Coming Back Home

It’s been a while, friends.

I should have known that freshman year of college, especially in a program as intense as the one I’m in, would not allow for much leisure time/ blogging time. But, although it seems almost moot to throw some more words into the expansive Internet at this point, I’m going to do it anyway. Hey, let’s see if that cajillion dollars of education has improved my writing at all yet.

My school year was good, but it could have been much better. I disappointed myself academically and socially. I didn’t venture out into the big wild city as much as I had hoped to. I made some dumb decisions. I puked on too many shoes. But I’m trying not to dwell too much on the bad parts of this year, and instead to remember the good parts and look forward to next semester.

I also learned a lot. Some of the learning was about myself, some about subjects that I didn’t even know existed before. I had a few immensely meaningful realizations that I’m still trying to organize into some coherence in my head. I think Dostoevsky put the fear of God in me, for one thing.

And now I’m back home in Houston. I got back Monday night, and ever since I’ve been mostly lazing about, reading and unpacking. Next week I’ll be going up to Austin, where I’ll be for most of the summer. I’m going to be working with my brother on his new business venture, Austin Bicycle Co., as wel as interning at KUT, the NPR affiliate at University of Texas. In addition, I plan to read Don Quixote and any Hofstadter I can get my hands on. I might even tackle the GEB, if I’m feeling up to it.

I’m looking forward to the summer – I need some time to recuperate and re-examine what’s important to me. But I’m looking forward to next semester even more. I’ll be taking some great classes, and I won’t have the awkward freshman not-knowing-anybody thing going on. I’ll be living with two amazing, talented friends of mine, both of whom I would follow to the ends of the earth. And, if the universe is kind to me, I’ll even have a salary.

But for now, I’m going to continue unpacking and drinking sweet tea. It’s good to be home.

Settling In

I flew into Chicago on Friday and stepped off the plane into a breezy 75 degree morning. Everyone here is complaining about the humidity and about how the dorms don’t have A/C – I’m just trying not to laugh at them.

My parents flew up with me, and we’ve spent the past two days buying all my dorm necessities, moving things in, and jumping through registration hoops. I’m living with my dear friend Dorian, who’s been busy as an orientation counselor. My course schedule is pretty light this semester on account of all the electives I was interested in were full, but I figured it’s probably not a bad idea to take it easy my first semester. Things are slowly but surely getting settled.

New desk, old friends.

I haven’t had the opportunity to go out into the city at all yet, but I’m hoping to go visit the Field Museum with some friends this evening. What I’ve seen of Chicago so far is absolutely beautiful, and I’ve managed to fall in love with it already. Soon, I’m going to be starting a weekly Shimer newsletter concerned with all the events in the city for that week as a sort of work-study thing. It will be a great way for me to find out for myself about all the fun stuff to go to!

While I already miss Houston and all the people in it whom I love tremendously, I’m also very happy to be here. I didn’t realize until now just how much I’ve been craving academia. It’s kind of strange being around people my own age again, but I can tell that the majority of the kids here are of a mature and unique sort. They’ll probably be a good influence on me.

Keep me updated on the goings on in H-town, and mail me care packages and cookies and stuff. I’ll see you  guys around Thanksgiving.

Love,

Robin

A Preview of the Windy City

Since I’ll be moving to Chicago in August, I’ve had my eyes peeled for cool people to meet and fun stuff to do up there. This has proven to be an easy task, since, every time I mention to somebody that I’m moving to Chicago, they unavoidably tell me about a friend of theirs to hit up or some restaurant I have to go to, etc.

If I’m going to be leaving the city I love and know is awesome, I’m only doing it with the guarantee that I will encounter some equally awesome stuff up where I’m headed. So, I thought I’d share with you all a few of the many things that I’m excited about in Chicago – and maybe convince some people to come up to join me for some of them!

The Chicago Humanities Festival

This appears to be right up my alley. The Chicago Humanities Festival holds a variety of educational programs throughout the year, with the fall Humanities Festival being the highlight of the year. This main event brings together artists, authors, performers, educators, and humanists of all stripes together to lecture and dialogue about the humanities and their importance in our society. This year, the list of lecturers includes Dan Sinker (of the @MayorEmanuel Twitter phenomenon + the Punk Planet magazine) and the rapper Common, who will be talking about the history of hip-hop (a subject I’m currently delving into myself at the moment (perfect timing!)). I’m super excited to see some of both of these talks, and see what else this awesome organization has to offer.

The Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago

The first time I went to the Art Institute of Chicago was a profoundly influencing event in my life. Although the realizations that followed my visit to the AIC are too many to write about here, (perhaps a real essay is in order) I can summarize by saying that visual art became a real interest of mine on that day, a subject that demanded some attention and study. I’m going to be getting a year’s worth of membership to the Institute when I get to Chicago, and I plan on using it quite a bit.

Technori

Technori is a group committed to showcasing and aiding Chicago entrepreneurship. They regularly write articles about young startups in the area, and host tons of startup events where entrepreneurs can meet and share ideas. Their largest event (which I’ll sadly be missing) is S.P.A.R.K. Chicago, a week-long startup incubation event with the goal of launching three new businesses by the end of the week. I’m positive, though, that there’ll be many other events of theirs that I’ll be going to.

If you know of some other events, people, or places I should check out when I fly up to the Windy City, please tell me about them! I’m always looking for more awesome to surround myself with.