thrift store, Davenport, IA

It has been a strange and somewhat terrible week, but I'm very excited about signing into Blogger for four straight days now for NaBloPoMo and it's only going to get better (except for a few days when I don't have time for more than a random photo like this) from here; I'm full of ideas. Including the one that'll explain just why this blog semi-vanished the past few years... Photo taken on my birthday, 2011.

Excuses excuses

Iowa City church demolition
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

Still in Iowa. Here's something I got to see on my Greyhound trip here a year ago. We had just 10 minutes or so at the station, which was conveniently a half-block from this tornado-ruined church. Of course, on my Aug. and Dec. 2007 trips, it was an empty lot.

Sorry about the previous post; I don't like sounding whiny on Christmas when I have so many...well, some would call them "blessings" in my life. Also, I'd say my Christmas was much better than that guy who got mauled to death by the tiger in the zoo.

I'm feeling hurt about some things, and being around my parents just brings up all my inadequacies (well, no comments about my weight this time) but I'm still finding a lot to enjoy here. Just not the internet connection.

Before I left, I uploaded some photos as a Blogger "draft," to fill in the text later. Including the Duran Duran show at the Chicago Theatre...well, due to my setup here I'm not comfortable writing a file offline, and I'm too scared to write anything long online (I got knocked off my connection TEN TIMES on Christmas Eve). But I'm listening to Duran Duran's Greatest Hits right now, and hoping the ancient wine with Cyrillic lettering on the label I raided from my parents' liquor shelf (I'm not sure I ever did that before!) isn't toxic. I promise to have a cheerier post from Iowa that isn't just personal rambling.

Iowa Christmas

ornament / Merry Christmas
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

More later. I'm using the worst internet set-up I've had in years, and trapped in those days when I can't call anyone for a few days (I guess Sunday was the last chance...I wish I knew who left me a voice mail on my cell phone Sun. on their first call, I'm unable to check it), and although I'm having a decent time at my parents', I still feel...well, I wish I'd contacted everyone before I left but I spent the weekend tense and confused about when I'd actually get here. Well, never mind, I guess I'm supposed to wish Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to everyone, so here you go!

I'm supposed to be in Iowa

Christmas in Ames 2006
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

Just a short semi-depressed one. I think you now know this is what to expect when you see a Flickr photo instead of a photoblog entry. I'm anxious to get out here and get a few hours of sunlight, if you can call it that, to take photos. I'm supposed to be on the Greyhound to Iowa right now. For once, I didn't miss it--no, the problem is that because of snowy conditions, coming first to Des Moines and then to Chicago, my parents thought I should wait. They don't want to go through snow to pick me up tonight (45 minutes from where they live). I might not even go till Monday. I've got more time for reading, shopping, and blogging, then, but this is still discouraging. Thurs. was my day to hang out/say goodbye to people; I'm afraid it's going to be a lonely weekend. I also felt weird learning that my roommate (who I hadn't actually seen in 2 weeks, though I know he's been here at least once or twice in that time) was away from his MySpace update (it said "on vacation" and "warm"). Then he walked through the door today. Just when I'd gotten used to leaving laundry around, blasting Christmas music, etc. Oh well. Just goes to show you can't take those MySpace updates too literally...not that I've ever done such a thing before, mind you.

Away in Iowa/R.I.P. first cell phone

So, I left for Iowa (on Greyhound) early Sat. morning and got back early Wed. morning (over an hour late because of slow boarding, and morning traffic--don't they factor that into the schedule?). I very, VERY badly wanted to post here from Iowa, but wasn't willing to do it on my parents' computer (partly because they have dial-up, mostly because I haven't learned how to erase my browsing history). I didn't have a big block of time to try it at the public library, and Ames doesn't have any Internet cafes that I know of (wi-fi access, sure, but obviously I don't have a laptop). I have a LOT of Critical Mass stuff to write, and the Iowa trip story.

This trip was my first time taking my cell phone out of state. I had it just four months--I'm rather late in the game, I know. I made a few calls approaching the Illinois/Iowa border, including one to a friend I saw in Chicago last week. I "surprised" him with a call from Iowa and was surprised he was in Wisconsin. (It really doesn't take much to excite me.) Later, I talked to a friend in Ames (that's central Iowa); the phone worked fine except for on the underground level of our house. Oh, and until I got water on it in my purse.

The "unlock" button gave me trouble but I managed to set the alarm before bed. In the morning the alarm rang--and I couldn't work the buttons to shut it off. I could just barely hit "snooze" over and over. Afraid it'd continue indefinitely (and for some reason, I kept the phone's existence secret from my parents--why?), I threw it on the (concrete) floor. It shut off. And I turned it back on again--still no "unlock."

By the time I got on Greyhound Tues. night, I saw I'd missed two calls. I started banging on the keys and the fairly cute young guy across from me offered his pocketknife. (See, there's an advantage of Greyhound over flying.) Instead, I let the young guy behind me try to fix it--he'd fixed others--but to no avail.

I went to the T-Mobile store in Chicago where I first got my phone set up. The same young employee who'd helped before helped again. Now, I don't expect every T-Mobile employee to know how to fix everything, but he REALLY didn't need to say "Oh my god" at every step. The phone never turned back on again.

He transferred the chip/card into a used phone they had lying around. Apparently I lost nearly everything--except my pay-as-you-go minutes. He showed me text messages in it to see if they were mine, or the previous owner's. Something about "Leah" and a message just saying "I love you." "That's not mine," I said grimly. Wonderful, I hadn't YET had an existential crisis over the fact no one's ever texted "I love you" to me.

Some of my data may have been in there, but my list of numbers was gone--luckily they're nearly all on my home phone. He offered to sell me the used (camera)phone for $40, but I freaked out trying to use it. I couldn't figure out any of the usual functions I use on my cheap, crappy phone, so I had him take the card out and put my useless phone back together, to search for a new one Thursday.

I had a lot of fun with that phone. The first call I received was while browsing at Borders. Then the same person called me back in line at Borders. And at the library one day, and at at least one restaurant, and on numerous bus trips. (Not to make him sound like a pest--I'm just pointing out I've had the phone ring at most awkward situations I can think of. But I always, always turned it off before attending any kind of show.) I can't wait to start again!