Seriously, man, what is up with this neighborhood?
Not MY neighborhood. That's fine. Mostly.
I'm up at my advisor's place, dutifully "house sitting" in the Wicker Park/Bucktown area. And with all apologies to folks who enjoy this neighborhood, this place annoys the fuck out of me.
Today, I saw some dude walking around in a faux-Western shirt, half-unbuttoned with aviator glasses, like he was god damned Johnny fucking Knoxville. I wanted to vomit. This place is either yuppies or hipsters, and the pretension of it is kinda gross. [Also - all the STORES annoy me. The wife and I hit American Apparel this weekend, as I needed some new shirts to replace the ones that are wasting away. Not one salesperson could pull themselves away from standing sluggishly about the store and having catty conversations with each another to help us. Assholes.
]
Also, for some reason the building I'm in like a fucking bank vault: secure entry with alarm, CCTV in the entry way, two locks for all the doors of each apartment, AND almost every apartment has their own *individual* alarm. DAMN. I mean, people get like beat up and shot and shit in my neighborhood, and we have less security. If it's so damn scary, move to fucking Schaumburg.
I suppose *technically* this rant isn't fair .. but I cannot breathe in this place. Going back to the "real world" of Hyde Park always feel real, real fine.
Not MY neighborhood. That's fine. Mostly.
I'm up at my advisor's place, dutifully "house sitting" in the Wicker Park/Bucktown area. And with all apologies to folks who enjoy this neighborhood, this place annoys the fuck out of me.
Today, I saw some dude walking around in a faux-Western shirt, half-unbuttoned with aviator glasses, like he was god damned Johnny fucking Knoxville. I wanted to vomit. This place is either yuppies or hipsters, and the pretension of it is kinda gross. [Also - all the STORES annoy me. The wife and I hit American Apparel this weekend, as I needed some new shirts to replace the ones that are wasting away. Not one salesperson could pull themselves away from standing sluggishly about the store and having catty conversations with each another to help us. Assholes.
]
Also, for some reason the building I'm in like a fucking bank vault: secure entry with alarm, CCTV in the entry way, two locks for all the doors of each apartment, AND almost every apartment has their own *individual* alarm. DAMN. I mean, people get like beat up and shot and shit in my neighborhood, and we have less security. If it's so damn scary, move to fucking Schaumburg.
I suppose *technically* this rant isn't fair .. but I cannot breathe in this place. Going back to the "real world" of Hyde Park always feel real, real fine.
Re: Eco's other books. For me, nothing beats Name of the Rose. I haven't read the new one (though I probably will), but it does sound neat. I'd say read Foucault's Pendulum. Neither Island of the Day Before nor Baudolino are a waste of time, but I wouldn't recommend that you rush out and read them, either.
Re: your housesitting place. My friends J&L were housesitting in Kalorama (a pricey neighborhood) here, and would bust out with things like, "and then today, I found *another* Picasso, in the bathroom."