I've heard that the orderliness of one's house is indicative of that person's soul. If this is the case then my soul has been a mess for quite some time. Relatively, anyways. Two months, maybe.
Anyways, last night and earlier today saw me and Aaron going back and forth between our two apartments, moving unnecessary amounts of belongings. Our new place looks slightly smaller with our stuff and our old place needs to be cleaned.
This coming week will be my first 30+ hour work week in recent times. It feels good being out of school so when I'm out of work my mind is free of trouble. Life will be this way until August 24th (provided that I enroll in school).
I feel like I've been doing lots of complaining lately. That's always awkward for every party involved so I'll try keeping that to a minimum. How about a brief tour of my neighborhood? Good.
Across the street from the coffee shop that is currently employing me is a crap shop. In its windows are shelves that are stocked with crap that is out-dated. Even the globe, somehow. Maybe Mr. Mercator is responsible for that. Regardless of the fact that the store sells crap, it is run by a tall, lanky, black man of, perhaps, recent African descent. At night, when the crap shop closes, the church he serves as pastor over opens. Loud music is played into the night, though outside people such as myself are only able to see the drawn curtains in the store's windows (in front of which is a poster of Mr. Jesus Christ). To the immediate west of these two establishments is an abandoned store-front. It appears to have been both a video store and a printing store, presumably on separate occasions. Wall-papered over where a pane of glass probably once stood (but was probably replaced by wooden panels after a drive-by shooting may have broken the original glass) are advertisements for Saw V and Law Abiding Citizen.
Still moving west, across Lakewood, we come to a funeral home that is no longer in operation. It was owned by the Weinstein Brothers (unless the name is fictitious) and is on the market for $2.5 mil. This includes the actual funeral home, as well as five parking lots. According to Aaron (I am like-minded on this issue), this is a great deal. If it were financially feasible, he would make the purchase and open Dead Beats, a rock and roll venue.
This neighborhood is based around Loyola University-- it's huge and its presence is undeniable. The red line stop is named Loyola, as opposed to Devon, for instance. While the main hot spots of this area seem to be Chipotle and Starbucks, there is room for development that could make this area really cool. A block from this coffee shop is Uncommon Ground, a few blocks down Devon is a bookstore called Armadillo Pillow, a music store called Flatts & Sharpe, and a (relatively) cheap movie theater called The New 400, and there's at least one local bar that isn't creepy (by creepy I'm referring to Hamilton's, which features 17 year old girls being oggled by 40 year old men, and the Oasis, which is the main hub of Jeffrey Dahmer-like past-their-prime guys. One theory has it that these people develop their creepy ways at Nick's Uptown, then congregate at the Oasis once their trade has been refined. Extrapolating on that idea is for another day, though).
The people of this neighborhood are primarily college students, aged hippies, cab-driver-type guys, and a handful of sketchy people (the close proximity of the red line will douse any good neighborhood with a hint of armed robbery). The border-area of Edgewater and Rogers Park (which is what I've been talking about this whole time) has been growing recently because it is affordable (compared to Lakeview and Lincoln Park), it is near the lake, and it is within reach of Evanston. Opening a cool music venue in this area would spur growth through the increase in visitors. I think it would allow college graduates to consider sticking around instead of moving south.
Here's what happened: I wrote most of this a few days ago. I didn't finish it, nor did I post it. This lack of continuance turned a guided tour of my neighborhood into an unorganized argument for the installation of a venue. Funny how that worked out.
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