The Wire

So I'm going through one of those obsession phases of mine, except this time, it's an obsession I can only take so far. Since about the beginning of the year, Mordecai and I started watching "The Wire," first through Netflix. Around the second season, it became apparent that we/I needed the series on DVD, and Amazon was selling it for half the listed price. So now, we've got the whole series, have watched the whole series, and I'm watching it all over again right now. I'm back on season three.

I say I can only take my obsession so far because usually, when I become obsessed, there is something I can actively do to express my infatuation. For instance, with Nodame, I started piano, cut my hair like her's, and dressed like her. With baseball, I poured my soul into Photoshop collages, baseball cards, and fantasy. But "The Wire"? I don't want to sell drugs, chase after drug dealers or ring-leaders, legalize drugs, obey a chain of command, reform a wretched city, teach in a public elementary school, go after or be apart of a failing union, snitch, be murdered, be a lying journalist, and so on. I admit that there is something morbidly alluring about being a "deductive motherfucker" in a busy homicide unit, but I really am grateful for the naive and relatively carefree lifestyle I lead.

But Mordecai pointed out to me that 47th and Halsted, near where the stockyards used to be (I just refer to the area as "the jungle," like the book), there are a bunch of shipping cans, JUST LIKE THE ONES IN SEASON TWO! These are the shipping containers that were used to smuggle Eastern European women/prostitutes and Proposition Joe's heroin and cocaine. No one seems to care about this season of "The Wire" because the target is no longer on the street, and the street is more interesting than the docks, but I loved this season. Anyway, Mordecai told me about these cans when we went through season two the first time, but like with many his stories about Chicago's industrial tidbits, the information went in one ear and out the other. We just finished season two the second time around, and Mordecai mentioned the containers on 47th again, except this time, I made him take me there.

All of these containers looked like they were originally from the Barbados. There weren't any custom seals from what I could tell, but there's a reference to one, which Beadie would see if is broken!

These containers look like they are just stacked at 47th and Racine for storage purposes. They aren't guarded and they're no doubt empty, some of them with their doors hanging open. So we wandered around, wondering if there were going to be any German Shepherds or police coming after us out of nowhere. Nothing happened, except that my camera battery died earlier than I would've liked. And yes, those are Uggs, and yes, they are awesome.

Current Wants/Obsessions

As my time at the Reg recedes farther into the past, my Photoshopping skills increasingly deteriorate. I need to bring them back up to make a collage of my fantasy baseball team! Here is my practicing round, a collection of the things I currently covet and the things that I am otherwise somehow obsessed with. I still like things that look like something Rob Halford might wear; purple; greasy food; and reviving the 90's, this time through neon, floral print, and lightwash denim. Being mistaken for an undergraduate is still on my agenda, willfully or not--so I have some interest in Uggs, especially after trying my mom's pair on the other day. They are super comfy! My feet looked like odd forest creatures. As of late, Mordecai and I have been watching "Freaks and Geeks" nonstop--I love this guy Bill. And of course, I'm still Animal Crossing, trying to get my hands on the super-expensive Princess furniture set. So far I have the wallpaper and lamp. It's trying when you have 4.5 million bells accruing interest in the DS game but less than 50,000 bells in the Wii version, and no way to transfer the money.

From the top left, clockwise: Forever 21 fluorescent-green-ish top; Lawrence's Fisheries Fish Fillet Sandwich; studsandspikes.com black pyramid studded bracelet; Nike Liberty Blazer hi-tops; Club Monaco sheer lavender tanktop; OctopusMe tentacle ring; my Animal Crossing character; Bill from "Freaks and Geeks" wearing an American Apparel flourescent-green-ish tube dress; Le Blog de Betty wearing the H&M denim jacket to her right; Lay's Classic Potato Chips; gray Uggs; studsandspikes.com tree spike bracelet.

Center: Gracie Grace's Princess sofa and closet, Spring Collection; Fashiontoast wearing Aldo SMEAL sandals.

The 90's

For Christmas, Mordecai gave me "My So-Called Life" on DVD. I watched all 19 episodes in about a week before school started. Plaid was so serious back then--Angela's closet overflows with oversized plaid shirts. Doc Martens were also prominently on display, and I saw Rayanne rock some cut-off jeans. Of course, not everything from the 90's and MSCL were fashionably glorious: the Chases' floral print wallpaper was...geriatric; Sharon's Cherski's hair and clothes were embarrassing; and Brian Krakow's grandfather cardigans were no good, no matter how you thought about it.

Today for some reason I was listening to 90's Amuro Namie--"Chase the Chance," "Don't Wanna Cry," "You're My Sunshine"--when genius-but-now-incarcerated Komuro Tetsuya was behind her music. I got all dance-y and channeled both Angela and Rayanne with Mordecai's Sears flannel shirt, my fake beaver vest, cut-offs from last summer, Hunter boots + red inserts, and my semi-destroyed Uniqlo "Warm-Up" tights. One must maintain warmth and optimism in the dark and cold winter somehow.

90210 v.2

North Avenue Beach on Labor Day; click on photo to see item in sky

So the new "90210" premiered last night around midnight in Chicago thanks to WGN (CW) owning the Cubs, who took their sweet time losing to the Phillies. Basically, I have been waiting for the 90's to be revived since the 90's ended. Last night I heard "Rhythm is a Dancer" by Snap! in a mix on the radio and was brought back to my childhood of naiveté, however briefly, as the song was mixed out quickly and replaced by something that was not Technotronic or something equally awesome.

But basically, WOW: Kelly has cankles; Brenda's arms are huge; the Peach Pit is crazy; Annie looks like a cross between Aunt Becky and Eva Mendes; Ethan looks like Mordecai's friend from back home; Dixon looks like Chris Brown; no one cares about the principal's boring bastard child backstory; on that note, I miss Jim but not Cindy Walsh; Silver looks like a girl from my Paris program; she wears lots of American Apparel and now I must have those items; what is going on with the newscaster girl with the hyphenated last name containing "Zuckerman"; Naomi seems to be a cross between Kelly and Donna in that Kelly was rich and popular while Donna was ugly with crazy hair; Naomi also reminds me of Jessie Spano of "Saved By the Bell"; Mordecai is calling incest; and who is Kelly's baby daddy???