scott

my first apartment was a college apartment situation with two of my friends. It was near the Experimental Zoology building at the University of Chicago. A railroad apartment - with four rooms lined up along one long hallway

we lived upstairs from three wild art student girls, one of whom was named Pearl

we climbed up on the roof often and drank beer beneath the orange Chicago sky

My first apartment was in a 4 unit complex in Burbank. I was the only tenant that spoke English. I had never been to Los Angeles before this and I knew nobody in the entire state of California. The bathroom had a severe mold problem and one day the shower sprouted a mushroom. My bedroom window never closed properly and I learned that the children upstairs used to sneak in through it and play in my apartment at night. One night the city sewer system blew up and flooded through my kitchen sink. I called the fire department because of the fumes. The place was dirt cheap but I hated every second of it. Even though I had a year lease I moved out after 6 months. I even left most of my crappy furniture in the unit. I couldn't run out fo there fast enough.