beach

dear chicago,

as i biked through the rain today, i was definitely thinking of you. yesterday it was 80 and super-sunny in new orleans, and today it's a blizzard in chicago. i'm actually nostalgic for the major snowstorms of my adolescence. stumbling through drifts higher than my waist, the downtown area depopulated because everyone else was more sensible/cautious/sissified. winters that weren't weren't dominated by -18 temperatures and epic storms were considered mild. the post-apocaltptic conditions are a surer test of one's mettle than any other aspect of chicago living.

at the same time, chicago in february is probably a big part of why there are so many bitter, tense jerks there. a friend wrote in their blog that northern winters make relationships more intimate, but i cannot agree with that, having formed equally tight relationships with southerners.

i am expecting two friends tomorrow, matt and elias; the former about as yankee as one can get, the other eccentric and southern. i hope for clear skies during their visit, and also when more friends come later in the month, and still others during mardi gras.

i'm now at home watching Verdi's Aida, and wishing someone would make it into a major motion picture. the story is really great, but i don't catch myself humming along. (too much pomp.) also, even though pavarotti makes an excellent radames, and the egyptian princess amneris is awesomely scheming, there would be a certain benefit to actors and singers not caked in bronzer (aka blackface). i know all about the egyptian court being mixed with romans and macedonians, but the only actual people of african descent in this production are the ethiopian king and one male dancer.