vacation, one and two

I’m back at work for the first time in eleven days. For those of you out of my ‘loop,’ the wife and I were in Vermont for the first week, having a truly lovely vacation. We stayed in a nice condo in the green mountains near Killington, forgetting all of our problems back at home. Her entire family was there for her grand parents anniversary. I never thought I’d be able to have so much fun with family. We hiked, talked, drank some great beer, (thanks to the Magic Hat brewery line of beers including ‘hocus pocus ale’) and tried to explain why we don’t eat meat and what, then, we do eat (which is a tiresome conversation when engaged in to those who don’t know any vegetarians). And while we were there for a full week, we still didn’t feel as though we saw everything we wanted to. We’re sorry we didn’t make it to Burlington.

We arrived home on Thursday night and spent Friday doing laundry and cleaning the apartment prior to leaving for the hottest (temperature-wise) music festival ever. While fun, the pitchfork festival was a bit disappointing. The Walkmen were good, as were the Silver Jews (although not as good as in ann arbor last winter), Destroyer and Jens Lekman. Devendra Banhart was a huge disappointment as was almost the entirety of Sunday afternoon, due largely to the heat. We weren’t able to stay for Os Mutantes, which may have redeemed my attitude. Now I’m sure there are plenty of raving reviews of the entire festival out on the blogosphere today, but just remember – I may not be as ‘hip’ as they are. If you see any photos of the festival, I am the patron not wearing an old novelty t-shirt or a short-sleeved western shirt.

The apartment is arranged, the moving truck has been ordered, and with two weeks remaining in the winter water wonderland, I’m getting nervous. But don’t tell my wife. Honestly, while I’ll miss those of you reading this from the g-rap, I’m getting more excited about the move. I’ll be even more excited if you find me a job.

kevdek

faxed the lease

Xtina and I officially have an apartment in Chicago. It's a fairly nice apartment in Chicago's desirable Bucktown neighborhood on the near NW side of the city. The neighborhood is great, the location okay and it's less than we were prepared to spend. We signed the lease today and our worlds are falling apart. Suddenly we leave for vacation in Vermont tomorrow and when we arrive we have two workweeks and move. I need to find work there soon.

no, I KNOW I can dance

I’ve been getting pretty bored these days. While my work week is only four days long, I find the nights unbearable at times. What makes this boredom worse is my resorting to watching television. Requiring no commitment of time or energy, NBC’s weekday trainwreck is simply the easiest thing for me to do. And this saddens me. Watching ‘so you think you can dance’ when there is a copy of ‘east of eden’ with thirty pages read in front of me is sad sad sad.

I’m getting better at karate, and with it stronger and more flexible. Feels great to see myself improving in something.

This weekend we’re going back to the big city to once again look for an apartment. This time, however, we’re staying in a hotel – thanks to hotwire.com. With the expected 92F in the city, I wasn’t about to sleep on nick/andrew’s couch.

And the story continues…

long weekend

Last weekend was another bust in regards to our apartment search. We found a great place with a lake view and a new kitchen but the location demanded an hour commute to the loop - and it was in a high-rise. I've never been able to see myself in a high-rise or a complex. Perhaps it's a need to feel a sense of place or ownership (despite being a renter) that makes me feel stifled and unwelcomed in a high-rise. I need just a little outdoor space of my own. With another unsuccessful weekend we are pushing back our move to aug. 15 or sept 1st at the earliest. There is the full update, so don't ask me again. At least we were able to enjoy the day by stopping in historic downtown fennville for a post-dinner dinner at journeymans, followed by an evening at the sand bar, peter and erin's summer cottage in saugatuck.

Sunday was spent in a typical way, doing laundry at the in-laws. Later we had dinner, drinks, and conversation with friends - which does wonders in breaking the sunday tradition and adds continuity for the week. Monday I missed karate and briefly thought about not going anymore. Which is worse, continuing to feel bad at another activity, or living with guilt about quitting something else that's good for me? Here is the real reason I missed karate.

And now, on this nation's birthdate, we rose early to march in a grand rapids parade with the campaign in which I've been volunteering. Immediately thereafter we trekked to the kentwood parade for a less receptive audience. This brings me to now. We're exhausted, but looking for something to do this evening nevertheless. I'm glad we decided against the initial plan of going to the my morning jacket show in chicago. I'm much too tired to drive that far. Perhaps I'll celebrate independence by drinking too much on a worknight.

One more thing: to those of you who will understand, I laughed out loud in my cubicle upon seeing this last week. I'm sure I'll give you another update before long.