2nd city... yeah. right.

Got a chance to catch up with a good friend from Centre tonight.  He's a couple years younger than me, and it was really interesting to talk with him because it felt like I was talking to myself a couple years ago, right after graduating and moving to Chicago. Funny how much has changed since then (not to mention what I'd give to move back to Chicago).

I think this spring break NY trip finally cured me of my New York obsession. I don't know what it is, but something about Chicago is just better for me.  People that live in NYC have a bit of a superiority complex (read: back the fuck up all ye chicago haters). I had always had this little worry in the back of my mind that I would go to New York some time and like it better than Chicago... fortunately that was not the case.. at all.  though i enjoyed seeing some old friends in New York, that was pretty much the extent of my fun.

Things I love/miss about chicago (somewhat/somewhat not in relation to New York):

-my students

-my former coworkers/TFA folks

-having favorite restaurants/coffee shops/bars/places 

-walking around the city

-lakeshore drive (a small part of me enjoyed 5:00 LSD traffic. the other part of me says NOPE)

-lincoln park/being able to run/bike to the lake

-the way that the neighborhoods feel less like the big city than the loop does. you're in the city, but you're not engulfed by giant buildings everywhere. there's something stifling about manhattan.

-knowing my way around (or being able to figure it out as i go)

-waiting for the CTA (yes I actually enjoy the moments spent waiting endlessly for buses and trains)

-the fact that the trains (for the most part) are above ground.

-the diversity of the neighborhoods (maybe NYC has a bit of the same thing going on, but it doesn't seem so extreme)

-something about being on the lakefront is so much less constricting than when you're on manhattan. i feel like manhattan is a giant mothership of touristy shit, rich people, and restaurants with a cool park in the middle (shouts out to Freddie Law Olmsted tho!).

but damn - New York sure does photograph well.

NY explorin

baby yawns

Holy crap my niece is cute. She just started smiling. It was so cool to just be around her and my brother's new family this weekend. The extended family all came over Saturday afternoon (which got to be quite overwhelming for me... I can't imagine it as a new parent but whatever).  It's crazy to see my brother as a father - he's doing really well with it, of course. And Leah is excellent (she's basically a pediatrician though, so that was to be expected.. and she's Leah).  Nora might be getting cuter by the minute.  At first it was weird whenever she would get upset, but I kind of enjoy being present for that part of her life.. it's going to be really cool to watch her grow up (though in my mind she is going to stay put as a little nugget).  Also her yawns might be the most adorable thing on the planet.

photoshop meh and tuesday tunes

Study of Corbu's Modulor, with yours truly photoshopped in. I spent half of today of this very vague assignment for design visualization, so posting it feels warranted.

Rediscovered ye olde iTunes folders tonight, here's a gem that I'd forgot about. Gavin degraw got some PIPES on him (his new stuff is mostly too poppy and lame).

However, his collabo with needtobreathe is dank.

March had me like

It's March. Hard to believe only 8 weeks til the end of the second semester (and THANK GOODNESS TWO WEEKS TO SPRING BREAK). Very excited for the next couple of weekends/weeks. Lexington, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York. Also I get to see my niece next Friday which is gonna be awesome. 

I've made the habit of trying to caption her thoughts when Leah sends pictures. Here's the best so far:

Yes I might have just simultaneously earned the best and worst uncle awards. 

Mostly just thankful for a change of scenery. It's one of the first times I've spent more than a month in Cincinnati, so I'm definitely ready to move around., rather than sit in my apartment and be antisocial, because I've proven myself to be an allstar at that for at least the past two weekends. Sometimes it's a little lonely living by yourself, or just kind of boring. Might just be the cabin fever talking with all of the crappy weather lately. The fact that I had time to finish house of cards this weekend is a little depressing (time being subjective, because I really have 1,000,000 things to be doing constantly for school).