Surreptitious Opinionation

Victory declared! It’s a really nice apartment, a bit farther south than is ideal socially, but good for the commute (half a mile from the fullerton station, a little bit less to clark street). I saw 8 apartments today. This is the only one I spotted while walking around, the rest were all internet appointments. Amusingly, it was on a “for rent” sign in a window like thirty feet past a “no trespassing” sign on an outer fence.

The next stage of mission “happy home” is to find an agreeable roommate. I’m planning on two housing ads, one a straight up housing ad, the other, well, not (draft)

Okay, I had a good date with a really great guy, and fooled around with him afterwards. After events, err, progressed, I was aggressively playful, and I triggered some bad juju memories from his past, (which he’d told me about earlier in the evening). He froze up and eventually got dressed and left. He kissed me goodnight (goodbye forever?) on his way out the door. I sent a big apology email the morning after, and haven’t heard back from him since he walked out the door. (late in the evening on Monday).

So, should I write him off? A major part of me is saying I’ve already violated his sense of safety, and I should not invade further. Another part is saying maybe he just isn’t interested. Those are the negative sides. Then there’s the “he’s an awesome guy, with more potential than I’ve met in awhile, and he seemed really interested in me, and maybe we can make this work, but I won’t know if I don’t try.”

Awesome apartment turned out to be no longer available. The owner failed to inform the brokers. Oops. Back to the hunt.

Well, I found a really spiffy 2 bedroom apartment in lincoln park. A hop skip and a jump from friends, gym, etc. And it’s a great spot. Significantly pricier (to the tune of ($75 + 1/2 internets+heat+electricity) / month) even after I find a roomie. But the location is very nearly perfect, the price doesn’t make my wallet hurt just thinking about it, and I’d get to choose my own roommate (from the usual large, but non-infinite array). I think it’s worth it, but I’m still going to sleep on it.

So, after I bought a replacement DS charger last night, I found the original charger this morning. Plugged into the wall next to the power strip I’d checked repeatedly earlier. Oh well, it was only $10.

$110 round trip to NYC. $200 round trip to Bay area. Not a good weekend to travel, but….

So, I see two major housing options here.

Option number 1 is in wicker park, $600/month, including utils, approx 30 minutes from work, laundry in unit. Problems include: far from , , , , and most of the rest of the people I know in chicago. Also, far from my current (two year commitment) gym. Uncertain about the roommates. They were quite bland when we talked, but I got the sense that maybe they were holding back. Oh, and they’re a hetero couple, actress and designer. Bonuses include: lots of grungy, casual guys, who never bothered growing up. Near the gymnastics location. Pretty close to the city contingent of the northwestern suburban gamers, so I could get rides back pretty easy. Frickin’ cheap. (frickin’ cheap pays for alot of cabs).

Option number 2 is to get a 2 bedroom apartment in lincoln park. Pay for it for a month or so, while I find the “ideal” roommate. Slightly shorter work commute (by bus, and probably more sitting room). Much closer to a branch of the gym I already have a membership with. Still reasonably accessible to the gymnastics facility. Way close to and , closer/more convenient to the andersonville crowd (including and ). Easy access to the lake (not as cool as it sounds given that there’s a highway right next to the lake.) Probably coin-op laundry. Also probably significantly (100+) more expensive per month even with a roommate. Generalizing egregiously, the practical decision would be to live in Wicker Park. The emotional decision (close to friends! Pick my own roommate!) would be to live in Lincoln Park. Hmph.

Yay antibiotics. Sinus plague is gone. Unfortunate digestive side effects will be temporary. My Nintendo DS charger is AWOL (that didn’t take long). I checked out several different places on Sunday for potential livingness. One was with and ‘s son, with special time travel, so that he’s basically my age. He is, of course, cute and gay. And a med student. They’d be so proud. He might be a bit too tidy for me, but it’s moot because his location blows, and he sounds very not attached to the place. Told him about the gymnastics open floor nearby. Maybe I’ll see him and his bf there at some point. The other remarkable place was also out of the way. Cute in the scruffy, unkempt sort of way. I mentioned as much to him, at which point in time, he said he was straight (ah, whoops, I really thought he was one of the homos) but that he was cool with it, and commented on all the gay guys and other assorted queers he hangs out with, including amusing anecdotes. He seems like he’d be a great roommate, but his location blows.

After that one I was late for all I could eat sushi with , and friends. I forgot my ID so no plum wine for me, sad. But good sushi overall, and $12.95 for all you can eat sushi, where you get to pick which sushi (+tempura and miso) hard to turn down.

Weekend also contained much feeling of loss of identity/happiness triggers. I worked out a bit. That was good.

beat down on hellfire ramparts with my peeps. Now level 62.

As it turns out, my insurance company made a little oopsy. I should have been told on tuesday, when I called, that a) I needed to file form xyz123, but b) I could see a dr now, and get my meds now. Bad help drone. Bad, bad, help drone.

My appointment is tomorrow early afternoon.

So, I’ve been reading fantasy novels (or mythology, or fairy tales, or sci fi, or, well, you get the idea) for as long as I can remember reading. First or second grade here. And with the limited selection of books available to me, I got in the habit of re-reading my favorite books and my favorite passages. I go through phases of favorite authors. In my high school years, it was undoubtedly Mercedes Lackey. Vanyel Ashkevron rocked my socks.

Dave Duncan is the next big one I can remember after that. I had one book of his that I never got very far into for several years. Now I’ve read just about everything he’s published, including the book that hit mass market this month (finished it this evening).

But the author who I turn to most often these days for a quick re-read is Lois McMaster Bujold. (I can’t thank enough for introducing me.) I’ve been trying to figure out _why_ I like her so much. So I can find others I would also like. Or maybe I should just ask for recommendations. =)