Those of you who know me know that, lately, I've been something of a recluse. Between all the stuff that's happened to me in the past year-and-a-half or so, my constant and consistent financial troubles and the bloody frigid weather, I've had neither the energy nor the inclination to...well, leave my apartment much. On my days off, I've usually just sat inside, drinking coffee, bemoaning the squalid domestic state of my apartment and reading, or surfing the web, or playing Burnout 3, or sleeping, or just letting the days stretch into gray patches of inactivity, simultaneously long and dull while they're occurring but quick and empty in retrospect. Honestly, it's been a sign of a depression so deep and pervasive that even I, wrapped in my down comforter and my figurative exoskeleton of apathy, became unable to ignore it.
Well, no more. I'm done with that shit.
Today was the second real day of spring, sporting temperatures in the low 50s. (Yesterday was the first day of spring-like weather, but I spent it straightening up the apartment.) Following a cabin-fever born desire which has been building for the last couple months, I resolved to spend as much time outside as possible, and to write about it here. So, armed with my cell phone, my digital camera, my Starbucks gift card (thanks, Josh!) and my trusty PSP, I went out and hit the streets. Just to punctuate my experience, I stopped every hour or so and took pictures of my surroundings. This is what I'm going to try to do at least once a week from here on out, so get used to these long mega-posts, on occasion.
Now then, let us begin.
Title: The power of the sun...in the palm of my hand!
Time: 10:15 a.m.
Place: My apartment.
Soundtrack: Bill Hicks, "My Parents," from the CD Dangerous.
One of the key factors in my decision to leave my apartment for hours at a time was my purchase last Thursday of Sony's brilliant new product, the PSP. This thing plays video-games, movies and MP3s; has a four-inch, 480p, high-definition screen; and comes with super-cool, little white ear-buds designed to make certain people jealous. So, essentially, it's like having a portable entertainment center with you—exactly what an indoorsy individual like myself needs to leave off being a shut-in.
Oh, for the record, I hear all of you out there shouting "Hey! What about these 'constant and consistent financial troubles' you've been having? That thing retails for $250! How dare you be so irresponsible!" Ease your troubled minds, responsible folks. I paid about $24 out of pocket for this thing. Of course, I did trade in 23 DVDs and 8 video-games, but I think it's worth it. I mean, c'mon, for fuck's sake: I left the damn apartment today!
Title: Now I need some good neighbors.
Time: 11:15 a.m.
Place: Somewhere around Juneau & Broadway.
Soundtrack: Iron Maiden, "Wasted Years," from the album Somewhere in Time.
So, my first stop was the Starbucks down on Water Street. In order to get there, I had to push my way through a bunch of MSOE students, one of whom had her gaze so fixed on the sidewalk she nearly ran into me. It really was funny: here she is, walking right at me, staring at the ground, going at a pretty good clip. I'm not sure if she sees me, so I do what I always do in these situations—stop and see what she's going to do, because, invariably, if I cut left, she cuts left, then we begin that awkward little dance people do when they're in these situations.
Actually, she was pretty nice about it. I think I must've startled her, because she stopped, looked up, saw me standing there looking confused and smiling (I try to smile when I'm confused—it makes me look perpetually friendly), smiled herself and said something that seemed apologetic (I couldn't tell...I had my ear-buds in), then walked around me. Granted, it wasn't much, but I did smile at a complete stranger today!
Anyway, once I'd picked up my coffee at Starbucks, I decided against drinking it there. Instead, I figured I'd wander east, toward the lake, and maybe get lunch at the Alterra down there in the converted waterworks. Right about then, my phone vibrated, letting me know that it was time for my next photo. I glanced around and saw the really good fence that I ended up photographing. And, yeah, I tried to make the shot interesting. So sue me.
Title: Speaking of being sued...
Time: 12:15 p.m.
Place: My store.
Soundtrack: The susurrus of people in a mall.
So, great picture from the lake, isn't it? See the way the water rushes over the larger rocks, gradually wearing them down into sand? What about all those people enjoying this beautiful day by this gorgeous lake? See how huge Lake Michigan is? By god, that's fresh water all the way to the horizon!
