back in greensbohemia after four delightful--albeit tiring--days. best to summarize those days as follows:

Lists--The Chicago Trip

A. Ten Things I Learned on the Chicago Trip
1) Long road trips (17 hours up, almost 20 back) are a blast, at least if you're in a comfy car with cool people.
2) Indiana is large and boring and very confusing when you're trying to establish what time zone you're in.
3) Toyota Camrys get ridiculously good gas mileage.
4) The ending theme song from Wild Things is by Morphine.
5) Berea, KY is even more wonderful than I'd thought possible.
6) Brynn rules. I mean, I already liked her, but now I'm aware that she rules.
7) Yoga mat notwithstanding, sleeping on sorority house floors is a rough way to go (not that I didn't appreciate it).
8) I shouldn't try to get around interstate tollbooths by driving directly through major metropolitan areas. It's not clever; it's just being a cheap bastard.
9) Playing air flute is much funnier than air guitar.
10) I should look at grad school options in Chicago.

B. Five Things That Make Chicago Superior to NYC
1) Kickass pizza
2) Less image conscious
3) Gorgeous Lake Michigan
4) MUCH cheaper
5) Downtown area is cleaner and prettier to look at

C. Five Things That Make Chicago Inferior to NYC
1) Sloooow public transport
2) Freakin cold
3) Somewhat less nightlife
4) Street system makes less sense
5) Um...I can't think of five (see List A, Item 10).

D. Ten Funny Things Between GSO and Chicago
1) Stinking Creek Road
2) Gourmet popcorn farm
3) Man o' War Boulevard
4) Slush Puppie warehouse
5) the Knoxville Sunsphere
6) fallen rock painted and dressed up beside road
7) KFC museum
8) water tower that says "Florence Y'all!"
9) water tower that says "[forgotten name of town] (for pete's sake!)"
10) Berea in general

E. Ten Things I Did in Berea
1) Got coffee (twice, once with scone)
2) Stayed at Days Inn
3) Drove
4) Used toilet (various times)
5) Smoked cigarette
6) Was a streetcorner tough
7) Bought a hoodie
8) Showered
9) Hung around college campus
10) Took motel pamphlet just because it said "Berea" on it