This past visit in March was one part business, one part pleasure. I was in the city to interview for summer jobs. Specifically, I interviewed with WGN, the radio company that broadcasts Cubs games. The internship is comprehensive. They expect you to work 40 hours a week which includes production duties, live remotes from Cubs games, and even some on-air time.
Honestly, it sounds like the perfect summer internship. I would get to hang out in Chicago, working in the field that I want to go into as a career, and watching Cubs games for free. I have yet to find any place that is better than Chicago in the summer.
The rest of my time in Chicago was spent catching up with friends and family. Much thanks to Catie, who put up with me hanging out with Jonathan all day and night playing video games. I almost beat Lego Star Wars: The complete saga. Save my profile Jo-Nate! I’m gonna get it done!
I pretty much ran around with my boy Shak trying to find trouble. We did well the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day.
That Friday, I woke up at 11 a.m. and grabbed breakfast at Valois, an old school cafeteria style eatery in Hyde Park. Rolled over to Jonathan’s apartment around 1 p.m. to play Lego Star Wars. Shak and I left Jonathan’s around 4 p.m. and headed over to Jimmy’s to commence with the consumption of alcohol.
I forgot how much fun Jimmy’s can be. Cheap pitchers and a camera that can also record audio allows for choice moments to be captured. Like this one:
Shak freestyle final.01.mp3 -
We left Jimmy’s around 6 p.m. and headed downtown to Dave & Busters. The plan was to meet up with a bunch of friends from college and work, drink “Tall Boys” of beer and play video games. It worked out pretty well.
Thanks to all my people who came and hung out with me that night. Greg, I never expected you to show and you came through so much love. Rich B.! You came out despite your cold and bought me a Tall Boy! Mimi and Apple, thanks so much. It was awesome to see you both. It’s been too long.
Dave & Busters kicked us out at 1 a.m. It appeared that the night was over, but Blaine, stepped up and told us about a party in Hyde Park. It had already started but we rolled through around 1:30 in the morning and hung out playing card games and drinking Brazilian alcoholic drinks. I got to meet some of Blaine’s co-workers from his restaurant job and get yelled at by a loud drunk black chick, who later gave me a hug and a kiss, then slapped me.
We left the Brazilian party around 3:30 a.m. and went to Blaine’s place to watch ESPN, talk sports and life. During college I hung out with these guys all the time. Since I graduated, moved out of Hyde Park, lived my life, and subsequently moved to Boston, I’ve lost touch with them and what they are doing.
These guys have left an indelible mark on my life and it’s so interesting how quickly I forget how much they mean to me. I think it’s a fair to say that my last two years of college wouldn’t not have been as much fun or memorable had I not met them.
Around 6:30 a.m. I think I may have passed out. Shak woke me at 7.
After a brief stop at my grandmother’s house to brush my teeth and change clothes we went back to Valois for more breakfast. Later that day I had lunch plans with some ex co-workers from my CareerBuilder.com days. So after breakfast we headed downtown to meet up with Diane and Venetta.
Downtown was packed because it was the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day. At noon, there were lines outside many of the bars in the downtown area. Lunch was good, Thai food at a place called Dao. Ran into Justin Hill randomly, he was at the restaurant waiting for a friend.
It had been that type of trip. I saw Juliana Garcia-Uribe on a bus going to Hyde Park, and I saw this black guy, who’s name I have forgotten, that lived on my floor in Shoreland my last quarter. I’m sorry dude, but you did lend me an Xbox game, Knights of the Old Republic, so I thank you for that.
All in all it was a good trip. I might end up in Chicago for the summer, which would be nice. I miss Chicago and three months there would do me well.
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