No quarter

Today I experienced the joy of finding a quarter in the folds of my backpack. I had 7 quarters and I needed $2.25 to get on the train to the airport in Chicago. I also had $20 but the machine wouldn't tender change, a woman said. I rummaged in my bag and pulled out this quarter while looking for something else. I thought I could make up the remaining 25 cents I needed with dimes and nickels. Well what do you know, I had two dollars and twenty three cents. I really didn't want to waste twenty dollars so I went out looking for change. A man tried to sell me his transfer for 2 bucks but I had no useo for a transfer if I couldn't get on the platform. I asked this random guy at the corner of the street if he had change for a twenty or a quarter. He gave me a quarter with out questioning, bless him. It had just started raining. The jingle of the nine quarters in my pocket sounded like sweet music to my ears. I got out of the night streets of Chicago and got on the metro, putting in exactly $2.25 through the turnstile. The twenty lives to fight another day. 

They'll find you on facebook, follow you on twitter,
They'll tweet about what they do on the shitter
They'll like every picture you take and every word you say,
The second you go online, they'll say 'Hey!'
They'll wish you on your birthday and and ask you 'what's going on?'
You'll quickly sign out, but they'll know you're not gone.
They'll question if you're active, they'll question if you stay low,
They'll know more about you online, than you even know.
They've always been there, and always will be
Thing is, this doesn't comfort me.

I give up

Steamed brussels sprouts and a banana for dinner - when hunger and irritability trump the will to go buy groceries.

Brilliant weekend if I may say so myself.

It all started with Beth who offered to drive me to Chicago (rideshare). She loves her car and talks about how it touched 100000 miles just that morning without having any  major incident. Turned out that her wheel's loose and the rim is busted because of that. She got towed back home and I took a bus to Chicago. She was so looking forward to visit Chicago, first time and all. It was a little sad. The next day I took a bus to Minneapolis, my first time there. Reached too early, and HAD to take a dump. Walked around downtown looking for an open place with restrooms at 7 AM. I found a mall and a bagel place, had hot chocolate and a bagel and then I find out there's no restrooms. Wandered around the mall and thankfully there were restrooms but they were locked. Thankfully again, the maintenance guy walks by, and I asked him if I could use it. He replied 'I guess?' and opened them for me. Gratitude was me. When I exited the mall, I was so ready to tackle that town. Quickly got used to how the public transit worked, and met a guy on the bus who was going to the same concert as I was, though at a different time and from a different place. He however told me how to get there, and also told me places to spend time at before then. I had around 7 hours to kill and I wandered around a few streets to find a sports bar before the quarterfinals between Spain and France started. I then found myself sitting between an old resident who supported the underdogs and a man in a hat and late forties downing beers fast just watching the game and talking to me. Turned out he was Finnish and was living in Arizona and had driven ALL the way to MN to see a 50s car show. He also asked if my name was 'Vijay' because he worked with a guy named 'Vijay' and I allowed him that. Ended up watching the whole of the second half with him, getting to know about Finnish bands and places to see, to make note of for my Scandinavia trip. Drank to a Spanish victory and meeting him, and was drunk just in time to catch the concert shuttle to Harriet Island where the concert was. It was a huge spread out lawn-ish area, and I was a little too tired so I rested myself gingerly on the grass, gingerly because my lower back/ass hadn't healed entirely from the surgery yet. I took my glasses off and slept gloriously in the sun. I woke up hearing people saying 'Look how comfortable he is..' and realized they were referring to me when I saw them smiling at me when I woke up. A girl walked by and let her flowing white skirt brush over my face. It was a nice time and way to wake up. I got up and made the way up front for the main event - Tool. It was as brilliant as I expected with people tripping all over the place on the blue and yellow net of light that sprang forth from multiple lasers positioned strategically. I left the concert grounds hurriedly to catch my bus which left for Chicago in an hour. I had to hurry and I asked this guy at the bus stop about the next bus and he told me a bus was coming in ten minutes and further conversation led to cutting a sack and me asking him how he felt about being referred to as 'African American'. He didn't like it much and he was fine with nigga as long as it wasn't offensive and gave me the go ahead to refer to him that way. The bus got delayed, on other news, and so I had to catch a cab after saying goodbye to tony, and my cab driver was an Ethiopian named  Khedir. He had a lot to ask me and also say about his life. It was quite an interesting conversation and I didn't worry about missing my bus as Khedir had it all worked out to get me there in time. He even warned me not to go into the downtown area alone at night. The next day I was at Chicago again and it was gay pride day. I witnessed the gay parade and got a caramel heart on top of my cold coffee which I ordered later that day. And oh, I had a chance to step inside a U-boat from the war, that was captured by the US forces. As the guide mentioned how 59 soldiers sat in that U-boat at an average temperature of 100 degrees with no baths and shared beds, under the sea surrounded by enemy ships trying to sink them with depth charges, making no sound so as to not let the others know their position, sitting in the dark with emergency lights on and listening to the ping ping ping of the sonar for as long as two days in a row, in the very place that I was standing, I shuddered. I marveled at the engineering skill of the germans, and the tenacity of those men who carried out vicious orders and the ones who tried to stop them, by stepping into a sub that was known to be left sinking and booby-trapped by the fleeing german crew. And then I went back home. 

And now I shall lay my head on my pillow and drift away to sleep. 

All aboard..

Very therapeutic, this one. One character who makes me happy, by just being happy. Oh Kaylee.

I've been staring at this for a good ten minutes now, probably more..

Note to self

Hoy por ti, mañana por mi.