Solitary travel.

My car has been in the shop since this weekend so I've become reacquainted with regular use of Chicago's public transit system over the last few days. I avoid the trouble spots that plague about 95% of the CTA system, so while it's been a bit more time-consuming to get to the office, it's also been relatively pleasant. And I've been getting a lot of reading done, so that's always nice.

Of course my car decided to act up just before winter hit again. We've been enjoying an unusually mild Chicago winter this year, and last week temperatures were even pushing into the fifties, which is totally unheard of in January. (On one hand the temperature shift is terrifying, but a tiny part of me is also guiltily enjoying the respite.) Naturally the second I am without wheels and my feet once again become my primary mode of transport, the cold front sweeps in and I find myself shivering at bus and train stops.

I travel through some rougher parts of town to get to work, so you would think I'd be collecting interesting stories of weird fellow passengers, but this is not the case. It seems all the crazy people are heading into Chicago during the day, not out. Were I going downtown I'd probably have reams of wild anecdotes, but since I travel through the West Side I encounter primarily tired, quietly resolute citizens. Not much to write about there unless I want to start peeling back and examining the relationships between people of different financial strata and the societal compacts that form from their interaction. But it's a little early to get that serious, or that depressing.

So I think instead I'll just bundle up, crack open a book, and prepare myself for another daily migration Westward.

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Another lost treasure, found!

The Dogs In Space soundtrack was a cassette that got played a lot when I was younger, so this find is notable more for sentimental reasons than sincere musical appreciation. CD copies of this soundtrack are impossible to find, so you can imagine just how pleased I was to find a copy of it in digital form on-line. Enjoy.

Also, musically related, I will be attending the taping of the one-year Anniversary of Sound Opinions' move to Chicago Public Radio. You should go too.

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Greedy guts.

My birthday is in June, so who wants to buy this for me when it comes out that month?


I am, of course, kidding. Everyone knows you wait until the third generation of any product before buying it. So who's buying it for me next Christmas?