So I’ve finally concluded that Xanga isn’t my private domain anymore—and I can’t quite say everything I wanna say all the time. No matter—that’s what written journals are for right? It’s still sitting at the head of my bed where I put it nearly 8 months ago. I haven’t written anything in it since I’ve become physically attached to my computer and technology… but it was nice writing in it again—surprisingly, my handwriting from 6 years ago is nearly the same as it is now… but my cursive has gotten much worse… but the thing is…

person.

Yeah, it’s sad to see the decline of good penmanship. There are a few people out there with handwriting along look like art… it speaks, like the words themselves speak–the handwriting is the voice of a writer… or at least the *quality* of voice. Of course, what’s written is what really matters. Still, it’s nice to see handwriting that’s so elegantly distinctive that it gives the reader something to admire.

But anyway, I digress. The whole point of this entry was to give some substance to an Image Station Album of our Chicago outting yesterday. Not too eventful, just a lot of wandering and walking around. Corner Bakery was amazing though–their olive bread tuna salad… not since MUN have I had such a good tuna sandwich. Jon as usual took twice as long as anyone else to eat. He did explore into his psyche to figure out why he ate so slow. His conclusion: he forgets to swallow.

[MORE PICTURES] http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4286472099

The beach was out next stop, which is where Vicki departed. But somehow she got lost within the train station, and missed her train… which caused havoc on her plans… thankfully though, she was rescued prompty (I think…). Kaidi’s park came next, where Jason lost his glasses and I lost my backpack (but didn’t realize it until 10 minutes after we left). Again, thankfully they were still there.

Which reminds me… we got harrassed by peddlers all along our journey–there was this one dude though, that actually gave a SPEECH, and actually had contentions for why we should give him money. I have him a buck for actually trying. Anyway, after Kaidi’s park, we decided to get some bubble tea in Chinatown. Kaidi suggested we take the train. I balked at the idea… and then, suddenly, started running–for no reason really, other than to just run. We were actually headed for the El’ station but then… when I got to Michigan Ave, I started thinking… what if we just ran the whole way?

I gazed down Michigan. It had once been my own street, in Evanston, but now… nvm anyway–yea jokingly I said we should just run the whole way AND beat the other fools to it. To encourage this idea–I said I knew the entire way–not completely true, I was fairly familiar with these streets but I only knew the direction (south). Pretty soon, I found myself in an epic run across from Downtown to Chinatown. J-dawg talked at our foolishness (of course, only to defend his inability to accomplish such a herculean task).

Jason “Wrestler” Lee, Jon “X-country” Li sans shoes, and I were the three that decided to take the challenge. With fat Jon’s words echoing in our minds (“it’ll take you guys an hour and a half!) we ran on. It was like old times… except I was wearing thick khaki pants, and had a backpack, but still, we started running, and kept running.

At first, it was all a big race. Riddick’s words, “There’s only one speed… MY speed”, and the Pirate’s Code “Those who fall behind, get left behind” dominated the mood of the run. It was actually pretty fun for the first.. half mile or so. At Jefferson, I asked some cops how far it was to 22nd (Cermak). Eighteen blocks they said. We had already come a quarter of the way, and hearing this I actually had hope… we just might make it. But by the time we got t 8th street, it became clear that Jon was having a hard time keeping up, and a change in attitude ensued. I realized that we probably wouldn’t make it there before the train goers, and that as Jon is always keen to say, “it’s not the destination but the journey” that matters. Here, it couldn’t have been more true–this was good Fellowship bonding time. Ironic that it was Jon that fell behind. Seeing this… I told Jason, (with far exaggerated grandeur) to go on, and never look back. I turned back and ran to Jon, spoke that he would not be looked down on at all if he chose to take the train from there. I gave him an annoying box of coins I found rattling in my backpack, and said that we would all make it–one way or another… lol (its fun talking hero), then I turned back and started running again. I caught up to Jason at 11th street. After that it was run three walk one… run three… walk one… cont’d… and we kept going.

There was one point where I felt I’d die without water. And right then, when I needed it most, just past the Art Institute there was a water fountain… I took it as a sign. The street names were kind of annoying though. They messed up the 3/1/3 run pace. There would be huge stretches between some streets… like after 11th–we were supposed to run three more till 14th–except after thirteen, fourteen never came… and we just kept running. I kept saying ‘just a lil’ further…’ like at the old x-crountry meets. And then out of nowhere it was Sixteenth street. Or something like that. It happened a few times, but it made the run seem much faster. And we still ran. By the time we reached Cermak, I was really tired–but impressed by my own stamina as well as Jason’s. Somewhere in my mind, I wondered if Jon was actually ahead of us now, or if he was still running at his own pace. The rest of mon corps etait trops fatigue de penser.

Chinatown… I never felt more elated to see it. I wish I had a watch… my guess was that it took little more than 30 minutes to run the three miles from the Navy Pier area to Chinatown, and for the first time, the city didn’t feel like isolated bubbles of neighborhoods, but a single city, its parts connected together by the very roads we ran through that day. With that thought in mind, we went through the arch. One good thing about looking red in the face (as if drunk) is that the peddlers are less likely to come after your money. It was nice to not be bothered, but we found out that Joy Yee’s was across town, so we ran back, suddenly desperate to get there before the other ppl did. That was shocking, not only did we get to Chinatown, we might actually beat the others to it. Nick called somewhere around that point, sounding rather bored. Then… we heard shouting… and like victory trumpets hailing our arrival and solidifying our victory, I saw KT, KD, and Jon yelling/waving from the train track. Haha–I smelled victory!

And bubble tea never tasted better. Strawberry Tapioca Fresh Fruit Jelly Freeze at Joy Yee’s is now MY FAVORITE. Anubhav called to say that he was arriving promptly–the fool actually arrived at Cermak and Clark, but took wrong turn onto the highway. Children like him shouldn’t be driving around here. And then when he finally got back, he claimed he was too scared to go through the Chinatown arch on Wentworth because “the gangs were there”. lol–but he enjoyed his bubble tea when he did arrive. When we all met up at Tea Leaf again, the others were in disbelief–that we actually ran the whole way. Even Jon, who came with us a quarter of the way insisted that we must have taken the train. Interestingly, and annoyingly, Jason actually found it pleasurable to know that we had accomplished the unbelievable and tried to make it seem even less possible. lol–whatever–

Enough writing, im done… oh, we looked for swords… but–found none at the right price~70 dollars for a flimsy sword with a wobbly handle? Only a tourist would pay that much… and that was that for that day that won that victory.