CTA

The Chicago Transit Authority is an interesting way to get around Chicago. You see so many different things happening on the trains and buses. Life goes on, and unless it is violent, you just have to laugh sometimes. As crazy as the CTA can be, I wouldn't have it any other way.
I've had some of the best conversations of my life from the randoms I've met on the CTA. I've almost gotten into fights on the CTA. I've just watched life go by. It's a great story that needs to be told. In time I will. I didn't see this argument, but it does not seem weird to me.

Old Friends, New Life

I've been re-connecting with a lot of old friends recently. For me, apparently this is what Facebook is for. There's one specific person that I lost contact with that I've reconnected with. My friend Ed. Back in the Dartmouth days, when I lived in Panarchy, we would have our quarterly rave parties (this was the late 90's and all). He was friends with a friend of mine, and came up to play live sets. He was one of those people that when you meet, you know instantly that you're going to be a real friend to. Eventually, I graduated Dartmouth, and moved back to the Midwest. Lost contact. He ended up moving to Montreal, and I moved to Chicago.
I signed up for Facebook back in March, because I wanted to reconnect with old friends. The ones that I thought of quickly, and the ones that I always thought about, but didn't know enough information to find them (like a last name....I'm horrible with names, and am lucky to remember a first name....last names are far worse). Lo and behold, Ed requests me as a friend. At first, I had the reaction of "who the hell is Ed T?" (last names will be redacted). Got in the shower, doing my normal morning routine. While I was washing my hair, the light bulb clicked on in my head and I screamed out, "Holy shit, it's Ed?" "How did he read my mind? I've been thinking about him lately, wondering what he was up to."
It's funny that I can think of someone, missing the conversations, the fun times, the deep thoughts, and lately, that person has been finding me on Facebook. I look forward to reconnecting with people from my past, as I have not kept up with them as I should have. But it makes it all the more rich to connect with them now.

The Revolution Has Not Ended

A month later, still the nightly chants continue.

Vive la République! Vive la France!

I've always admired the beginnings of the French Revolution. Storming a major prison, overthrowing a hated monarchy, and eventually establishing a parlimentary democracy (after the Reign of Terror, Napoleon, another Napoleon, the restoration of the monarchy twice, plus the defeat by the Germans who then established the German Empire in Versailles).

The French of course got the idea after the American Revolution, but they were the first in Europe to overthrow the Ancien Régime.