mao!

I have had such a huge amount of fun lately that I have to use bulletpoints:

*My friends Flossie and Matt came to town to see me the weekend after Conrad came. They are friends of mine from undergrad in Wisconsin. We went to Frontera Grill for lunch and drank fancy drinks, then we went to the Art Institute (I'm getting a membership now that I live here, it's just silly not to), and then they saw the play.

*My friend Courtney from overgrad came to see the play on the same night and we all went to dinner at Clarke's afterward and it was totally great. I love it when friends from different eras of my life meet each other and totally get along! It makes me feel happy and like I am maintaining a consistent level of friend-quality.

*I love the El. I've always been fascinated by trains, so riding them is wonderful for me even when they're just commuter trains. I'm especially happy when it's nighttime and I can just stare out the window and see into people's houses. I don't want to see them, if I saw a person I'd look away, I just want to see how they decorated their places. I love the look of a really cozy kitchen. And I love looking at all the rooftop gardens.

*I had some auditions that went really well, and an offer to understudy at a theatre that I would very much like to work at in the future, so I took it.

*I've always been a library person, and last week I went to the Harold Washington Public Library and had a religious experience. It is AMAZING. I LOVE it there. Go if you can, it's superb. The Sultzer, which is the branch by my house, is great, but the HWPB ROCKS.

*My FWENS came and visited me from Iowa and we had the BEST TIME EVER and there was so much laughing and eating and talking and some shopping and walking around, and they came and saw the play, too. I think the tastiest was when we cooked at home, followed closely by how great it was at Pauline's.

*I'm totally addicted to refried beans.

*Now my friend Andy is coming to see me, and Kevin and I are going to see Borat this week. And the play I'm in closes this week, on the same day that the play I'm understudying in opens, so it's all very exciting!

Although of course, the thing that is most exciting is the fact that the democrats swept the elections. I am walking on AIR! I feel like I live in a country that has the potential to make sense again someday. A mao!