To Move or Stay Put

Recently, many of my friends have moved to new neighborhoods in Chicago.  This has left me alone in the Wicker Park/Humboldt Park neighborhood, but has also got me to do some thinking. Should I pack up my crap and hit the road too?

I’ve been living here in Humboldt Park for about 3 1/2 months now and it has been great.  It’s certainly not a dream location but the rent is cheap and I have two great roommates.  We pretty much stick to ourselves and we all pay rent and utilities on time.  I have never been afraid that I would come back one night and all of my stuff would be gone.  Sure the surrounding neighborhood provides an interesting soundtrack to fall asleep to.  However, you get used to drunk people shouting, the constant whine of the police and ambulance sirens and the occasional gunshot/firecracker/car backfire in the middle of the night. It’s been home for me and my first place truly out on my own.

Now that everyone I know and spend time with lives in Logan Square, I feel abandoned to say the least and I consistently hear encouragement that I should look for something closer to rejoin the “group”. To be honest, I haven’t looked at all.  Why?

-It seems a bit unrealistic to think I could find cheaper rent than what I’m paying now. There’s always the possibility but then other factors come into play.

-Roommates. Hard not to take for granted sometimes.  Neither of them are creepers and neither of them bring home creepers.  Win Win right there.

-The location is prime for me. I hop on the North Ave. bus and I’m at work in 10 minutes.  Driving is just as easy.

-Pizza Hut.  Can you beat “All You Can Eat” buffet for 2.99? Ya, didn’t think so.

I guess I need to do myself a favor and just troll on Craigslist for a little bit just to humor my friends.  I’m staying practical on this one though, much like I do with other decisions. If a super cheap place pops up in Logan Square with some cool dudes, I pounce on it. For now, I stay here under the flags of the red, white and blue.

Not the flag you were thinking of, eh?

Fizzy Free in Humboldt Park

Yeah, that’s right.  We’re back on the 30 days kick.  This time instead of a new artsy fartsy picture every day, we (myself and some lucky others included) have decided to give up soda… pop… coke…non-alcoholic carbonated beverages for a month. It is straight up no fun. I hate it. I’m miserable without my caffeine and high fructose corn syrup.  However, this was a definite topper to the other suggestion for the month of March, which was: Going vegan.  Might have to build up to that one and/or never attempt that in my life. You know yer boy ain’t eatin’ no tofu, SON.  I know we all have our vices in life, but mine happens to be Diet Coke.  These past few harrowing days have given me a chance to reflect on why I love my sweet fizzy nectar:

1. cheaper than beer (sometimes. Peebers to the rescue.)

2. zero calories (do you know how many calories you drink from regular coke/beer/gatorade/i can’t believe it’s not butter spray? Too much is the answer you were looking for.)

3. caffeine (nuff said, right there. Most powerful drug in the world, last time I checked my opinions.)

4. water is boring. (needs more high fructose corn syrup.)

I’ve also begun to think how I take my liquid gold.  I prefer the fountain coke, thank you. Any fast food joint ought to provide a proper beverage dispenser with a limitless amount on tap, literally.  Unless those greedy goons hide it behind the counter and fill your cup 80% full of ice. Hate those places. I’m looking at you, Long John Silvers.  For those that don’t hog it all, I commend you on your generosity.  There’s something about that instant mix of C2O and syrup that just makes everything right in the world. My backup is the canned variety. Never do I ever go for the plastic 20 oz. Big mistake right there.  Too much drink and it tastes weird out of plastic. Just don’t even attempt it. Apologies to all that have ventured down that awful road.  And if you’ve even had an inkling of a thought about the 1 or 2 liter, litre, leeter? sizes, you’re crazy dude. People that buy 1 liter diet cokes have a serious drinking problem. Also, 2 liter diet coke bottles are terrible. No one can get to through the entire bottle without the last 1/3 being flat and disgusting.  Just no.

This pictorial should be self explanatory. If not, then you lose.

So wish me luck during this terribly frightening venture. I hope I come out clean on the other side.  There’s a small chance I’ll come out on the other end with no dependency on caffeine.  There’s also a chance that I’ll sell all of my earthly possessions and run away to join the circus, but let’s be honest with ourselves.

On a completely unrelated but somehow also awesome topic, I have officially moved into my own place.  I live in Humboldt Park now. It’s awesome. Did I mention how awesome it is? Just checking. I have two roommates who both seem to be solid guys. We haven’t had a sleepover yet where we do each other’s hair, but I have to imagine that will come up in conversation soon.  Just biding my time.  Also, my commute to work is about 13 minutes. That equals sleeping in more, which last time I checked, equals a gigantic WIN. If you are unfamiliar with what I’m talking about, please see the previous post.

That’s all for now, check back in later on. Or whenever you’ve exhausted every other possible form of productivity killing.

The Move.

I’m moving out of my cousin’s basement this weekend and will now be contributing to society like a normal human being.  It’s exciting.  I found a place in Humboldt Park right near Hipsterville…I mean Wicker Park. It’s by no means a lavish environment but it does provide me a place to lay my head at night.  It’s a cozy little dumpster in the back alley of…NO. I need to be serious for once.  It’s an actual real apartment that I will be sharing with two other guys.  They seem normal enough and it’s just a few feet from the bus stop that I will be taking to work so I won’t have to burn any unnecessary calories.  It’s certainly a win win.  In fact it’s a whole lot of win.  You know what I’m talking about.  If you don’t, here’s a visual:

On a completely unrelated note, Emily (my lovely partner in crime) and I attended the Chicago Auto Show.  It was not as impressive as we had both hoped but I did get to see some a nice a automobiles. (You really need a good Italian accent for that one.  Think Mario and Luigi.)  Porsches, Lamborghinis, Maseratis, Lotuses, and a Toyota Corolla.  Seriously though, for all you car geeks out there…it was a pretty good turnout.  Here’s a list of all the beautiful pieces I will someday own.  That lottery better hurry up and get won by me.

Nissan GTR

Audi R8

BMW M3 (which I got to sit in and almost wet myself)

Maserati Granturismo

Lotus Exige and  Evora

Mercedes SLS AMG (the gullwing)

Acura ARX-02a prototype

Fisker Karma electric concept

Lamborghini Murcielago and Gallardo

The list just goes on.  Actually, it doesn’t and that’s why I was disappointed.  There weren’t very many concept cars and many of the companies weren’t even showing their top-of-the-line vehicles.  Audi didn’t have the RS4 or RS6.  They didn’t even have an A8 for that matter.  There was no M5 or M6 from BMW and Porsche only had three models, one of which being the appalling Panamera.  It looked like a retired football player.  Gross.  Long story short, it was disappointing but I guess for 6 bucks I shouldn’t be complaining.  I would’ve paid that much just to sit in some guy’s BMW out in the parking lot.  Also, I got to skip church, so double bonus.  Just kidding…but seriously.

Be prepared because my next post may very well come from my new abode.  Get pumped.  I know I am.