1) Friday night I watched Dollhouse live on TV for the first time with Julie, and it was actually an exciting episode!

2) Saturday I went to a one of a City Year community service day. I helped paint part of a mural illustrating the growth of broccoli for an elementary school in Kenwood. It was nice to be around the other volunteers, who were mostly people my age, and participate in something City Year-related after hearing so much about the organization from my roommate Laura.

3) I also went to El Circo Cheapo with Katie, which is kin For $10 we saw some very impressive hula hooping, juggling and aerial acts. The only downside was that because there wasn’t a stage or graded seating in the performance space, it was hard to see what was going on a lot of the time.

The other cool part apart from the show itself was walking from the Ashland-Lake El stop to the venue.

View warehouse walk in a larger map

I have never walked around that area of Chicago before so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but basically it is blocks and blocks of anonymous looking warehouses, only differentiated by the small signs posted outside the entrances listing each building’s tenants. It was both surreal and calming, and I kind of want to go back there even though there weren’t any stores, parks or public places besides the street and the sidewalks.

4) Today I had a Chicago thrift store epiphany after going to the Village Discount Outlet on Milwaukee near Western. Since moving here I have been the Salvation Army on Union, the Brown Elephant on Halsted and the Unique Thrift Store at 35th and Archer, and was completely unsuccessful at all three. At Village Discount, I easily found 5 shirts that I really liked, and bought them all for $13!

5) And after that, I saw Sita Sings the Blues downtown with Julie and Katie, which was excellent.

I need to post here more often again, if only because I feel like I am losing my ability to write effortlessly and coherently. Several times last week at work I took 20-30 minutes to write relatively short emails, because I spent so much time thinking about the best way to phrase each sentence. Even writing this paragraph has been a painful process. Is it still called writer’s block if the writing in question is as trivial as a text message or email? I don’t know but whatever it is, I have it.

tags: chicago, live, movies, purchase

I saw Crystal Castles last weekend with McComas and Xixi. I enjoyed the performance a lot. I think that the singer is two years younger than me, which makes me feel old in a way that famous actresses and actors who are younger than me don’t.

A lot else has happened since I last wrote. I have discovered the joys of Tom’s Lemon-Lime Flouride Mouthwash for Dry Mouths. Mummy visited and we saw Second City (funny, but not as funny as I expected, possibly because by the end of the show they are performing for a largely inebriated crowd) and the Museum of Contemporary Art. I saw Fears of the Dark which was surprisingly scary and gruesome for a film made up of black and white animated shorts, although by the end the fear had turned to mild boredom.

I also have a new bed, because my old bed has returned to what it was truly meant to be: a sofa. For a couple weeks I slept on my little foam mattress on top of Laura’s little futon mattress. I got my iGo membership packet and card this weekend so I went to IKEA. I have to say that it is a bit awkward going there by a shared car. I had to guess how much time I’d want to spend at the store trying mattresses out, and how long Laura would take finding the things she wanted. We made it back just in time, and everything fit easily in the Honda Element, but I was pretty anxious the entire drive home because traffic bad even though it was a Sunday afternoon. It doesn’t help that the two Chicagoland IKEAs are both 30+ miles away, compared to the College Park IKEA which is only 9 miles from home in Maryland. Still, I want to go back there next pay period and get an actual bed frame, but maybe I can borrow someone’s car then so I can just pay for the gas and not worry about time constraints. And maybe I will go to the Bolingbrook one instead of Schaumberg and the traffic will be better because I won’t be going anywhere near O’Hare.

Can you believe that the election is a week and a day away? I barely can. I am actually kind of sad that it is coming to an end. This election year has been a thriller, so for once it’s not just me and one or two nerdy friends who are interested in it. It doesn’t seem that long ago when I was talking to Mike and who to vote for in the Democratic primary (I didn’t end up making it to the polling station but I think I liked Howard Dean because of his blog) and when I filled out my first absentee ballot in my dorm at GWU. This is the first election year where I haven’t concurrently been in an political science class. (NSL, ninth grade: we made up Greek tragedy skits about the unresolved election in which Tennessee and North Dakota(?) seceded from the Union.)

