I've lived in chicago for a total of 20 months, and last night i had my first first-hand experience with a pick pocketer. When i think about it long enough i get worked up about it and upset at how i did and did not react. but when it happened it was the weirdest feeling and happened so fast that i didn't have time to comprehend what was going on.
I was walking to the El from work, as I do every day after work, on a really busy main road. I had just crossed an intersection and was walking under some construction scafolding (but was still very visible to all the cars driving past), when i felt something touching my butt. i first thought nothing of it because, i mean, i always have things touching my butt....no, jk, i just thought my bag had swung and grazed my hind end. but when i kept feeling something i turned around and saw this guy really close to me start to half jog/half run in the other direction. i was like, what? was he just grabbing my butt?? no, oh my gosh, was he picking my pocket!?! i yelled 'hey!' at him (in a very confused, angry voice) and started walking/jogging after him. i didn't get too far before i stopped to think through what had just happened. i had put some cash, my ID and my debit card in my back pocket at lunch so that i wouldn't have to carry my bag. I reached back and realized i still had my ID and my debit card, though the two $10 bills were gone.
now what? I knew it wasn't worth chasing the guy down for $20, even though i wanted to. who knows what could have happened. it could have gotten a lot worse for me, he could have been crazy. I emptied the rest of my pockets and threw the contents into the bottom of my bag. feeling completely violated, i decided to continue to the El asap and just get home. now that i think about it, i wish i would have told someone at the El station or reported it or, i dunno....what are you supposed to do? call the cops? i mean, seriously? it was only $20. if he had stolen my ID and my debit card, yeah, i definitely would have told someone. But yeah, now i wish i would have told someone anyway. What gives that jerk off the right to get away with this so easy? he's gunna keep doing it if there are more people like me (and i'm sure there are) who just let it fly.
I do feel incredibly fortunate that this guy was only after my measly $20 and was non-violent as far as i could tell. i'm gunna go buy some mace right now and hold it in my hand at all times (probably not), so if it ever happens again at least i can make the guy suffer.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
"the hard drive's headin south"
my poor little ipod whom i've had for over 3 years and 3 months is starting to send signals saying he's too tired, too old, and too overworked to go on much longer. low (no) battery life, randomly skipping songs, freezing mid-album....
Last night, i decided to 'doctor' it up a bit by restoring its factory settings. Right, got it, no problem. I've had to do this before and it worked great. All was going fine last night until halfway through re-installing my music library. It completely freaked out. I mean....completely. it got to a song called 'the wall' and it pretty much hit a wall. it couldn't continue. It didn't exactly freeze but it definitely stopped responding. I couldn't eject it from itunes or make it stop thinking it was still updating the library or even make it respond when i 'illegally' unplugged it from the computer. nothing! but what it WAS doing was getting super, super hot. i could hear the gears grinding and when they didn't stop, i started to panic. I tried prying the case open to unplug the battery, but that idea was a complete bust. so i sat there, not knowing what to do, all the while it's getting hotter and hotter to the point where i thought if i didn't do something to fix this thing or kill it completely it was going to start on fire and burn my apartment down! (i NEVER overreact). So i did what any sane human would do and threw it in the freezer (literally threw it, hoping the slam against the back of the freezer would break it or at least cause it to snap out of it's comatose state. it did neither one). to keep you from thinking that i'm totally nuts, not only did i think the freezer would keep my ipod from burning my apartment down, I'd also heard that freezing a damaged hard drive could prevent the loss of any additional data (which is true), but in my case didn't really matter. but hey, worth a shot.
