Chi-town

I just got back from a trip to Chicago, which I believe is my favorite city of all. If I had a job to go to, or were to lose my job tomorrow, I would pack up in an instance and move.

I can't exactly explain what it is I like about the city. It's more than just its art and atmosphere, and the fact that I have friends there. I feel some sort of connection with it that seems to reach into my subconscious. There are cities that do that. Places where you go, where you've never been before and yet you feel totally at home there. Chicago is one of those places. I felt that way the first time I went there and I feel it still.

New York is not one of those places. I have never felt at home there. I like it very much. I feel much more accustomed to its ways now. But I would also have no trouble leaving it.

Knock, knock: New neighbors calling with apple pie and a copy of the Watchtower

So, we have Jehovah's Witnesses in our basement.

Two sisters moved in not too long after I acquired a roommate and my stalker downstairs neighbor moved out. My roommate and I were confused at first by the nature of their relationship. Were they poor friends like us and oddly had a similar living situation? Did one girl sleep in the living room? We wondered if they were a lesbian couple or maybe only one lived there and the other was just over ALL THE TIME. But then recently we met their mother and it turns out, they're sisters. It also turns out that they spend their free time knocking on peoples doors with copies of The Watchtower tucked under their arms.

The news of the Jehovah's Witness infestation has been all the buzz at our complex. People are quietly upset because they all think there will now be constant knocking on our doors on the weekends. At first when one of my gossipy neighbors told me, I didn't believe it. The girls seemed too modern, their shorts too short. They had a Yorkie, for goodness sakes! But after talking to their mom, it turns out they are indeed Jehovah's Witnesses. They're from Virginia.

The only other Jehovah's Witness I actually know used to be one of my reporters and I was just as shocked to find out she was a JW as I was about these girls. The ex-reporter was also from the South, from South Carolina to be exact. I'm not sure what it is about the south that breads JWs, but I guess that's where most of them seem to come from. Of course, the ones who used to come to my door on Saturdays looked nothing like these girls. They tended to be frumpy middle-aged women in very sensible shoes. There was a certain look to them and the look did not say Gap.

I have to admit that I don't know much about JW except they don't celebrate birthdays or holidays and I feel they are a little cultish and that bothers me. It bothers me more when they seem so normal, like the girls in the basement or the ex-reporter. But I guess that may just add to the cultishness of it in the end. I mean, who would join a cult of middle-aged frump women? That would just be too sad for words.

Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum

So since I've moved here my brother has wanted to go to the Intrepid. I didn't find this out until after he left here the first time. Then he came around December with our cousin. And a big aircraft carrier is not her idea of fun. Especially since they do not sell fake Coach purses on it. Then the next couple of times, it was closed for repairs. But this time...THIS TIME...it was perfect. Almost like he had planned it because it was Fleet Week and that meant all kinds of extras going on. They just reopened the submarine, The Growler, AND there were navy dudes EVERYWHERE.

So here's the best advice I can give you about the Intrepid. And it is seriously good advice. If you want to go, buy your tickets in advance online. You have to do this at least a day before you want to go. But it will save you hours, HOURS waiting in line (or on line, as they say here). I always try to buy tickets in advance online. I did it for the Statue of Liberty when the afore mentioned cousin visited and it saved us a little line waiting, I guess, but we still did our fair share of standing. I expected something comparable — it would save us the time waiting in line to get tickets, but we'd still have to stand in line for the actual boat. But instead, it was like having a Do Not Pass Go card. But instead of going directly to jail, we went directly onto the Intrepid. We waited NOT at all. The only time wasted was trying to figure out where Will Call was, because we could not believe we could just walk up to the front. This line stretched around the block/pier. So, moral here, buy online ahead of time. Also, if you have a college ID, use it. Even if it's from the community college where you only took a Spanish class a semester. Saved me $5.

The boat was pretty interesting. We spent about four hours there, I think, and we still didn't see everything. Block out a day. Especially if you go during Fleet Week when the bands are playing and there is beer being sold and you can just kick back on a nice sunny day outside and listen to music with friends.

Oh, for those of you don't know what the Intrepid is: "In 1943, Intrepid was commissioned and served proudly in World War II. She went on to serve as one of the primary recovery vessels for NASA, three tours of duty off Vietnam, and submarine surveillance in the North Atlantic during the Cold War." It's now a museum.

What? June already!

Hi. Remember me? No, probably not. I just realized I made only one post in all of May and that was a lame shortie about the weather. How did all of May just go by without me realizing it. So let me catch you up.

Memorial Day:



My brother was in town. So me, my roommate and my brother on the spur of the moment dusted off the cooler, which hasn't been used since I left Memphis, dug out the beach towels and Frisbee and went and hung out at the Riverfront Park. It was beautiful weather. I only wish I had planned ahead and gotten, like, a hibachi or something, so we could have cooked out. Then I had to return my brother to the airport that evening. Surprisingly, we had no trouble with traffic.