Intelligentsia on Milwaukee

On the 23rd of April I wrote that on the night of Sunday the nineteenth, I wrote my notes up and went to bed—I didn’t want to pack.  I was nervous.  The next morning, the twentieth, I was up around 630 and at 730 I got up.  I knew I wanted to be gone by 9.  I had an hour to pack.  I had sent stuff to the printer and put the computer I my backpack first.  I made sure I had everything in my pannier and switched the bikes in the patio before I went upstairs.

I sat with the parents and had coffee.  I told them who I was going to Chicago with but they knew.  I then said bye and left. I took Irving and raced as much as the Trucker would let me.  A taxi tried to pass e on Page.  I crossed at Market.

At my traveling companion’s I wanted to just go up but she was at the café.  I dumped the bag and rode to meet her.  After a bit of food we walked back and she left me at her door to cobble a shoe.  I typed while she was out.  Her roommates found me in the kitchen around then.  When my companion returned we said bye but one of them had already gone.

We walked Valencia and boarded a BART train at 16th.  A lady I would regularly see on Caltrain was sitting near us.  I texted a friend and learned that he had not yet found a roommate.  I filled up my companion’s card at SFO and caught a people mover in house.  I wanted to go to Starbucks to put on my flip flops but ended up doing it near the security check point.  They were doing a new process though—prescreen.  I tried to repack after my companion had had a meal inside but flubbed it because I wasn’t able to write or type.

The flight was four and a half hours and I had a bunch of whisky.  I used the wifi maps.  There was a big guy next to me during the flight and he told us about the city while my companion took photos of our descent.  We had to wait for my companion’s bag and when we got to the station barely made the train to Logan Square.  There were sprinkles but we found the exit, landing and apartment just fine.

We walked back to the square after that and tried to go to Lula—our host, had recommended it—but we ended up at Longman & Eagle.  We tried a flight of whiskey and then ate a really expensive eggplant cannoli.  We then walked to Sacramento and Milwaukee where we found a terrible local bar called The Two Way.  It was named after its double entrance—front and back.

We woke up late—around 930—the next morning.  Our hostess, texted my companion to say that the landlord was doing a walk through that day and we would need to vacate for a few hours.  We had coffee at Intelligentsia on Milwaukee.  I thought that I had had to present so was dressed up with my computer.  We had a meal and I was tying when my companion learned that I was presenting the next day.

She left to see her roommate’s friend the tattoo artist and I went on typing.  Eventually she sent a message saying that we should meet at Chicago Diner.  I took the Blue line to meet her.

At first I thought that I was sharing my companion’s meal but later I received another one and felt terrible about it.  Our tattoo artist friend turned out to be as interesting as my companion’s roommate.  She had a parlor and talked a lot especially about her boyfriend.  We visited her parlor, met her friend and looked at the wall art.  We stopped by an antique shop then and then walked to the room.  We took a few photos on the way.

When we got there we discovered that the landlord had unwittingly locked us out with another key that we didn’t have.

I was alone for a moment and then I met my companion at the building and she said the landlord would be a moment.  I said I would go to the coffee shop to work and that she should let me know what happened.  I noted that at that point my foot hurt from wearing my dress shoes.  I noted that my companion let me know that she got into the room and later she brought me my shoes.

She told me that she would give me my space and go tour some of the shops that our tattoo artist friend had told her about.  Later she said that a lot of places were closed and said she was going to stop by Lula’s.  She was at the room when I was done.  My feet felt a lot better but my computer needed to be charged.  We decided to walk to Western then and head out to Damen Station at Wicker Park.

I noted that the walk revealed a series of parks like the Panhandle in SF.  We had some drinks at the Green Eye and had some trouble getting into the station there but made it to Damen easily.  We headed to a place called Piece for Chicago style pizza.  I noted that the clientele seemed like tourists.  I texted my old coworker from the gas company while were ate and he said we would meet on Friday.  Then we walked to Estelle and had a beer.

From there we took the train to Logan Square and walked back.  I noted that we got along then and hung out in the dining room.  Later I listened to music while typing and it was really cold.  I went to bed at 3.

I was up at 730 but left at 10.  I got my computer and we went to Intelligencia.  Our tattoo artist friend was there because she was doing laundry down the street.  She told us about the local government, owning a tortoise and snow.  We said bye and went to Jackson station on the Blue Line and visited the Monadnock building.  We sat drinking coffee and my companion said she would explore.  I walked to the Blue Line but had to walk to the red line.  I rented a Divvy at Lake and tried to find Wicker and Slaten.  I didn’t know it was a floor above.

I went into the conference center and went to registration.  I didn’t get a book.  I looked for coffee and sat down on the 3rd floor at the bar.  I had to move.  I was typing but made a tweet about the conference to Mike Sonn.  I saw a professor of mine with a collegue.  I packed up and said hi.  She was cordial but business-like.

I went down and had some fries and talked to a guy from Orange County that was graduating UCB enroot to UW.  We traded out interests and I noted that my companion had texted me about having a meal at the Art Institute.

I went to the room I was presenting in and the session before mine was just ending.  The lady in charge of my session told us we would use his computer and then did her presentation.  She didn’t count the time right.  The second guy, I noted, was really quiet.  The third wasn’t well coordinated and the last lady was rushed.

I noted that my presentation was alright.  I had done it so many times I was on autopilot.  I didn’t think that I had made much of an impression.  However, two of the presenters really liked my presentation and wanted to look at a manuscript.  I wanted to talk to them more but we had to go.  I sent them emails.

I went to get a Divvy but had to go elsewhere.  In fact I had trouble getting out of the Center.  I went across the bridges at Michigan and took Illinois to LaSalle and then went to a swanky bar called Untitled.  The bartender had comped my companion a bunch of whisky there.  She said she had gotten to know the Art Deco group in the city.

We went to State Street and Illinois and took the train to Sheridan to have dinner.  I had wanted to go to Uptown but we couldn’t make it.  I ordered sparkling water at the restaurant but didn’t like it so we drank a second bottle that was better.  However, the food was great.  I had Salmon.  I wanted to get dessert but we settled on going to the house instead.  We took a train to Fullerton and when we were on the bus back to the room I noted the scenery.  There were a lot of DePaul students on the bus and it was only a bit longer to get to our destination.  I was watching the scenery and caught sight of a lot of stuff I had come to know well.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.