south of the loop

I think the best thing about my new job might be catching mistakes. Not so much the thrill of finding the mistakes–though that is fun–but the mistakes themselves. Today I did some proofreading, which simply entailed making sure that a set of re-typed manuscripts matched the original set. The originals had handwritten notes that the typist or data entrist (I have no idea who added the handwritten material) had incorporated into the re-typed set. In that person’s defense, the handwriting was quite difficult to decipher, so the mistakes are probably not a reflection of that person. However, please imagine sentences with the following substitutions:

- “was famous under Queen Elizabeth” instead of “won favour under Queen Elizabeth,”

- “mosque” instead of “masque,”

and, the best ever:

- “satanic” instead of “satiric.”

* * *

current book: I’m nearly a third done with Stewart’s The Places in Between, which I read for twenty minutes each morning and evening on the Metra. I can’t help but compare it to Tony Horwitz’s Baghdad Without a Map, which details another journalist’s adventures through the Middle East. The jury is still out on The Places in Between; there are things I love and things I don’t love, all of which I’ll reserve for another post. But what I find lacking so far is a sense of humor, which Horwitz has in abundance. Pity: Stewart walks through Afghanistan some two months after the fall of the Taliban. His cultural sensitivity is admirable, but just a little humor could have really made an impact, if only on my current perception of Stewart as a fuddy-duddy.
current music: “Can’t Stand Me Now” by The Libertines. On repeat.
current socks: I tested out my new Keens today without socks, of all the crazy things to do! (I wore them for the first day yesterday, my multi-colored stripey socks peeking through.) I seem to be blister-free so far, which is nothing short of miraculous. But I can’t help but gaze jealously at women who click-clack around the Loop in cute little heels without so much as a slight limp. How do they do it?

Filed under: copy editing by admin2
No Comments »

Long before there was Emmit, there was Aunt Laura. My first nephew had unruly black hair, the deepest, most expressive eyes you could hope to gaze into, and poisonously bad breath. I don’t remember the precise moment I acquired my dog-nephew and became Aunt Laura for the first time. It was probably sometime after I moved across the street from jaq and Josh and became their default dog-sitter, but it could have happened earlier than that. Erl had a way of wiggling and wagging his helicopter butt into people’s hearts.

Erl was a few years younger than Reba, my childhood dog who died last fall, and he had all the youthfulness, the craziness, the silliness, that I missed from Reba’s puppyhood. Unlike Reba, who was stiff and slow for years before she died, it seemed like Erl would never grow old. Last summer, when jaq was too pregnant to walk Erl–Erl required vigorous walks, sniffing-everywhere-and-running-back-and-forth walks–I’d take him over to the soccer fields nearby. We’d chase each other back and forth and then Erl would throw himself on his back, writhing and wriggling in the grass, ecstatic to be alive! To be in the grass! To be with Aunt Laura!

jaq and Josh let Erl jump up on visitors when they entered the house. It put me off at first–after all, I’d spent hours trying to teach Reba not to jump, to be a civilized pet–but I came to love it. I came to love how happy Erl was whenever I walked through jaq and Josh’s door, how he’d wag his whole body, his tail going ’round and ’round in wide thumping circles. I even came to love the bruises he’d leave on my thighs from jumping up to say hellohellohellohello! They were little love-bruises, purple and blue paw-shaped reminders of how uncontrollably happy he was to see me.

Erl wasn’t sick for very long. I think I’m glad it happened so quickly–he was, as jaq says, a force of happiness and joy, and it wouldn’t have suited him to have that force masked by old age. I saw him last week when I was in Indianapolis. I started crying as soon as I saw how skinny he’d gotten in just a few weeks. I put Emmit in his crib upstairs and sat down on the floor with Erl to say goodbye. I buried my face in his and thanked him for being my dog-nephew, for snuggling on the sofa when jaq and I watched bad television, for letting me cry into his fur last fall when I lost my pets, for never losing hope that I might someday let him lick my face, for always being so happy to see me.

Erl couldn’t have been a more perfect companion for jaq and Josh and Emmit. He was silly and sweet and ridiculous and neurotic. And jaq’s right: if he hadn’t gotten sick, he and Emmit would have been best friends. He had room in his heart for everybody.

As lucky as I am to have been his Aunt Laura, there are limitations. I only knew him half as long as jaq and Josh did. I can only throw adjectives around; I can’t tell all the stories that do Erl justice or explain very well why he was jaq and Josh’s perfect companion. Read on: http://jaqnigg.googlepages.com.

Filed under: life in general by admin2
No Comments »

Too exhausted to blog. Bullets only.

- took a cab to work. spency, but it was just a first-day thing, not the beginning of a habit. made it to work just in time for …

- three hours of HR-babble. but found out about the awesome benefit of buying CTA/Metra passes through Company. the discount is minimal, but the money comes directly out of my paycheck–PRE-TAX. and then …

- began reading a 334 page style manual on which all my copy editing will rely;

- learned abbreviations for everything under the sun, including a number of periodic elements I’ve never heard of as well as every former and current country associated with the USSR/Russia;

- learned that any person born before 1922 in what is now Northern Ireland must be called “Irish,” not “Northern Irish.”

- ran an errand after work and didn’t get home till nearly 8pm. am too exhausted to even think about laying out clothes for tomorrow and packing a lunch, much less actually doing it.

- so much walking. three new blisters.

- kitties very happy to see me. and I them.

Filed under: copy editing by admin2
No Comments »

Filed under: clarabelle, monte by admin2
No Comments »

Back in Chicago, trying to run a million errands in the next 36 hours, before my new job begins bright and early on Wednesday morning. Actually, I don’t know if the mornings are “bright,” not having gotten up that early in at least ten months. Possibly longer.

