To CTA or not to CTA?

I've seen more than my fair share of ridiculous shit since I first landed on Chicago's doorstep.  Sometimes I feel like a few friends of mine from back home think I make each story up.  Well, they sit in disbelief until I receive a visit.  Then they witness the bona fide CTA in all its esteemed glory.

The CTA:  bringing back the "petri" in petri dish.  For serious!

I keep thinking I need a car.  I just have no idea when I'd wind up purchasing one.  Having the capacity to drive here and there has reinstalled a newfound appreciation for driving.  I truthfully believe most of this is linked to the fact that I'm regularly cooped up inside a bus or train, missing the city and having no real avenue to drive.  I also feel like if I were to have a car, I'd become irritated with traffic in no time flat.  

Angela keeps saying we should get a scooter for the warmer months and that almost seems like a good idea.  My only reservation lies in the fact that a one Mr. Pete Del Re scared me shitless one night as I rode behind him and he took Lakeshore Drive (oh I was drrrrunk!).

At what point does the CTA become too much?  How many freak-a-zoids can one witness inside this life we live?  

Dog Sitting in Evanston

Peace and quiet.  No one around for what feels like miles and miles.  Internet key, wi-fi and a laptop in my lap.  Doggies at my feet.  Crazy enough I feel like I should be doing something...but what?

Lately my life has been a fit of work piled on after more work.  Today I learned how copy specific Outlook folders within personal accounts and filter out necessary information.  Why?  Well We're suing in this crazy ass economy (so we need a lot of electronic documentation), which makes sense given the details surrounding our situation, however it means more work for me.  The more entrenched I become inside this position, the more loyalty I have to my current company.  The downside is I almost want to punch people some days.  I need a title, I need a car, I need a raise and I most definitely need a place in the suburbs.  

Maybe this is why people start flocking to the suburbs at about age 27+?  City life almost becomes too much.  Who knows.  What I do know is that I'm considering it more and more, just to get away from the absolute crazy crap I deal with consistently day in and out.

I'm about a good 10 years away from this reality...but it would be nice given the reality I've been presented with the last few months at work.

GAH!

Maybe I'll find time to post a few funny blogs...maybe talk a bit about the life as I have seen it in these bizarre times.

Yeah...ok...sure...but give me a second.  Actually a few seconds (maybe even minutes).  I'm really enjoying this silence...and comfort! 

Time is never time at all...

So way to keep up with my blogging, aye?

Yeah...

There's no really great reason, I just apparently lack the motivation of keeping something steady going.  The whole point was to delve deep into my innermost psyche, however I'm constantly kept busy day in and out with my regular work life.

When did I graduate into adulthood?  When did I become Suzy Worker Bee who cannot seem to find the time to keep up with her creative side?  I'm literally dying a bit on the inside.

So maybe the initial phases of this blog will wind up dealing with the idea that I seemingly have no creative side.  If I DO appear to have one, that's only linked to me hanging out with like minded people who bring out a sarcastic and crazy side within myself.

What happened to the poet?  What happened to the writer?  What happened to me giving a shit about pursuing writing to the utmost degree?  I have a feeling that I'm going to need a "Come to Jesus" talk with myself here as I attempt to push forward and strive for something bigger.  

I mean seriously:  do I really want to be working for the man as much as I am?  Don't I want a life that thrives upon creativity?  

Maybe now is the time to actually begin the process of structuring out my novel idea that was birthed during one night of intense experimentation...

Maybe now is the time to actually record a mix or two...

I don't know.  It's hard to just find the time.  If I didn't work so much, I'd have at least a LITTLE more time.

Maybe the writing bug will bite me once again.  I could actually set out to create my memoirs now that I'm in a much more stable place.

Who the freakin' hell knows.  I certainly do not.  

There.  I put words on my blog.  I can now feel better about myself (or something).

Fin.

Feast to Famine...explained!

Welcome!

I have decided to embark upon a new path toward online blogging. My hope is that this will be something entirely different than what I have done previously (LiveJournal, MySpace, etc.). I am now in my upper 20's and want something drastically different to reflect where all my writing styles have taken me over the past 28 (affectionately dubbed the "inching-ever-so-close-to-30") years.

feast to famine...
a cliche...
an expression so often used that its original power has been drained away...

As writers, we are discouraged to utilize cliches in our written product. Cliche's are flat and devoid of vivid color. The infamous Dr. Cognard of Lincoln East High School would write a red "C" on any in class writing assignment or final paper turned in by eager Advanced Placement Language and Composition students. Oh how often we would try so very hard to avoid that red "C." See that "C" was much like the red "A" Hester Prynne had to display on her bossom.

Okay...so maybe it really wasn't THAT harsh...

It sure did feel that way though...

"Well why did you choose this as your blog address, Shannon?"

Easy. Cliches are catch phrases, linking commonality between the reader and writer. Cliches are easily understood inside the realm of abstract thought. Well...I suppose some of this goes without saying, right? I am presupposing that most of you are intelligent readers.

Wait, you ARE intelligent...right?!? Do you find yourself thinking outside the box? Circle yes or no.

REGARDLESS...

Cliches will wake readers up a bit, especially if you find yourself inside a long winded and drawn out diatribe. Cliches are used in everyday common vernacular for spoken word, so why not choose a cliche for a blog title? Seriously?

The whole point of online blogging is to actually reach out, right? You know, reach out to someone (maybe more than one)? Isn't that the whole point behind why people do the thing they do and "blog"?

I act l ike I'll receive a response immediately. I most certainly will not...

Feast to famine is pretty accurate to life, in my honest opinion (CLICHE!): one minute you're flying high on the crest of a wave, taking in so many fantastic moments (i.e. the "feast"), only to crash into the shoreline without much notice (i.e. the "famine"). Life is a crazy ride filled with highs and lows in over abundance...

I always thought this was an accurate account of life in cliche form.

As always, this blog will follow suit to blogs of my past, however since I will have a smaller audience I hope to incorporate more written pieces: both poetry and maybe even short stories that I never seemed to pour out.

So buckle up and enjoy the ride...