A few things has solidified over the past week or so. One, I have a new found appreciation for the hyperlink. And two I've moved on from those silly Hollywood crushes of yesteryear (not totally over, I'm human afterall) to the ever-more adult, politic-oon.
My nascent crush - thanks to my sometime painful government beat assignment last quarter - has spiraled into a full blown political swoon for Mr. Emanuel.
As it turns out, Rahm-bo and I are much more alike than one might immediate presume, for the following reasons:
1. Rahm got his masters degree from Northwestern University.
I am ALSO getting my masters degree from Northwestern University
2. Rahm went to a small liberal arts school to study ballet.
I ALSO went to a small liberal arts school where in my first semester, after an inspirational viewing of FAME!, I signed up for and immediately dropped an intro to ballet dance class.
3. Rahm cut off the top of his middle finger while working at Arbys.
I, in an obvious subconscious sign of solidarity with the current chief of staff, have never eaten at an Arbys.
4. Rahm has three children.
I was conned into sponsoring a baby in the Dominican Republic (baby Ruth) for the better part of a year while living in NYC making 25,000 a year (read: a dollar value meal away from street life).
5. Rahm's brother is a high-powered Hollywood agent and the inspiration for Ari Gold on HBO's Entourage
I'm pretty sure my brother has watched and enjoys Entourage and I read enough US Weekly to know as much about Hollywood as an agent
6. Rahm gets up a 5 in the morning to hit the gym
I set my alarm at 5 in the morning to go to the gym and then get up 5:30 to turn it off for another hour of sleep.
For all these reasons, and so much more, you can see that Rahm Emanuel, the White House Chief of Staff and I, a student, are ever so similar and, at the very least, should be besties.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Where winter lives
I get it, Chicago. You win, Chicago. You are winter.
It has NOT stopped snowing, pretty much since I returned. I'm a snow bunny at heart, but there's something about trudging through gunk like this:
that takes away the serenity of all this:
But in any event, it's impressive. Way to go. So thankful for my boots.
Conveniently, during the consta-blizzard, I am hitting the pavement searching for information on my shiny new reporting beat: housing and communities. Though this is the BEST time for politics in Chicago I have come to understand that political writing is just not my cup of green tea.
But housing is juicy, don't you fret. There's foreclosures and fraudulent mortgages and lies, lies, lies (according to one foreclosure prevention officer)!.
Tuesday is our first day of reporting. Blessedly, I do not have a story due until Wednesday so I'll be out and about - a morning meeting with the Housing Task Force, a court hearing on a delinquent hotel owner and, hopefully, a few phone interviews.
Oh, the good news of the second quarter stu, is that I'm a real live reporter! I think I mentioned this, but it's so exciting I'll do it again, we get press passes! And my own desk with a working phone and an in/out box. Oh the thrill.
Though the press passes were definitely made by some administrator's third grader, it does not take away the excitement of feeling like a professional.
Now, all this professional needs to do is come up with some story ideas (pronto) and figure out which (out)fits make her sweat less.
Dangerous world out there.
I'm also taking an interactive class - you may decide what that means on your own. So I am plunging deeper into the Web vortex than ever before. It's pretty delightful. In my 'research' I've come across and have been sent some pretty fantastic sites and hilariously clever articles. I'll continue to pass these guys along, if the mood should strike.
And by all means, feel free to do the same.
xoL
It has NOT stopped snowing, pretty much since I returned. I'm a snow bunny at heart, but there's something about trudging through gunk like this:
that takes away the serenity of all this:
But in any event, it's impressive. Way to go. So thankful for my boots.
Conveniently, during the consta-blizzard, I am hitting the pavement searching for information on my shiny new reporting beat: housing and communities. Though this is the BEST time for politics in Chicago I have come to understand that political writing is just not my cup of green tea.
But housing is juicy, don't you fret. There's foreclosures and fraudulent mortgages and lies, lies, lies (according to one foreclosure prevention officer)!.
Tuesday is our first day of reporting. Blessedly, I do not have a story due until Wednesday so I'll be out and about - a morning meeting with the Housing Task Force, a court hearing on a delinquent hotel owner and, hopefully, a few phone interviews.
Oh, the good news of the second quarter stu, is that I'm a real live reporter! I think I mentioned this, but it's so exciting I'll do it again, we get press passes! And my own desk with a working phone and an in/out box. Oh the thrill.
Though the press passes were definitely made by some administrator's third grader, it does not take away the excitement of feeling like a professional.
Now, all this professional needs to do is come up with some story ideas (pronto) and figure out which (out)fits make her sweat less.
Dangerous world out there.
I'm also taking an interactive class - you may decide what that means on your own. So I am plunging deeper into the Web vortex than ever before. It's pretty delightful. In my 'research' I've come across and have been sent some pretty fantastic sites and hilariously clever articles. I'll continue to pass these guys along, if the mood should strike.
And by all means, feel free to do the same.
xoL
Monday, January 5, 2009
...and we're back
I feel like more happened today than in my three week (OK,month) hiatus from this blog/school/chicago/life, but a quick summary wouldn't hurt. Right?
Let's see, since I signed off on December 1st, 2008 there was:
A final project
Creepy building tours
Bitter cold days spent wondering the Chicago streets
Final flush-inducing presentations
A holiday party with a splash (alright, a flood) of air guitar
A punishing migraine
Panic packing
A much anticipated return to NYC
College (with bangs) redeux
Another holiday party (crashed)
Death by brie
Brunch
A walk across the Brooklyn Bridge
A Baby visit
A stomach flu
An R visit
Cuddles with Lola
An early Christmas
A Jamaican vacation
Many a good meal
Evenings of catch up with far-away family
A delayed flight
More cuddles with Lola
Return of R
A short road trip North
Fantastic bouts of laziness
Bad movies
Good movies
Great movies
Old movies
Home cooked meals
Shopping
Shared lunches
Drinks with old friends and new
A blizzard
A New Years sake bomb
A New Year
No resolutions, but some goals
More brunch (what was that, croissant french toast?)
