Things and Stuffed

Dear dearest of deerhearts,

How are you lovelies?

It has been over three months since my move to Chicago and my, oh My, how the time has flown. . .

Wherever has it gone? You ask.

Well it went up and up and down, down, down, but it seems the tides are turning and we are headed for an upswing.

I can’t help but compare this move to the one I made to Japan a few years back. Lying on my bed and crying myself asleep each night is no longer a reasonable option. I am neither tough, nor admirable for making the small move to Chicago. If I don’t call people back, or make phone calls in the first place, the Price of Long Distance Calling and/or the Great Time Difference no longer takes the blame, and here I don’t have the overwhelming support like I did when I was all the way over in Japan.

It has been strange moving somewhere all alone with (and for) someone else. I realized recently that I had grown accustomed to having a large number of diverse friends at arm’s length. That lifestyle was stripped away when I made the move for Theodore. And here I am with one human being to fill all those gaps in my heart.

Those are some big, big shoes, my friends.

Throughout it all, Ted and I continue getting to know one another, ourselves, our new selves, and our new city . . .

And as for this, the Windiest of Cities, I feel as if I have to find an answer for “So, How do you like Chicago?” almost every day. Here is my standard response:

I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to live in a city that I never would have thought to move to. I am proud to live in one of the few places in America that wasn’t stolen from its original natives. (Native Americans rejected the Chicago area as a place to live. They considered it a worthless swamp.) I read that Chicago’s beauty is found in its things, (hu)manmade. Its architecture, its parks, and its people. I also read that Chicago is a city of rejects, a place for people who don’t belong anywhere else to fit in. And so far, this is proving to be accurate.

As for la-la-Life:

In the beginning, I was focused on struggling to survive. Within my first two weeks, I got a seemingly fantastic job, a beautiful apartment, met and moved in with my first housemate, Renee. The next month allowed time for me to realize how perfectly compatible Renee and I were as housemates, and what an amazing friend/person/inspiration she is. That month also turned out to be our last one living together, as she found the Opportunity of Opportunities and had to move out in order to pursue it. (Taking with her, her girlfriend Stacey, who is also a Friend of All Friends that I cried to see leave.)

Round month three, Life seemed to be trading in all of its ups for downs. I was all alone again, friendless (with the exception of the exceptional Theodore), housemateless, and beginning to hate my job. Not to mention the facts that: My ambulance adventure (that you may or may not remember/know about) was going to cost me one thousand big ones, and Ted’s apartment (of which he lives in the basement) flooded. Those were sad, sad times.

However, my new housemate is moving in today. I have had a grand total of six houseguests, each having significantly cheered my heart and brightened their share of days. (The last three of whom left yestermorn.) I have found and wrapped myself up in our local Food Not Bombs. I have discovered weekly free fantastic film screenings a brief bike ride away from my apartment (Brand Upon the Brain! last Wednesday, Two Lane Blacktop the week before, and we shall see what comes next. . . Three cheers for things to look forward too. Hip! Hip! Hip!). The future holds free magnificent music to be seen and heard not so far away. There is actually quite a lot going on in Chicago, particularly in my neighborhood, it has just been a matter of getting plugged in.

Today I feel optimistic, so I’m going to go with it, and go go go. . .

Thanks for reading, thanks for caring. This one was a biggie. I guess I had more thoughts stored up than I anticipated. I’ll try to do better next time.

Love, love, love you and your yous.