unnecessary taxi rides and plusieurs fêtes

It's Monday morning again. After a whirlwind weekend, I'm back, ensconced, in the solitude of the other side of the lake. It's no secret that most Americans, and anyone else for whom the workweek starts on Monday, harbor resentment of the day. [Some Middle Eastern countries begin their workweek on Saturday or Sunday.]

What reason do you need to die? Tell me why.

[I've always hated that song, but now, I've heard it so many times that it just is what it is. It sounds so cheesy and banal, but it's about a girl who went on a shooting spree in 1979, stating afterwards, with no remorse: "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day."]

But this Monday is not one of those Mondays. I feel unburdened, unhurried - coming off a good weekend in the city. The weekend started with me taking the train into the city. No car, no worries. I walked from the Millennium Station to the bike shop at River East and found Martin working on some bikes. Retrieved "my" bike (one that a roommate left many years ago and that has been passed around as needed) and headed up the lakefront path, fueled by a Chipotle burrito. Tragedy struck. I got a flat tire at around Addison, a full 18 blocks south of my destination in Andersonville. So I walked. And walked, pushing the bike. After quite a while, I started to notice the cold. My phone said it was 14, but it felt a little warmer than that. Finally made it to the "Valentines day means chocolate" party and warmed up.

Saturday morning, I took the bike on a bus - before coffee I should mention - to go teach Tina piano. Got off the bus, got coffee at Caribou - really good coffee - and as soon as I walked out of the door, realized that I had left the bike on the bus. Tragedy. Clear thinking ensued, aided by the coffee. I mulled a few options and decided to track the bike down. Found a taxi and said "There's a bus a mile ahead; I need to catch it." No questions from the taxi driver, and we were off. Finally, after what seemed like 10 minutes, we caught the bus, almost 2.5 miles south of Tina's. Got the bike, loaded in the back of the taxi, and got back to Tina's. A $15 dollar slip of the mind.

At some point I made it back to Darick's with enough time to watch the first two episodes of Lost. I'm ambivalent about getting sucked in, but I want to know more before I decide. Right now, I'm thinking of watching the first season, reading summaries of the second, and maybe watching bits and pieces of the 3rd and 4th.

Then to a drink with a new friend. Then riding my bike - flat fixed at Tina's - from Rogers Park to Skokie for a soirée des crêpes. Through couchsurfing.org, I was invited to this francophone party, organized by some français who teach at the lycée française. Good times. Good food. Good mixture of French and English.

Then, finally at 11, got to a party for Sarah's roomate's birthday. Busy day.


Sunday was more episodes of Lost before my friend Veerle's birthday party. She's Belgian, and when I arrived, just a dozen minutes after the official start time, there were only Europeans there - mostly Belgian. The party turned out to be mostly Euros but from all over, the common language being English. Good times. Good food. It inspired me on my quest to know German better. I think I'm going to be more proactive about it this week.

Speaking of this week, today is my day to set everything in motion. I am finding Mondays to be great for future-thinking and structuring. The rest of the week follows from Monday's thinking. I'm feeling fairly motivated again to work on music for the CD and performances. I think the orchestra project is too little too late. But I'll keep musing over those ideas and let them grow more naturally.