A vague anniversary
Wonderful sleep in mornings
A very early morning
An epic road trip
A speedy return (all things considered)
A sigh of relief
A day of organization
A good night's sleep
A first day of school
A first blog post of the new year
...and I think that brings us up to speed.
A new semester means new classes, challenges and, above all, a better commute! Yes. No more hour long thing. No more burbs. No sir. I'm up and at 'em and in downtown Chicago in 30 minutes or less! Yup. No more Evanston. It's glorious.
Our tuition 'includes' a transit pass that allows us to go all over this great city (woo hoo). The fine print being that we have to travel up to campus (aka Evanston. aka the hour long commute) to get it (boo hiss). So this morning I sucked it up (I have Monday morning free, ps. Jealous?) and traveled up to the Evs at my normal rush hour time (8 am). I got up there pretty swiftly, had an awkward hello with an administrator, picked up my pass and attempted to get on with my morning. Walking back through campus my eye caught a few newbies anxiously looking skyward and I felt good and nostalgic, even, for those early panic-stricken days when everything was (too) new. I felt revived and ready to take on a new semester, happy to be in Chicago and to be back at school. Yes, I may have been skipping.
That was, until, the transit system failed me (really CTA? So early into the new year?) with derailment problems or signal issues or something. There was no sweet express train bringing back downtown. Instead, I had a long and cold wait on a random corner with some angry and crazy commuters. There was the toothless guy who spit his words to the sidewalk. There was an older woman who 'knows a thing or two about the CTA and has a thing or two to tell them.' She also had a thing or two dripping out of her nose that tended to graze my coat. But, after 20 minutes of waiting on a cold, seemingly abandoned, stoop you really feel like you belong with these irate crazies. I may have spat a little myself. I may have added a 'uh huh' and a 'you tell him' to the pacing man's rant.
Though, when the bus finally did come I took my seat in the back and pretended to be terribly enthralled by the passing scenery. I have enough friends, after all. Many buses and two hours later I was back in my hood and rushing to get ready for my first day of school.
But, after all of this, maybe that's a story for another time. I will say, I am excited. The kind of excited that is laced with anxiety and makes me sweat a little, but that's not so bad (and not so unexpected, let's be honest).
Oh, and a muffin shout out:
She's so sleepy and edible.
Let's see, since I signed off on December 1st, 2008 there was:
A final project
Creepy building tours
Bitter cold days spent wondering the Chicago streets
Final flush-inducing presentations
A holiday party with a splash (alright, a flood) of air guitar
A punishing migraine
Panic packing
A much anticipated return to NYC
College (with bangs) redeux
Another holiday party (crashed)
Death by brie
Brunch
A walk across the Brooklyn Bridge
A Baby visit
A stomach flu
An R visit
Cuddles with Lola
An early Christmas
A Jamaican vacation
Many a good meal
Evenings of catch up with far-away family
A delayed flight
More cuddles with Lola
Return of R
A short road trip North
Fantastic bouts of laziness
Bad movies
Good movies
Great movies
Old movies
Home cooked meals
Shopping
Shared lunches
Drinks with old friends and new
A blizzard
A New Years sake bomb
A New Year
No resolutions, but some goals
More brunch (what was that, croissant french toast?)
A vague anniversary
Wonderful sleep in mornings
A very early morning
An epic road trip
A speedy return (all things considered)
A sigh of relief
A day of organization
A good night's sleep
A first day of school
A first blog post of the new year
...and I think that brings us up to speed.
A new semester means new classes, challenges and, above all, a better commute! Yes. No more hour long thing. No more burbs. No sir. I'm up and at 'em and in downtown Chicago in 30 minutes or less! Yup. No more Evanston. It's glorious.
Our tuition 'includes' a transit pass that allows us to go all over this great city (woo hoo). The fine print being that we have to travel up to campus (aka Evanston. aka the hour long commute) to get it (boo hiss). So this morning I sucked it up (I have Monday morning free, ps. Jealous?) and traveled up to the Evs at my normal rush hour time (8 am). I got up there pretty swiftly, had an awkward hello with an administrator, picked up my pass and attempted to get on with my morning. Walking back through campus my eye caught a few newbies anxiously looking skyward and I felt good and nostalgic, even, for those early panic-stricken days when everything was (too) new. I felt revived and ready to take on a new semester, happy to be in Chicago and to be back at school. Yes, I may have been skipping.
That was, until, the transit system failed me (really CTA? So early into the new year?) with derailment problems or signal issues or something. There was no sweet express train bringing back downtown. Instead, I had a long and cold wait on a random corner with some angry and crazy commuters. There was the toothless guy who spit his words to the sidewalk. There was an older woman who 'knows a thing or two about the CTA and has a thing or two to tell them.' She also had a thing or two dripping out of her nose that tended to graze my coat. But, after 20 minutes of waiting on a cold, seemingly abandoned, stoop you really feel like you belong with these irate crazies. I may have spat a little myself. I may have added a 'uh huh' and a 'you tell him' to the pacing man's rant.
Though, when the bus finally did come I took my seat in the back and pretended to be terribly enthralled by the passing scenery. I have enough friends, after all. Many buses and two hours later I was back in my hood and rushing to get ready for my first day of school.
But, after all of this, maybe that's a story for another time. I will say, I am excited. The kind of excited that is laced with anxiety and makes me sweat a little, but that's not so bad (and not so unexpected, let's be honest).
Oh, and a muffin shout out:
She's so sleepy and edible.
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