08 March 2005

The "Deathtrap " Entry
Date: 8 March 2005...my little brothers birthday! 21. Oh boy.
Climate:55 on Sunday...-5 today. Apocalypse now...
Eating: veggie sandwich with mayo. Long time no mayo...I forgot how nice fatty condiments are.
Drinking: water
Feeling: calm amongst the storm
Listening to: l'elephant play list
Watching: --
Reading: fishbowl.dc.blog

Last Saturday, Eddie and I took a trip downtown to Michigan Avenue. I had gone running that AM and was very, very tired...so we headed back after a mere 1.5 hours so we could resume lounging in bed. The bus we got on was...packed. It was also one of those really old buses that I am always amazed still runs. Well, it may just be working in a plaintiff's firm that has created an extremely keen sense of the horrors that daily life can create, but I immediately began to fret...the bus was so, so packed that the driver was turning away people...people who were willing to stand on the stairs just to get on, which is understandable be/c these buses run once every 30 minutes, I swear. Anyway, so we're literally going so slow on lakeshore that cars are driving by and honking in anger...or so we think. I note this horrible, horrible smell in and around the bus, a smell similar to one my old car in college made right before phoning in to the great car cemetary above...suddenly a man from the back of the bus starts yelling "bus driver stop the bus! stop the bus! There's smoke coming out from here! Your tires are literally burning off!"

OF course.

I looked at Eddie and said that we were getting off this bus...some people, typical, actually were doubting this smell and said they were staying on and getting home...I mean, there was the woman who announced to everyone that she had a bad knee so someone better give up their seat to her(she also had a bag with tiny, tiny elephants marching on it which was more of a reason to be kind than the bad knee). She wasn't going anywhere.

I pushed my way out (and began feeling oddly aligned with all those who have been trampled on in frantic situations) and said that I was not staying on this death trap...no sir.
We walked home...from the side of lakeshore drive. Thankfully, its right by the lake (hence the name) and I live right by the lake, albeit a few miles up from where we broke down. It was a nice walk. It was affirming to know that all my fears about CTA buses are, in fact, somewhat true...what if the bus had blown up? Then it really would have been a death trap which someone would have I am sure, tried to make into some sort of terror attack on Chicago mass transit rather than the cheap ass CTA refusing to a)run more buses and b) update the ones they have.


I have been catching up on people's blog's lately...Jliz's is quite the labyrinth of text, which I enjoy. Erick's has a pic of just Lindsay Lohan's eyes, and we all know that I love her (I do. I love that song Rumors and I don't care what you think. I have decided that I will from this day forth announce to anyone who criticizes my love for shameless pop that Dave Brubeck gave me an outstanding vocalist award at a jazz fest I sang it...which then, in my mind, allows me to like otherwise ridiculous pop songs).

Eddie and I have been at odds lately, but not in a bad way. Sure, 2 years later and we're still getting to know one another, which is what makes our relationship so amazing, and gives us the capabilities to simply walk and talk for our entertainment, but he and I do come from opposite worlds...he's more European than I thought. I am more American I thought, and not in the flag on my car, apple pie way...but in a way that I think gives me an empathy, and a passion, for things like labor issues....I don't know. That might not capsilize what I am trying to illustrate when I say that we're at odds, or that we're still getting to know one another. Maybe its that since its 2 years, and our relationship is looking to fall down the M road, perhaps how we see our family, in terms of kids and the like, is going to be raised...and how and if we agree on certain "big" issues...its odd. Its almost like be/c we're past the "will we get___" question we start on the micromanaging aspects like...kids names. schooling. spirituality. fiscal morals. stuff like that.

We're on trial so I have been here late for like the last 4 weeks. My average day spans from 930am to....____. Normally its 6pm but with trial, it can range from 7-830pm. I am the youngest, have no children, and am genuinely interested in the case from more than a day job stance...Ford, Ford, Ford...why must you make cars which throw passengers rear ward?

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