5 minutes later, i pulled it out of the freezer and it was back to normal...for the most part. however, only 2 (definitely non-favorite) songs had been successfully re-installed even though my computer said over 1,600 had been. ok....well, at least it's back to operating fuctionality again....and since i'm a genius, i decided to plug it back into my computer and force it to try to finish the job it has so unsuccessfully started in the first place. bad idea. same problem. back to the freezer. still...not....working.
the professionals at the apple store were able to temporarily shock the life back into him, but i know it's only temporary. like putting a bandaid on a broken leg. 3 years and 3 months. that was the basic life span of my particular ipod. a 3rd generation ipod. an ipod before the click wheel, before the color screen, before photo or video capabilities. an ipod who so faithfully served me on my daily commute to and from work, allowing me to blissfully distract myself from yet another homeless person begging for money, the paris hilton wannabe participating in an invigorating game of 'yell-ular' with her bff who, "omg, like, totally bought that louis vuitton handbag i was oggling", the mother completely ignoring the cries of her extreemly vocal 4 year old, and the old man with no teeth hitting on me from across the isle. i felt like i was betraying an old friend tonight as i browsed the shiny new ipod models at the apple store, looking at the fancy iphones, the mega-storage ipod classics, the ipod touches, and the ipod video nanos. so many beautiful options, but SO not the same as my old faithful.
I walked out empty handed, with my old ipod in my pocket, thinking (mostly hoping) that maybe the crazy people on the bus won't be so bad.....
Last night, i decided to 'doctor' it up a bit by restoring its factory settings. Right, got it, no problem. I've had to do this before and it worked great. All was going fine last night until halfway through re-installing my music library. It completely freaked out. I mean....completely. it got to a song called 'the wall' and it pretty much hit a wall. it couldn't continue. It didn't exactly freeze but it definitely stopped responding. I couldn't eject it from itunes or make it stop thinking it was still updating the library or even make it respond when i 'illegally' unplugged it from the computer. nothing! but what it WAS doing was getting super, super hot. i could hear the gears grinding and when they didn't stop, i started to panic. I tried prying the case open to unplug the battery, but that idea was a complete bust. so i sat there, not knowing what to do, all the while it's getting hotter and hotter to the point where i thought if i didn't do something to fix this thing or kill it completely it was going to start on fire and burn my apartment down! (i NEVER overreact). So i did what any sane human would do and threw it in the freezer (literally threw it, hoping the slam against the back of the freezer would break it or at least cause it to snap out of it's comatose state. it did neither one). to keep you from thinking that i'm totally nuts, not only did i think the freezer would keep my ipod from burning my apartment down, I'd also heard that freezing a damaged hard drive could prevent the loss of any additional data (which is true), but in my case didn't really matter. but hey, worth a shot.
5 minutes later, i pulled it out of the freezer and it was back to normal...for the most part. however, only 2 (definitely non-favorite) songs had been successfully re-installed even though my computer said over 1,600 had been. ok....well, at least it's back to operating fuctionality again....and since i'm a genius, i decided to plug it back into my computer and force it to try to finish the job it has so unsuccessfully started in the first place. bad idea. same problem. back to the freezer. still...not....working.
the professionals at the apple store were able to temporarily shock the life back into him, but i know it's only temporary. like putting a bandaid on a broken leg. 3 years and 3 months. that was the basic life span of my particular ipod. a 3rd generation ipod. an ipod before the click wheel, before the color screen, before photo or video capabilities. an ipod who so faithfully served me on my daily commute to and from work, allowing me to blissfully distract myself from yet another homeless person begging for money, the paris hilton wannabe participating in an invigorating game of 'yell-ular' with her bff who, "omg, like, totally bought that louis vuitton handbag i was oggling", the mother completely ignoring the cries of her extreemly vocal 4 year old, and the old man with no teeth hitting on me from across the isle. i felt like i was betraying an old friend tonight as i browsed the shiny new ipod models at the apple store, looking at the fancy iphones, the mega-storage ipod classics, the ipod touches, and the ipod video nanos. so many beautiful options, but SO not the same as my old faithful.
I walked out empty handed, with my old ipod in my pocket, thinking (mostly hoping) that maybe the crazy people on the bus won't be so bad.....
