APRIL
My Texas friend came to visit for the week. It was great seeing her. There was also a surprise at the end of the trip: she got engaged. // I finally did something I had been meaning to do for so long. I got to see the big Howard station at the northern end of the red line train. I am obsessed with the giant windows they have overlooking both the north and south tracks. We spent at least 15 minutes watching the trains go by from the windows. Originally the plan was to ride the yellow line so I could mark it off my list of train lines I hadn't been on yet, but we ended up running out of time. At least now I have an excuse to visit the Howard station again. // My boyfriend and I took our third big rice trip since moving in to this apartment which is a semi-annual trip to the Asain market for one of the 50 pound bags of rice. The first time we carried it in our arms the 20 minute walk home which was a horrible and sweaty idea. The second time we tried carrying it in a big backpack which was even more painful. This time we brought the dolly and strapped it on. That was by far the easiest big rice trip. // We found a new couch in the alleyway. It was a really nice couch. It looked like it belonged to an old person. Plus, its green. We took it home and replaced the kinda shitty couch (which now lives on the porch). The new couch fits the room nicely.
MARCH
Missing the thrill of rearranging furniture, my boyfriend and I begged our roommates to let us change the living room completely. After they agreed, we moved some of the large bookshelves we found in the alley into the living room. My boyfriend put all his cassettes and VHS tapes onto one bookshelves and I filled the other with my board and card game collection. The CRT TV got moved into my boyfriend's bedroom where he connected it to a screenless laptop he had. The living room is now extremely inviting. The roommates loved the change too. Unfortuately, the front room, which was housing the large bookshelves, now looks worse. Someday the front room will be more than just an unarranged storage room, but that's a project for a later date. // During a night walk, we came across someone throwing out furniture. She said she had to downsize for her new apartment and we could take whatever we wanted. We took a big cabinet to use in the front room to hide some of the storage in there. I also got a new office chair from the pile. I finally got to replace my current chair which had been actively falling apart for a while now. // My boyfriend bought flat ethernet cables. We put them along the ceiling and it looks so much better than the old cables that were just hanging down from the wall. We also drilled a hole in the wall so the living room computer (the one connected to the television in there) could have an ethernet connection. Don't tell the landlord.
FEBRUARY
This month was pretty depressing because of some personal reasons, but it did contain a lot of returns of previous hobbies. My boyfriend and I binged so much Minecraft. I got back into Silksong. This return to the game found me beating the Clover Dancers. I also started reading again. All my holds at the library arrived at around the same time, so I read more this month than I had the past year. // On a warmer day, my boyfriend and I made a trip out to where he used to live in Albany Park. It was the first time he had been back since moving and he said it brought up a lot of bad memories. There was a highlight to the trip: when you stand on the bridge over the river and look towards downtown, you can watch the brown line train pass by. It was a breathtaking scene, especially at night.
JANUARY
My boyfriend and I bought memberships to the Music Box Theatre since we had been seeing a lot of movies there. Plus, we wanted to support the theatre. This month we saw two movies there: Serial Mom and Paranoia (1969). Serial Mom was the second John Water's movie I'd seen after watching Pink Flamingos in a college class. I went in expecting it to be a lot more out there like Pink Flamingos, but it was pretty tame. That's not to say I didn't like it, it was a super entertaining watch. Paranoia was being shown as part of their giallo film showcase. We had hoped to catch more of the showcase, but schedules didn't allow for it. // The big house project of this month was converting my bedroom into an office. It had been well over a year at this point since I had slept in my bed and I wasn't planning on using it. I gave the bed away which left plenty of space for my boyfriend to move his computer desk in. Now we can hang out in the same room when I'm gaming. There's also the added benefit of having space to walk around in his room now. The most challenging part of this new arrangement was figuring out how to stretch the ethernet cables to my room which was further from the router. It looked a bit silly when we were done, but it works and that's what matters. // One of my friends who moved out of the city last year made a trip up to see everyone. We gorged ourselves on deep dish pizza and played plenty of games. My boyfriend and I didn't end up walking home until after four in the morning. // Finally getting fed up hitting our heads against the metal bars behind the bed, we made our own headboard. We bought a nail gun and two of the cheapest sheets of wood we could find. We stapled a mattress topper and an old blanket left behind from previous roommates. It's quite comforable. // A friend of mine hosts a double feature movie night every Saturday. I nearly always working on Saturdays, but this month I finally got to attend one of the movie nights. We watched Fitzcarraldo and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
back home
My Texas friend came to visit for the week. It was great seeing her. There was also a surprise at the end of the trip: she got engaged. // I finally did something I had been meaning to do for so long. I got to see the big Howard station at the northern end of the red line train. I am obsessed with the giant windows they have overlooking both the north and south tracks. We spent at least 15 minutes watching the trains go by from the windows. Originally the plan was to ride the yellow line so I could mark it off my list of train lines I hadn't been on yet, but we ended up running out of time. At least now I have an excuse to visit the Howard station again. // My boyfriend and I took our third big rice trip since moving in to this apartment which is a semi-annual trip to the Asain market for one of the 50 pound bags of rice. The first time we carried it in our arms the 20 minute walk home which was a horrible and sweaty idea. The second time we tried carrying it in a big backpack which was even more painful. This time we brought the dolly and strapped it on. That was by far the easiest big rice trip. // We found a new couch in the alleyway. It was a really nice couch. It looked like it belonged to an old person. Plus, its green. We took it home and replaced the kinda shitty couch (which now lives on the porch). The new couch fits the room nicely.
