Returned to the Capital Region

On Sunday July 29th, I made my return to the Capital Region after some separate activites. So far our fellow wilkinism has been accounted for, coming along with his own interesting stories of the return trip, and the days since. Our other fellow Brandon C-K, with whom I parted company in Richmond, VA (our last stop), has not been accounted for since our return. For all we know, he may still be out on the road, continuing the misson, or maybe just having a good time.

Life is different now that we're back. It's a slow process getting back in the old ways (and forming new good habits too!!) while catching up with everything that has happened in the meantime.

We will continue to post blog entries here for some time based on the notes that we had been taking as we traveled. A final count of all the people we spoke with will be forthcoming too. Our hours of video footage will be reviewed as we prepare to put it all together in a narrative of what we've seen, where we've been, how we've felt, who we've spoken to, What impressions people have of our area, what we've learned about each city, and cities as a whole, what can be applied to our own localities, and why this all matters to us, and to the world at large. A wholesale written account will be turned out. Our remaining photos will be made public. Our "artifacts" and material references will be brought to light. The work of the emissaries will yet continue on.

Playing Catch Up: Play by play - Chicago

Affectionately known to us as Chi-tonw, the city, its residents and it's vistors, have treated us well. We were graciously hosted by Wilkinism's Aunt Ruth and Uncle Ted, and 17 yr old cousin Frannie in their fine abode nestled in the first ring suburbs of the city. Frannie is Hysterical! The first night we got there we were pretty tired, but we were up laughing for hours because of all her funny stories and her friends that she was telling us about.

Earlier this first night, we met up with a friend of mine, Laura, who has lived in Chicago for 8 years and is moving out in less than a week, and also my friend nancy, who just moved to Chicago last week, and whose boyfriend Anthony is moving in on the same day my friend Laura is moving out... Whoa! We ate lots of spicy thai food. Afterwards, Laura went home and we all went to go to another warehouse party (after the one in detroit), but it didn't feel right, plus the courtyard smelled like stinky fish. We were pretty tired, but when we got back to the home in suburban Brookfield, we didn't feel it because that's when we were all cracking up together with frannie.

The next day, we got a lot done in the "office" but that meant that we got a later start than we wanted to, so that by the time we got on the street to gather people's feedback about their city, it had started raining. We hung out under the tracks, out front of the Damon Street stop on the CTA blue line, though not many people were interested in talking. Perhaps we can chalk that up to the fast paced nature of Chicago. After that we met my friend Monica, Laura's friend, and also another friend Billy at the Skylark bar, where we drank boilermakers. From there we went to see an icelandic band called Benni Hemm Hemm at a bar in Ukranian Village called the Empty Bottle. We interviewed a couple of guys who were in Chicago, but from Tennessee, out front, then I spoke with a Chicagoan, and his friend visiting from China. We had some fun and interesting conversations with each of them, all documented on our video tape.