My friend Alex, who I met almost 12 years ago at Wittenberg University, drove all the way from Connecticut, Ohio to Chicago, to visit me for a long weekend. It was great to see him again, and to see that he's doing well! On Saturday we got up early and went downtown to the Field Museum, Aquarium and Planetarium. After that we took the elevator up to the 103th floor of the Sears Tower (Willis Tower officially). We walked for 10 hours and we saw all sorts of interesting stuff, like Dinosaur skeletons, Beluga whales, and the Chicago Skyline. It was a good day! Back in Andersonville we, my Intensive group, had a performance at the Upstairs Gallery. I was happy I could show him what I was doing in Chicago. He enjoyed it! After that he went to bed. I biked to Maggie Jo's and Andy's place, now known as the Boom Boom Shizzie. Almost our entire group was there. It was Rick's birthday! He turned 19. I brought him a present; it was an onion with a smiley face drawn on it. The party was very entertaining, so I got home at some late hour. I woke up just before 8 to have breakfast with Alex before he left. In the last three weeks most of my days were (almost) as intensive as that Saturday. You could say I lived in a Twilight Zone. It was a hack of a ride!

Ryan puts up his hand. "Yes, Ryan", Lindsay says. Ryan drops his arm. "You're saying so many interesting things. I want to write them down!" Lyndsay smiles. We all get our notebooks. The next day we're all very pleased that Beau brings his voice recording equipment to class. So yes, we all love Lindsay Hailey. And she loved us.

When I entered the iO theater on Monday morning, it really looked like the first day of school. Very many people gathered together in the upper theater, called the Del Close theater. Many of them are talking. Many others uncomfortably sit on their chairs, while they look around like if everything they see is new. In fact, it is. And not just that, they know this place has a history.

This is less than 3 days of my life. In a nutshell this is what traveling is like: the random people you run into, the waiting, the lucky situation, the diversity, and the how the hell did I end up here?