MARCH
Missing the thrill of rearranging furniture, my boyfriend and I begged our roommates to let us change the living room completely. After they agreed, we moved some of the large bookshelves we found in the alley into the living room. My boyfriend put all his cassettes and VHS tapes onto one bookshelves and I filled the other with my board and card game collection. The CRT TV got moved into my boyfriend's bedroom where he connected it to a screenless laptop he had. The living room is now extremely inviting. The roommates loved the change too. Unfortuately, the front room, which was housing the large bookshelves, now looks worse. Someday the front room will be more than just an unarranged storage room, but that's a project for a later date. // During a night walk, we came across someone throwing out furniture. She said she had to downsize for her new apartment and we could take whatever we wanted. We took a big cabinet to use in the front room to hide some of the storage in there. I also got a new office chair from the pile. I finally got to replace my current chair which had been actively falling apart for a while now. // My boyfriend bought flat ethernet cables. We put them along the ceiling and it looks so much better than the old cables that were just hanging down from the wall. We also drilled a hole in the wall so the living room computer (the one connected to the television in there) could have an ethernet connection. Don't tell the landlord.
FEBRUARY
This month was pretty depressing because of some personal reasons, but it did contain a lot of returns of previous hobbies. My boyfriend and I binged so much Minecraft. I got back into Silksong. This return to the game found me beating the Clover Dancers. I also started reading again. All my holds at the library arrived at around the same time, so I read more this month than I had the past year. // On a warmer day, my boyfriend and I made a trip out to where he used to live in Albany Park. It was the first time he had been back since moving and he said it brought up a lot of bad memories. There was a highlight to the trip: when you stand on the bridge over the river and look towards downtown, you can watch the brown line train pass by. It was a breathtaking scene, especially at night.
JANUARY
My boyfriend and I bought memberships to the Music Box Theatre since we had been seeing a lot of movies there. Plus, we wanted to support the theatre. This month we saw two movies there: Serial Mom and Paranoia (1969). Serial Mom was the second John Water's movie I'd seen after watching Pink Flamingos in a college class. I went in expecting it to be a lot more out there like Pink Flamingos, but it was pretty tame. That's not to say I didn't like it, it was a super entertaining watch. Paranoia was being shown as part of their giallo film showcase. We had hoped to catch more of the showcase, but schedules didn't allow for it. // The big house project of this month was converting my bedroom into an office. It had been well over a year at this point since I had slept in my bed and I wasn't planning on using it. I gave the bed away which left plenty of space for my boyfriend to move his computer desk in. Now we can hang out in the same room when I'm gaming. There's also the added benefit of having space to walk around in his room now. The most challenging part of this new arrangement was figuring out how to stretch the ethernet cables to my room which was further from the router. It looked a bit silly when we were done, but it works and that's what matters. // One of my friends who moved out of the city last year made a trip up to see everyone. We gorged ourselves on deep dish pizza and played plenty of games. My boyfriend and I didn't end up walking home until after four in the morning. // Finally getting fed up hitting our heads against the metal bars behind the bed, we made our own headboard. We bought a nail gun and two of the cheapest sheets of wood we could find. We stapled a mattress topper and an old blanket left behind from previous roommates. It's quite comforable. // A friend of mine hosts a double feature movie night every Saturday. I nearly always working on Saturdays, but this month I finally got to attend one of the movie nights. We watched Fitzcarraldo and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
back home