THE WORLD KEEPS GOING ROUND

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Somewhere after midnight last night, I watched as one gentleman's whole night (and probably month, year, world, whatever) was ruined as the Cubbies fell to the Dodgers in just three games. He looked absolutely destroyed. His friends tried to cheer him, even bought him a shot, slapped him on the back and said "There's always next year." And if not next year, the year after that. And so on. It will be okay, the world keeps going round, my friend.

I woke around 11am today to see that it looked like rain. I was sure a good portion of the city was in a major sports-induced depression, but that wasn't going to ruin my day. Rain is a-ok, especially when I don't have to be running around in it. It's even better when I find a good enough reason to run around in it anyway.

Around 12:30pm, as my roommates and I were drinking our morning coffee, I got an e-mail about the free art on Sundays that I mentioned before. One of the pieces was placed right around the corner from our apartment, and since the paintings usually disappear within 15 minutes, we literally ran out of the house in our pajamas. You would have thought we were racing for a $5 million lottery ticket. The painting was already gone by the time we got there, and it was now sprinkling. So we headed home, wet and empty handed. No big deal, the world keeps going round.

It's now 7:45pm on Sunday evening. After a day filled with grocery shopping, cleaning, yoga and homework, I declined an offer to go grab a drink. I claimed to be tired, but really I just wanted to spend that $$$ on two books I want to read instead. So I ordered the books and realized what a different life I am leading up here. I sat and reflected on things, as I like to do.

This past weekend was the grand re-opening of my old bar. It has a new, more time-conscious name and new faces, interspersed with some old familiar ones. I have seen the new place and looked at the pictures, but it is an entirely foreign land to me. It is strange to watch your old world move forward without you and to watch people evolve with it, in ways you couldn't have predicted. I am still invested in the business, but I don't think much about that. Mostly I just hope it has all unfolded the way they envisioned and that it brings happiness to their world. A happiness I knew I would not have found.

It would be impossible for me to explain to most people why I no longer had a place within those walls or why I moved or how I ended up here. I learned so much there, not just about running a business, but about people...and life...and the different ways we all deal with it. Mostly I learned that nothing ever winds up as sacred as you imagined, and if you are no longer satisfied within the walls you have created, then walk through the door and see what else is out there. Because the world keeps going round...with or without you...and its up to you to keep up with it. Not the other way around.


I'll leave off with the painting I would have liked to find today and some lyrics to a tune (orignal by the Kinks, covered by Of Montreal).


You worry 'bout the sun
What's the use of worrying
'bout the big ol' sun
You worry 'bout the rain
The rain keeps falling just the same
You worry when the one you need
has found somebody new

But the world keeps going round
The world keeps going round
You just can't stop it
The world keeps going round

You worry 'bout yourself
What's the use of worrying now
you're almost grown
You worry 'bout your home
What's the use of worrying
'cause you'll die alone
Times will be hard, rain will fall
And you'll feel mighty low

But the world keeps going round
The world keeps going round
You just can't stop it
The world keeps going round

Times will be hard, rain will fall
And you'll feel mighty low

But the world keeps going round
The world keeps going round
The world keeps going round
The world keeps going round
You just can't stop it


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