I have that old familiar very painful sore throat. The last time I felt this way was when I got an “exotic” strain of strep throat while traveling through Europe for business. I remember exactly how I got it, too: it was a very rare evening with my counterpart, Chelle. We decided to just tear it up one night and ended up in a London nightclub drinking, talking, laughing…then getting DRUNK, falling down drunk, and I made out with the strikingly handsome bongo player/DJ while leaning against the wall just off of the dance floor.
Two days later, while in Amsterdam, I was sicker than I think I’d ever been…debating going to the hospital because I thought I was going to die. I barely made it through the trip and back home. Went to the doctor on my first day back and they immediately quarantined me because I was super contagious with this weird strep.
Bottom line is, I feel the beginnings of that streppy feeling. And remember? I kissed CC in the parking garage by my car? Ew. I don’t think he’s sick–but perhaps a carrier?
I’m loading up on zycam (not sure if that will help) and aspirin and tea to soothe my throat. I’m crossing my fingers I don’t get the strep!
BUT before all this throaty stuff, I had a really cool day yesterday.
My friend Greg (who used to date Cindy) asked me if I wanted to go to the studio tour in my neighborhood. And I figured, why not? It’s all in my hood and I’ve never seen most of these places, and it was a great day!
So Greg called me and told me he’d pick me up–but he stipulated, “don’t wear billowy pants.”
Okaaaaaaay.
So I put on jeans and my OTK flat boots, cute green sweater and a big, green scarf. And Greg picked me up on (you guessed it!) a vintage Schwinn tandem bicycle!
I took a picture of it, but Greg is in it and I don’t think he’d appreciate me posting his pic here, but I found one online. The bike was this (only it had one of those rubber ball horns on the front!):
Okay. And I’ll admit that I wasn’t quite sure about it. We were a little shaky at first, and Greg is 6’7″, so I couldn’t see where we were going. I had to totally trust him, control freak that I am! but we soon got the hang of it and were off to the studios!
This tour was great because it was not a gallery tour, it was a studio tour. So it was amazing to see artists in their own work spaces (which, more often than not, were their homes as well). Greg knew most of them and we saw many mutual friends while going from place to place.
And I was absolutely blown away by the places I saw! Here’s the deal. I don’t get out an awful lot in my own neighborhood because, quite frankly, it’s very sketchy. There are a lot of homeless people who roam around because there are shelters and food banks in my hood. Every time I’ve ridden my bicycle through the nearby streets I’ve been harassed and leered at and even chased by dogs! There’s quite a bit of crime, though I feel completely safe in my building because (A) security is always out and about 24/7 and (B) I live literally across the street from the police station…I mean, I look in the windows and vice versa.
But! Greg used to live in this neighborhood for years and years and he knew the way to navigate and (with the help of a tour map), he showed me the coolest spaces that you’d never know were here! There are so many artists who live here because there are tons of warehouses (one that I thought was an airplane hangar) and awesome spaces. And they are not very expensive because they are very raw.
Some kind of missile thing in one of the large studio spaces on the tour:
<img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/GingerDelicious/Missile.jpg?t=1258904022
This is a man lift in an old mill that’s been converted to very rough lofts. The band has handles on it to stand on and grasp so that workers would be lifted up to the top of the building. I found an empty loft in this building that I WANT!!! It’s insanely cool, and if it’s a lot cheaper than my current loft, I’m going to think very, very seriously about it. Just need a J.O.B. to pay for it.
And when it started getting dark he had to take me home because his daughter was with a babysitter and he was late! There were parties going on last night that I’d thought about going back to, but as soon as I got home I started really feeling that throat thing.
Such a great time. I really like Greg. Yeah, he has his issues (as in, still in love with the mother of his little girl), but at this point, we all have pretty heavy baggage.
I hope we do more things together. We’ll see.
Anyway. Got home, knitted some and then fell asleep on the sofa. Feeling a bit better today, but I’m taking it easy this morning. I don’t want to go to church in case I am contagious. Plus, I just don’t really feel like it.
So, we’re moving into Thanksgiving week. I’m frustrated and want to make sure I use this week wisely. I have that workforce committee thing tomorrow and then hopefully the guy is coming to look at (and fix!) my poor car. I have to get it back by Thanksgiving because I need it to drive to may parents’!
I can’t believe it’s Thanksgiving. I just can’t believe it.
Please, let something happen soooooooooon!
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