Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly. - Francis Bacon
I was talking with Mary on Friday night, at Julie's birthday party, on some random rooftop of some random apartment in Hancock Park. Apparently, she used to live in Chicago the same time as me and worked at a bar called "Inn Joy" (that I rarely enjoyed) a block and a half away from my old apartment there. I've never really spoken to her before, and here we have a lot of people and places in common. Soon our exchange was interrupted by some chap who wanted to talk shop. Not good form for midnight on a Friday at a party. I left shortly after this.
Someone told me yesterday that they are not swayed by nostalgia. Personally, I find nostalgia the base of all my loves, so imagining the lack of nostalgia in new affinities is quite difficult. One memory begets another, moments like snowballs turning into an avalanche. I thought of Chicago.
When I visited in early May, I found that stretch of Division changed so much since I saw it last. It now harbors even more condos and a Fed Ex/Kinkos across the street from the Alliance Bakery. I knew the neighborhood was going when I saw Jinx Coffee close. I suppose one must embrace change to make room for progression, and after all I left the city behind after three years of loving and learning. Is the Chicago I love and miss gone for good? Is it merely a place in the past? Did I really expect to change, and for the neighborhood to remain its humble little self? How very selfish of me.
MP3s These tracks are taken from a compilation I collaborated on (produced, artwork) called "Independent Chicago" containing all Chicago bands, released on a label from Barcelona, Spain called Fork Series:
The Race "Little Babe"Pit Er Pat "Too Many"TRS-80 "Phantom Power"Euphone "Cooper Loop"Icy Demons "Icy Demons"buy it
hereBecome a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain constant. - Anthony J. D'Angelo