The Frames - Pavement Tune

I've been meaning to update for the last two weeks. My last post implies negativity towards my trip in Atlanta. The contrary is true. It was a long weekend, one without good quality sleep, but nonetheless an enjoyable one. The weather could have been warmer, but a good 60 is better than a cold and dreary 40 back home any day. My biggest observation is simply that I could not live there; the pace is too different, the city is just too different. Not necessarily worse... okay, worse... but something that being there showed a lack of impressive structures or sights that just had to be seen. We struggled to fill "Jeff's Day" Sunday with "tourist stuff." I wanted to have seen the things in Atlanta that are well-known, to get a feel for the place as it is. We went to the Coke factory and after never dropping the subject, Christine and Winnie relented and we went to the Underground. The food was great (and really, I only ask for a vacation that revolves around a place's food). We did in fact ride the MARTA (the train/subway) and it was nice, efficient and clean. Many great and funny stories were born on this trip and I am glad I went and can now cross it off my list of places to see. So in case Christine or Winnie are reading this, know that I enjoyed myself.

Summer has arrived, pretty much bypassing Spring yet again, and it is hot here. I love this weather, but it just makes me want to leave school all the more. I realize that a job and the next chapter do not involve basking in the sun or anything and like being holed up in classrooms is the same as being holed up in an office somewhere, but the ability to leave my job and have a fun night out which cannot be done as seamlessly while in school is what I'm referring to. I am not, however, looking forward to living with my parents again. I am excited about moving to my house, but wish my parents would change enough to recognize that I'm not the high-school kid who last lived there. That is a major problem we will have to work out, and I realize that as long as I live there I will have to make some concessions. Especially if I want to avoid having to pay rent -- and my mom will do that... she's evil when it comes to money, absolutely evil. But even more than all of that, I cannot wait to return to what my town and my city have to offer. C-U cannot begin to contend with where I'm from. LaGrange was ranked #4 in a list of best Suburban downtowns, and while I contest some of the other rankings (Hinsdale as #2, no way), it has come leaps and bounds from what it was when I was growing up. And I am excited to go back. And Chicago... forgetaboutit. Enough said. (How's that for a throwback to early and mid-nineties vernacular: 'Nuff said... God I hated that!)

And this summer promises to be phenomenal. I only hope for steady employment where I can earn and save some money and the events that only exist during these hot months of the year. Barbeques, vacations, swimming pools, lakes, fishing, camping, bonfires, great great food, the Taste, birthdays... the list is endless. The best times are ahead.