good-bye, Chicago

I will certainly miss:

• our small but awesome apartment in Lakeview
  
• looking for fireflies in the dark by Lake Michigan
  
• walking all the way from Lakeview to downtown and back
  
• abusing caffeine at Intelligentsia, Bourgeois Pig, and Julius Meinl
  
• abusing Austrian pastries at Julius Meinl
  
• abusing Belgian beer at Hopleaf
  
• going to music shows at Schubas, The Vic and Empty Bottle
  
• browsing through books at Unabridged and Powell's Bookstore
  
• browsing through comic books at Quimby's
  
• browsing through CDs and vinyl at Reckless Records and Evil Clown (now defunct)
  
• ducking into quiet side streets to get away from the crowds and the noise
  
• walking around the University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park, trying to find the bathroom where Ioan Couliano was shot
  
• gorging on the old, campy and bizarre films at the Music Box
  
• snacking on Chinese steamed buns at the stand in the Water Tower
  
• riding on the El and encountering various weird and fascinating characters there
  
• not having to own a car
  
• taking a walk from Skokie Swift to my parents' house close to Old Orchard
  
• standing under the Bean in the Millennium Park, staring up at your reflection and imagining that you've been sucked into a black hole
  
• reading by the lake on the Northwestern campus in Evanston, while some random guy plays the trumpet in the sunset
  
• all the favorite restaurants: Sticky Rice, Jitlada Thai House, Pick Me Up Cafe, Melrose, Ann Sather, Lulu's, Udupi Palace, Mama Desta's Red Sea Restaurant, Torajiro, Medici's on 57th, Earwax Cafe, Soupbox, Twist, Tapas Barcelona, Chef's Station, Casbah, La Creperie, Chicago Diner, Nookie's (the one on Halsted in Boystown, not the crappy one in Old Town), Annam Cafe (now defunct), Pho 777
  
• and, specifically, the cream cheese balls and the Stilton burgers at the Tommy Nevins Pub
  
• and, last but not least, the good company of ala_ina, kovrov, vremyavpered, the_conformist, sguez, vsha, 4by4, birdwatcher, lenagor, huhtamyak, and all those who didn't succumb to the vice of LiveJournal