I updated the homepage for the first time this morning. It went more or less smoothly, except for a Web Comment from a grad student who was upset that some of the students in the photograph weren’t wearing bicycle helmets. But the photo selection wasn’t my fault, and the powers that be deemed it a non issue, after all, Illinois doesn’t have a helmet law.

tags: live, movies, politics, purchase

I almost forgot about this but next weekend M.I.A. and GIRL TALK are playing at Brown!!!!!!

This has been my personal dream since I came to Brown. I requested Girl Talk when Brown Concert Agency did a survey back in 2005. In previous years we have gotten the Wrens, Wilco, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, the Roots, the Flaming Lips and RJD2 (not to mention OK Go at least 3 times — the lead singer went to Brown)…but none of those get me as excited as Girl Talk in terms of pure joy entertainment delight value. The only way this concert could be any better would be if the Knife turned up as a secret special guest, or if Justice was the opening act.

Funnily enough this happy turn of events is probably thanks to BCA booking chair David Horn, otherwise known as a guy I had math with at B-CC and Westland, and one of the two people in my high school class accepted into Brown as a freshman.

Edit: I wonder if Girl Talk will use M.I.A. samples while opening for M.I.A. and all our heads will explode.

tags: b-cc, live, music

Highlight of yesterday: Brown New Music performance of John Zorn’s Cobra “game piece”. Josh (tenor sax, flute, computer) and Peter (electric guitar) played in it as well as a bunch of other people (piano, cello, upright bass, percussion, drums, crackle box, tape looper, keyboard, alto sax). SO COOL. I didn’t know what to expect because Brown New Music concerts tend to be hit or miss, but this was awesome.

tags: friends, happy, live, music

From the Herald:

Innovation and originality abounded at the Sock and Buskin-produced performance of Maurice Maeterlinck’s “The Blind.” Director Rebecca Schneider, associate professor of theater, speech and dance, and her skilled group of actors certainly maintained Maeterlinck’s original artistic intentions that rejected realism and the boundaries of time and place – rather, both Maeterlinck and the production explore the subconscious and its mystical spirituality.

Rather than as individual characters, the assembly of actors worked seamlessly together as an embodiment of fears and questions. Subverting logical dialogue, the actors repeatedly posed questions that at first appeared rudimentary, such as “Where are we?” and “How much longer?” Through continuous reiteration, these questions shed light on the religious and other worldly undertones that nuance the play.

tags: live, webloggish

For all of you who have been embarrassed to be seen with me when I wear my pink parka, breath a sigh of relief. I went to Savers on Friday with McComas because she had a 30% off coupon that expired this weekend. I had no luck with clothes but by chance came upon an old (based on the label design and the fact it is Made in the USA) L.L. Bean down ski jacket in perfect condition for $3. The comparable 2007 jacket is $99 new. I never thought I could feel this satisfied about finding a deal, especially a deal on clothing. But instead I have announced my triumph to everyone I know who will listen.

I saw two plays this weekend: Woyzeck, directed by Patrick, and The Blind, which Jessie performed in. Both very avant-garde and abstract. Glad I went though.

I’ve been spending a lot of time at the Ratty, more than usual. I’ve realized it is really special place for me. I feel so comfortable there. I am outgoing in the Ratty in a way I am not anywhere else. Yesterday I sat down with a girl who I didn’t know at all but had just seen riding around on a cool looking bicycle and talked for 15 minutes before my phone rang.

Jose, one of the card swipers at the main entrance, knows me now. He never calls me Natalie any more. The other day he swiped my card and then I walked away to find a table, until I heard McComas calling my name, telling me that Jose wanted to talk to me. I think he is taking a class. He asked me what the word theme meant, and how to spell it and pronounce it. The best I could do was “main focus” and “general topic” and “central issue.”

I wonder what made him single me out? I don’t usually spend a lot of time chatting with the card swipers when I come and leave the Ratty like some people. I’m always in a rush to find a table.

tags: brown, live, purchase, story