Obviously, I didn't make it down to the lake. Shortly after I took the picture of the fence, my Spider Sense began tingling. Checking my phone, I saw that, somehow, I had missed a phone call from my store. Calling up, I talked to my third-key on duty to find out that some customer had, for reasons entirely unfathomable to me, been walking backward in our store and tripped over the extension cord you see here. EMTs were called. Payment of medical bills was discussed.
Anyway, I hustled down, took some pictures, had my third-key fill out an incident report, handled all the paperwork and faxes and emails and, of course, pulled up the offending cord just in case any other backwards-walking customers didn't see the bright red duct tape and failed to step over it.
Then I went to lunch.
Title: You must be drunk—you're all blurry!
Time: 1:15 p.m.
Place: Applebee's. (I'm not posting a link. Their site is obnoxious.)
Soundtrack: Spider-Man 2, on UMD.
So, I went to my least favorite restaurant for lunch: Applebee's. Why did I go there? Well, honestly, it's right around the corner from my store and, what with all the crap I'd just had to do, I wanted a beer just as soon as I could get one. Plus, I was hungry and there's a really cute bartender there. Unfortunately, she wasn't working.
Of course, this being Applebee's and being seated, as I was, at the bar, I waited a very long time for my lunch to arrive. The bartender seemed kind of apologetic about it, especially when he noticed that I'd gone through my entire beer with nary a word from him or any sign that my food was being prepared. He offered me another beer and I think he said "I'm sorry about the wait." I'm not sure because, of course, I had my ear-buds in the entire time.
However, it wasn't a bad lunch, overall. One of the waitresses caught sight of my gadget and asked me to tell her about it. Apparently, her 17-year-old son wanted one. When my food finally came, I put the thing away and read Richard Russo's The Risk Pool, because no matter how much of a technophile I may be, nothing takes the place of a good book.
Oh! I know that photo's really blurry, but you may be able to make out that I only got charged for one beer. Now, I took that photo right before I paid the bill and, when all was said and done, I really only paid for one beer! Now, that's a bartender who, while he wasn't particularly cute, did know a few things about good customer service. So I made sure I tipped him 15%, plus the cost of the free beer.
See...it's funny how, as much as we may fear otherwise, everything works out in the end, isn't it?
Title: The evidence is all around.
Time: 2:25 p.m.
Place: Somewhere on Water Street, I think.
Soundtrack: The Beatles, "Paperback Writer," from the album 1.
Walking along Wisconsin Avenue, the wind is always a bit more biting than anyplace else I've noticed, especially down by the river. Wisconsin is very wide and it runs straight down to the lake, basically tunneling any breeze that may come in off the water right into your face. So, as I left Applebee's, I had to button up my coat. Then, I ducked into Uhle's to buy some smokes and think about my next stop.
One of my favorite places within walking distance of my apartment is Downtown Books, and I frequently stop in there on my way home from work. So, after stopping to watch the river run by beneath me for a bit and feel the thrumming of the cars on the bridge through the soles of my sneakers, I decided I'd head that way. Then I ran into a red light on Water Street. Maybe it was the beers, maybe it was the wind, maybe it was just the mercurial nature of the day, but I decided I'd hang left on Water and see what happened.
Now, Water Street, since it runs north/south, was pretty much washed in shade, so the coolness of the wind on Wisconsin Ave. carried over with me. I was a little disappointed for a bit, since the day had been so warm while I was in the sun. Then I thought about it a bit more, and remembered walking to work with sweatpants on over my work-slacks, bundled in scarves and gloves and coats and pullovers made of fleece and down, and realized that this was downright balmy, compared to -20° wind-chills. Right about then, "Paperback Writer" came on, and I found it impossible to be in a bad mood.
That's when I spied the sign. I don't know what it's like where you are, but 49° at 2:25 on a March afternoon in Milwaukee feels like spring to me.
Title: Move along, nothing to see here.
Time: 3:15 p.m.
Place: Starbucks on Water Street.
Soundtrack: "TANK!" (a.k.a. "The Opening Theme from Cowboy Bebop.")
Yeah, yeah, I know...I circled back around to where I started. What can I say? I had to start heading towards home since I had to be on a conference call for work, and I wanted to sit down, drink some coffee and play Lumines for a while.
Besides, what says "It's springtime!" louder than the closing of an outdoor ice rink? Plus, I got a sneaky little self-portrait in there to boot. Yay me!
Anyway, there's my day. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
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