Real Life Events

12.21.10

bluehydrangeas — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 04:10:09 +0000

Today I listened to a new playlist I created called “female vocalists & clapping” while I picked three sprinkles out of my couch cushions. The sprinkles got there because I accidentally ate two frosted (and sprinkled) sugar cookies for breakfast this morning while I listened to Fresh Air and played spider solitaire on my couch. It’s difficult to be on winter break when you’re 23 and there’s no one around to keep you accountable!

03.08.10

bluehydrangeas — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:58:45 +0000

Today I went to see the Magnetic Fields perform at the Harris Theater with a few friends. Before the show we ate at an Italian restaurant where our waiter, who insisted we call him Uncle Chach, kept making bad jokes based on the mishearing of my name as Atlanta. The show was really great and on the way home the roads were so foggy it felt like we were always almost driving off of the edge of something.

02.25.10

bluehydrangeas — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:22:06 +0000

Today on the train home from work I eavesdropped on a boy a few years younger than me with a sty on his left eyelid and a fur coat draped around his shoulders like a cape reciting chunks of the Charlie Murphy True Hollywood Stories from the Chappelle Show to his uninterested friend. But what this guy was doing wasn’t pure recitation– he framed all of the excerpts with things like: “And then Rick James says, quote here, and I’m like, shit this guy is fuckin’ hilarious!” The friend chuckled half-heartedly and played on his iPhone through the majority of the ride.

12.07.09

bluehydrangeas — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:01:19 +0000

Today I woke up at 6:04 to the sound of my phone ringing. When I picked up (still half asleep) and said hello, the silence on the other end convinced me that I had accidentally mistaken the sound of my phone alarm for my ring tone. As I was hanging up – literally with the phone away from my ear, my next move already determined, poised to press the end-call button – I heard an old man say, “Hello?” When I was fully awake I saw that the elderly man had called from a number that was one digit off from my own (my number ends in 4930, his was 4830). He called twice more while I was at work. I finally picked up on his fourth call and he timidly explained that he was trying to retrieve a voice mail message. I tried to tell him that he was dialing the wrong number, whispering quietly so that my coworkers wouldn’t hear me, but he seemed embarrassed and apologized and quickly hung up. He called five more times that day.

10.02.09

bluehydrangeas — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:13:51 +0000

Today, rushing from the train to work, I slipped and fell at the intersection of Wells and VanBuren. I told a nice lady in an olive raincoat that I was fine, but, if I were to look, I think the skin on my knees would be pink.

08.11.09

bluehydrangeas — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:09:23 +0000

Today I went to the movie in the park to see Psycho with some friends. The place was unexpectedly packed, so we sat near the back close to a path outlining the perimeters of the park. On the opposite side of this path was a middle-aged man, seated on a rare cement bench. These benches have the advantage of placing those seated at a height and distance ideal for viewing the movie, with the disadvantage of the heavy path-traffic occasionally obstructing this view. This particular man wanted all the goods, with none of the drawbacks. Whenever anyone passed he would yell, “Please, PLEASE get out of my way!” in an incredibly fervent, pleading kind of tone. This was really the only major interruption to the movie, outside of one man who, for a good couple of minutes while searching for his friend, shouted, “LARRY? I CAN HEAR YOU, BUT I CAN’T SEE YOU! CAN YOU SEE ME, LARRY?” until the crowd’s shushes became too loud to ignore.

07.27.09

bluehydrangeas — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:30:18 +0000

Today was my birthday! At work all of the men made jokes like, “So how’s it feel to turn 60?” and I laughed politely and made jokes back like, “Oh, it’s not so different from 59!” My mom got me a cool new watch (pictured below) and Conley gave me three giant sunflowers. Conley also took me out for dinner and to see Humpday, which was a really great movie, and we both laughed a ton and ate too much.

New watch!

07.24.09

bluehydrangeas — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:16:29 +0000

Today Conley and I went to Glenn’s Diner for a fancy date that neither of us could afford. I got the perch. After dinner we were supposed to go home and search for a frozen yogurt place to get a not-so-unhealthy dessert, only it was all just a set-up for a surprise birthday party. My sister gave me a strange pair of cat-shaped fishhook earrings and Conley made a poster and Kelly drove all the way from Urbana. We all went to a bar where we could dance all night and I came home at 3:30 in the morning and put a big dent into an untouched strawberry torte ice cream cake.

07.19.09

bluehydrangeas — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:05:33 +0000

Today was the last day of the Pitchfork Music Festival. As I was mounting my bike to ride back to Kyle’s house, I overheard a policeman say into his intercom, “I was going to bring them in, but seeing as how young they are, I think I’m going to let them off.” A little ahead of him was a group of young boys (ages 6-10, maybe?) who I assumed the officer was debating punishment about. Acting on a strange, out-of-character impulse I whispered, pedaling slowly past the boys, “Hey, be cool, guys. It looks like you’re going to get away with it this time.” One of the boys replied, “But it wasn’t us! We know the kid who did it, but we didn’t do anything.” To which I said, still uncharacteristically, getting ahead of the group and turning my head so that they could hear me, “Well then, just stay out of trouble anyway!” Faintly, I heard one of the younger boys yell as I turned onto the next block, “Thank you, beautiful lady!”

07.03.09

bluehydrangeas — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:48:23 +0000

Today I rode my bike to watch the Chicago fireworks with some friends. Michigan Avenue was closed off to cars, and so we sped around feeling on top of the world, and all that.

Hey, remember this!