Back In Black

Hi. Remember when I had a blog? Yeah, that was like, a month and a half ago. And what has changed in that time?
I brought my bike to Chicago, which is amazing. It's great having a way to get around that is fast and yet free and doesn't require parking. Except it's scary, because not only are there cars driving next to you, but there are the doors of the cars parked on the street. And honestly, that's the scariest thing. That and the fact that I haven't ridden a bike in maybe 5 or 6 years. You do actually forget.

I'm still at my job, and I still like it a lot. It's surprising how nice it can be to be a barista in the morning, where you might be the first person someone gets to interact with, and what kind of effect that might have on their day. But I also close a lot, and when you're closing a consistent thought running through your head (besides, "why God, why did that person just order a smoothie ten minutes to close?") is "please everyone get out." Because, seriously, I want to get home, and I've got another hour of work after you leave anyway. But overall, it's all good.

I read a promising article on Somalia in the NYTimes today. It turns out that the Islamists who took over the capital a few months ago are doing a lot of good so far, investing in the community. The fear was that they'd turn into another Taliban, banning girls from school and all that. But instead girls are in school, and kids can play soccer, and other good stuff. It's certainly not perfect, but it's promising, especially because the Islamists have told the UN they want to have democratic elections as soon as possible. Hooray for that.

I'm reading Wicked right now, which you may have heard of as the book about Oz before the Wizard? Talya and I saw the musical, after she had read the book, and she suggested I read it. The writer has a very strange style that I can't always get into, but it's nice to read such an imaginative work on an existing classic.

I'll try to be here more