Sunday, October 21, 2007
good news
it's been quite some time since i've heard good news, but that streak ended yesterday when my mom called to tell me that the results from her tests came in. her cancer has not spread to her lymphnodes which means it was most likely containted to the portion of her colon that was removed during surgery.
this is great news. much anticipated great news. it was just 2.5 weeks ago that we found out my mom had suspicious spots on her colon, but those have been the longest 2.5 weeks of my life. a lot of frustration and anger and struggling to comprehend why this, on top of everything else, could possibly be happening. but thank God for a little good news.
this is great news. much anticipated great news. it was just 2.5 weeks ago that we found out my mom had suspicious spots on her colon, but those have been the longest 2.5 weeks of my life. a lot of frustration and anger and struggling to comprehend why this, on top of everything else, could possibly be happening. but thank God for a little good news.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
if the brakeman turns my way
When panic grips your body and your heart is a hummingbird
Raven thoughts blacken your mind until you're breathing in reverse
All your friends and sedatives mean well but make it worse
Every reassurance just magnifies the doubt
Better find yourself a place to level out
Got a cricket for a conscience always looks the other way
A cocaine soul starts seeming like an empty cabaret
Hey, where have all the dancers gone? Now the music doesn't play
Tried to listen to the river but you couldn't shut your mouth
Better take a little time to level out
I never thought of running
My feet just led the way
Mixed up Signals
Bullet Train
Cars are switched out in the crazy rain
I could meet you any place
If the Brakeman turns my way
All this automatic writing I have tried to understand
From a psychedelic angel who was tugging on my hand
It's an infinite coincidence but it doesn't form a plan
So I'm headed for New England or the Paris of the South
Gonna find myself somewhere to level out
Are your brothels full, Oh Babylon, with merry Middlemen?
Never peer out of their periscopes from those deep opium dens
All this death must need a counterweight always someone born again
First a mother bathes her child then the other way around
The Scales always find a way to level out
I tried to pass for nothing
But my dreams gave me away
Mixed up Signals
Bullet Train
People snuffed out in the brutal rain
I could live to any age
If the Brakeman turns my way
It is an old world it's hard to remember
Like a dime store mystery
I'm a repeat first time offender
Who has rewritten history
Mixed up tea leaves
Phantom Pain
Fuzzy logic in the crazy rain
Getting better every day
If the Brakeman turns my way
Mixed up Signals
Bullet Train
Cars are switched out in the blinding rain
He'll be smiling as he seals my fate
When the Brakeman turns my way
– Bright Eyes
Raven thoughts blacken your mind until you're breathing in reverse
All your friends and sedatives mean well but make it worse
Every reassurance just magnifies the doubt
Better find yourself a place to level out
Got a cricket for a conscience always looks the other way
A cocaine soul starts seeming like an empty cabaret
Hey, where have all the dancers gone? Now the music doesn't play
Tried to listen to the river but you couldn't shut your mouth
Better take a little time to level out
I never thought of running
My feet just led the way
Mixed up Signals
Bullet Train
Cars are switched out in the crazy rain
I could meet you any place
If the Brakeman turns my way
All this automatic writing I have tried to understand
From a psychedelic angel who was tugging on my hand
It's an infinite coincidence but it doesn't form a plan
So I'm headed for New England or the Paris of the South
Gonna find myself somewhere to level out
Are your brothels full, Oh Babylon, with merry Middlemen?
Never peer out of their periscopes from those deep opium dens
All this death must need a counterweight always someone born again
First a mother bathes her child then the other way around
The Scales always find a way to level out
I tried to pass for nothing
But my dreams gave me away
Mixed up Signals
Bullet Train
People snuffed out in the brutal rain
I could live to any age
If the Brakeman turns my way
It is an old world it's hard to remember
Like a dime store mystery
I'm a repeat first time offender
Who has rewritten history
Mixed up tea leaves
Phantom Pain
Fuzzy logic in the crazy rain
Getting better every day
If the Brakeman turns my way
Mixed up Signals
Bullet Train
Cars are switched out in the blinding rain
He'll be smiling as he seals my fate
When the Brakeman turns my way
– Bright Eyes
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
my empire of dirt
I just saved my plant's life. The window (whose sill he was sitting on) is open and a big gust of wind blew the blinds so hard they nearly pushed him off the edge. Poor little guy. That would have been truly tragic. I've had him for around 14 months already and he's getting so big! I'm so proud to have kept him alive and thriving for so long. I know, slightly pathetic. I don't have cats, but i'm well on my way to being a crazy plant lady.
a cat would be nice though....
a cat would be nice though....
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