on the floor. it’s nice to be able to sit at a proper desk, sleep in a proper bed, and stand on a proper East African Dingle Bear skin rug.

big thanks goes out to Josh Lin, the man with the plan (and the pick-up truck) for helping me lug things around town, to both Josh and Tai-Chi for helping me set things up, and to Frankie Sinatra for giving us swell music to work to.

ever notice how reading english backwards sounds sort of like you’re speaking bad Hungarian?

.emitemos ti yrt

was forced at gunpoint by Jeanne Neinzenfauschfuhrerhausenhausenblitzhausen to compile this list of weird habits. i think my Luger and i are supposed to be forcing others to follow suit but it’s time for lunch and wienerschnitzel waits for no man.

weird habit #1
after using a toothpick i’ll always bend it in half before disposing of it. if i’m waiting for the subway, disposing of it means flicking it in front of the train as it passes by. i’ve managed to hit the conductor’s windshield on several occasions.

weird habit #2
i grab at least one matchbook from my favorite seafood restaurant every time i go. i have boxes of them. i also pilfer their fantastic mints but they usually don’t last long enough for me to collect them.

weird habit #3
i hate wearing socks without shoes. it’s all or nothing, baby. i like feeling carpet betwixt me toes and/or cool tile/hardwood beneath me feet. socks are just too impersonal for me.

weird habit #4
i have at least one camera, speedlight (flash), and at least two lenses within reach at just about any given moment. also in my camera bag are toothpicks, pens, and a pad of sticky notes for generally mischievous purposes.

weird habit #5
i shed blood before tears.

i gotta say, i much, much, MUCH prefer travelling from my new place than my old. before i had to walk through these drab little neighborhoods with angry old Italian men sitting on their deck chairs with bludgeon(s) in hand. now i take the elevator down to ground level, exit the building near the loading dock, navigate an alley or two, and i’m immersed in the hustle and bustle of downtown.

and then there’s the actual unit itself. although my room is still about the same size, there are more important things than square footage.

this is my old view:

yep, check out the glorious slab of aluminum siding from next door. not only does it offer a dazzling array of colors and textures but it also effectively blocks 75% of sunlight due to its close proximity to my window. basically, it’s always dark when i wake up, am at home, or go to bed.

this is my new view:

i play guitar out on the balcony. the Sears Tower is my nightlight. ’nuff said.

:)

i’m not a baseball fan or anything but what the hell. it’ll probably be another 88 years until they win it again anyway. enjoy it while it lasts, boys.

well, i kind of lied about being back on monday. in actuality, i arrived safe and sound in Chicago at about 2:00 this morning.

walking through the aftermath of Katrina was beyond surreal. after working at the distribution center we drove through the devastated neighborhoods of St. Bernard Parish trying to find people who needed help. unsurprisingly, we only saw a handful of folks trying to retrieve a few belongings from the tattered remnants of their homes. of the few we talked to, most seemed to be strong-willed individuals who were determined to be optimistic and joyful. it was an encouraging sight to see given the unfortunate circumstances at hand.

the destruction we saw was unlike anything i had ever beheld. cars were overturned, monstrous trees uprooted, and entire houses were ripped from their foundations and pushed onto the streets. the evidence of the storm’s raw power was nothing short of terrifying.

some pictures will be posted soon so keep an eye on my photographs

today i’m leaving my little shanty (and i do mean shanty) in Little Italy and moving into a high-rise in West Loop. unfortunately, i won’t be staying in my new place tonight because i’m heading down to Louisiana in a few hours to take pictures and help out (but um, not necessarily in that order).

okay. i’ll be back on monday. (photographs will still be updated in my absence)

this morning i walked out of my room to take a shower and *CLICK* the door locked behind me. i stared dumbfounded for a minute or two then grabbed a kitchen knife and vainly tried to break in. i ended up scoring part of the door frame but uh, we’re not going to tell el landlord about it, are we? ‘course not.

so there i stood, kitchen knife in hand ready to break down the door with my 130 pounds of brute strength when i realized that Jane had a spare key. JANE! I KNOW JANE! i stabbed the knife into the counter for safekeeping and dumbly reached for my cellphone.

i pounded on my roommates’ doors but they were both sound asleep. i ran upstairs and pounded on the door. all asleep. getting (more) desperate, i walked outside when it suddenly occured to me that Mike, Sarah and the gang lived seven hops and nine skips down the alley.

i gleefully hopped and skipped the whole way.

thankfully, one of Sarah’s roommates–a girl that i had only briefly met once–was at the kitchen table putting stuff in her bag. i pounded on the glass like a crack fiend to get her attention. amazingly, she didn’t come out and shove me down the stairs but instead let me come inside and use her cell. i got through, woke Jane up (sorry again), and was back in my room in no time.

moral of the story: showers are evil.

i’m in the process of downloading obtaining in a legal fashion round 8 of the 2005 WRC season: the Acropolis Rally in Greece. it had been going pretty well up until a couple of days ago when it decided to stop and stay at a dissatisfactory 71.5% but now it’s back from whatever it was doing and has resumed at a less-than-speedy-but-i’ll-take-what-i-can-get 5 kbps!

that must’ve been a bore to read. i do apologize but it really did excite me. sigh.