I'm not even sure if I remember how to do this anymore, but I might as well practice if this unemployment bit keeps up. I am currently sitting on a footstool with my laptop perched on the window sill in my Chicago living room. We don't have internet, and this seems to be the best location for stealing unsecured wireless from who knows where.
I could go to a nearby coffee shop, but I've not yet decided which is worth more: not spending $5 on coffee or my time wasted on internet that drops out every few minutes. Never knowing if the next page will load is a great way to add that extra element of danger and excitement to job sites. So far my posted resume has led to numerous calls from recruiters wanting me to either work in sales or commit to yearlong contracts designing whitesheets for Motorola in the suburbs. I don't even know what a whitesheet is. So far recruiters seem like spam, only instead of getting scammed on fake viagra you get a shitty career.
Chicago has been great, but none of it feels real yet. I'm living with a former college roommate and everyone I've seen have been friends from the Duluth that live here, friends from Duluth that are visiting, high school friends of friends from Duluth, or high school friends of the boyfriend of a friend from Minneapolis who now lives here. Oh, and the roommate's girlfriend's friends from college… who know the friend from Minneapolis's boyfriend's friends. I think I murdered some possessives in there.
Adding to the unreality, I went back to Duluth last weekend after only living here 2.5 weeks. My cousin got married on the iron range. I'm going to three Minnesota weddings this summer, and if I am remembered right they all connect in bizarre ways. My cousin's new wife's good friend is the ex of 's fiance (I think) and my cousin's wife also worked in Duluth with who is also getting married later this summer. I should make a chart. Or go meet some people. Also, is there a term for the relationship between you and a cousin's wife? We determined it should be cousin-in-law because if it was still just cousin that would make the married couple cousins of themselves, which is only legal in certain states.
My phone just rang from a restricted number and I didn't answer it because its probably another recruiter. I also dropped it and I'm not quite sure where it went.
In other news, I've been coming across things I missed out on in Duluth in lots of random places. I neglected to see Mates of State play at UMD and they've been on This American Life episodes where Ira Glass somehow makes people cry by playing the OC themesong. Bon Iver played a month or two ago and I didn't go despite the fact that he's fabulous. I did see Freezepop and made them sign my gameboy. I also saw Ben Folds, but we don't have to talk about that. I also missed seeing Low ever play in their hometown, which is quite a feat. I need to be proactive about pursuing cultural events now that I'm in Chicago, since it would be just as easy to stay home. I did manage to sit outside of an outdoor Death Cab for Cutie concert. That was.. great? Cold mostly. And in some markets, embarrassing.
It turns out the phon ecall was from the cousin of an author I designed a book cover for. The author passed away and the cousin wants to make a print of the cover. Bizzarre…
I promise I'll return to two sentence entries and photographs spread across six month periods soon.