young Chicago boy
I lived in Chicago for a winter in 1992. I met some amazing people there and fell in love with the jewellike skyline. It captivated me, but I was 18 and had no idea why I was working or what I was working for and pretty much felt sick-hearted all the time.
I remember I got pink-eye and had to go sit in the scary-ass Cook County Hospital intake room for over 6 hours to get a free examination and prescription. I felt so sick and pathetic with my burning eye and no money to get a coke.
Some things were really cool. I was making pretty good money at a temp job...I read poetry at a cafe called the "No Exit" where old Chinese men clacked their fingers through pots of Go-moku stones as they played for hours...I got a little walkman and my soundtrack was Stone Temple Pilots "Core" and Smashing Pumpkins "Siamese Dream" and King Crimson's "Discipline", I drank tons of coffee at pretentious lincoln park coffee shops...I tried LSD and thought, "Life can never be the same again!"
I was right.
Oh, by the way, go look at the Lincoln Park link, it's worth it. A little bit of authentic Chicago culture for ya.
And you know Shauny? She's even cooler than you think.