The last week in Indianapolis was busier than I had anticipated, although I’m not sure I can say that I actually did anything. I brought some work home I had wanted to do (like figure out my loan consolidations, which must be done within the next four days), and never even took it out of my bag. I had good times with Nephew and various friends, although I of course didn’t get to see everybody I had hoped to. I helped out (sort of) for part of Indian Market and ate my annual Indian Veggie Taco. I drove between Indianapolis and Zionsville over and over and over. It was a good week, but neither relaxing nor satisfying.

And now what? In exchange for a paycheck, I’m now relinquishing my privileges of sleeping in, take afternoon naps with Monte, reading Heidegger, and writing five pages a week about things I really enjoy. I’m not angry about it. Just nervous. Nervous about whether or not I’ll still find time for me in the 8-5 world.

* * *

current book: The Places In Between by Rory Stewart; I didn’t read so much as a page while I was in Indy.
current music: Ryan’s Get-Me-Going Mix, an awesome mix made by a former manager at McBookstore. It features tunes such as The Libertines’ “Can’t Stand Me Now” and Magnetic Fields “I Thought You Were My Boyfriend.” And, as I discovered this evening, it is a great album to cook to.
current socks: The weather was a little wacky today: mid-60s with a cool Lake Michigan breeze, but unbearably humid. So I wore jeans and socks and shoes and was alternately too cold or too hot. The socks are in various garish shades of blue, orange, and red, with kokopellis all over them. They were included in my parting gift from the museum last August.

Filed under: life in general by admin2
No Comments »

So I was lying about the week-long hiatus. 

I've just accepted a job in the Windy City which I'll start on Wednesday, July 28. Hooray for employment! I'm not going to talk about it on my blog, having decided that dooce's lesson learned is my lesson learned. I will tell you that it requires me to be there at 8 in the morning. Eight in the fucking morning. That means leaving my house about 7:00 a.m, which means getting up at… oh, shit. Early.

Besides the good fortune of gainful employment, this means I'll be leaving Hyde Park… five days a week. I'll have to take a combination of the Metra and El each day, making me feel like a real Chicagoan and not some South Side hermit who still can't find her way around downtown. I'll probably need to go ahead and budget a measurable portion of my paycheck to Istria Cafe (conveniently located under the 56th Street Metra Station), since I suspect a 20 oz. latte–maybe with an extra shot or three of espresso–will be necessary, at least for those first few weeks while my body groans under the strain of early mornings. What have I gotten myself into?

Filed under: chicago, life in general by admin2
No Comments »

Not for the faint of stomach:

Okay, so I was maybe exaggerating about the six inches part, but it really is quite long. Probably about four inches. (She looks mad in this picture, but it's just the camera angle.) The scar is hardly slowing her down at all! She just brought her catnip-filled dog into my bedroom and is busy getting high.

Filed under: clarabelle by admin2
No Comments »

Today's title comes from the song "Indianapolis" by the Bottle Rockets. Best lyric: "I'll puke if that jukebox plays John Cougar one more time." Five years in Indy, and I never did learn to like the guy (sorry, Megan). And I realized a couple weeks ago that I'd made it through the end of May without hearing so much as a peep about the Indy 500! It appears that other parts of the world, even other parts of the Midwest, fill the month of May with something other than cars racing at ear-splitting speeds.

My dad's picking me up tomorrow morning bright and early and taking me and the kitties back to Zionsville. I'll spend the week hanging out with my parents and helping jaq out with all things Indian Market. Indy friends: my time is already booking up (how does that happen, seriously?!), but email me so we can try to get together. Better yet– come to Indian Market on Saturday! Art, food, music, and me. Does it get any better?

I'll be taking a week-long hiatus from blogging (but not from email). But I'll be accumulating lots of stories to tell you upon my return to Chicago next Sunday.

* * *

current book: The Places in Between by Rory Stewart
current music: "Can't go west / Can't go east / I'm stuck in Indianapolis / with a fuel pump that's deceased / Ten days on the road now / I'm four hours from my hometown / Is this Hell or Indianapolis / with no way to get around."
current socks: flip. flops!

Filed under: life in general by admin2
No Comments »

- I picked Clarabelle up from the vet today, and she's doing great. Her incision is a good six inches long, and she is now the seven-nippled wonder.

- Monte is thrilled to see his girl, although he's having a tough time understanding why she can't roughhouse. It doesn't matter that she's missing a nipple. She's still all woman to him. They napped all afternoon with their paws touching.

- The vet remains astounded at her pus-filled boob, which apparently gave no outward indication of being filled with pus. Even after removing it, it was very firm and lumpy. But when she cut it in half, "it was like a pancake!," she said.

- Alas… they send both halves to pathology, so I can't see the sticky yellow goo.

- I received my diploma in the mail today. Yay! I sort of expected that the paper would be thicker. Not that I'm complaining. I'm just sayin'.

- It appears that Clompy McClomperton, our monster-footed upstairs neighbor, is MOVING OUT! Yay!

- I get to eat grilled asparagus on Monday night. Couldn't be more excited. Perhaps it will keep the kitties from following me into the bathroom.

Filed under: clarabelle, life in general by admin2
No Comments »

me: I have good news!

friend: Yes?

me: The vet just called, and she said that Clarabelle's boob… was filled with pus!

friend: So not cancerous?

me: Probably not. The vet said that the tumor felt really firm, but that it came off very cleanly and wasn't attached to the muscle underneath. Which is good. But apparently they have to cut it in half before sending it to pathology. And when she cut it in half? It deflated. And all this yellow goo came out. The vet was clearly astounded and launched into this really detailed description of the goo.

friend: That's so good!

me: I wonder if they saved the other half. I totally want to see it.

friend, sighing: Of course you do.

Filed under: clarabelle by admin2
No Comments »