Chicago

This weekend when I visited Chicago, my mom and I were lucky enough to gain free admission into the Art Institute of Chicago museum. Granted, we arrived in Chicago late in the afternoon, so we only had an hour to run as fast as we could around the museum to try and see as much as possible. But if all of the amazing art we saw in that one tiny hour didn't make the run through worth it (which was not at all the case), at least one painting did. This painting was "The Rapidity of Sleep" by Yves Tanguy.

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

While fumbling through the junkpile that is my schoolbag I recently uncovered a sketchbook I used quite frequently during my time in Chicago over the summer. Although I should have been sketching in it, I contented myself to glancing through it's pages. As I did this, a tiny piece of ripped paper fell out of it -- on it a list of names.

If this were a normal instance, I would have posted this blog toward the end of last week, but seeing as I was in Chicago with little Internet access, it was a little hard to do so.

Yes, Chicago. I was there (coincidentally) on election day - November 4, 2008. This wasn't just any election in any city, though. This was THE election in THE city. It was the election that will forever make history. Obama was elected the first African-American president of the United States and I was there at Grant Park where he gave his acceptance speech. It was truly one of the most moving experiences of my life.

The minute I found out he had been elected, I had just arrived to my hotel. Everyone started screaming in the lounge. I thought someone had been shot because of the yelping that was going on. I ran over to the TV; low and behold, Obama's headshot was frozen onto the television set, next to the words: BREAKING NEWS! Barack Obama is the president-elect of the United States of America.