The times they are a-changin'

I have no excuses for my absence so I'm not even going to try to come up with some sort of explanation. Instead, here's the quick and dirty rundown on the last six months wherein I have accomplished an incredible amount-o-crap:

Conquered public transit

In an effort of self-preservation from the strangling cost of gas, I started taking the commuter rail to work. It takes just a few minutes longer than driving, has to potential to save me hundreds of dollars a month, and I arrive at work considerably less pissed off.

What's more, I managed to navigate Chicago solely by bus and train with The Green Bay Vegan for four days and only feared for my life once. She's got her own quick recap of our Chicago (mis)adventures here.

By the way, if you're vegan and you haven't visited Chicago recently, go get on a plane right now. The food choices are seriously amazing. I thought we had it pretty good here in Dallas, but Chicago is the only place that I've been able to get a seitan reuben the size of my head. While you're at it, make a trip down to Soul Veg on East 75th Street. It's a hike from the train through a sort of questionable neighborhood, but the Southern barbecue sandwich is worth the possible risk of being stabbed.

Cut the crap out of my diet

In March I cut all processed foods and most refined sugar out of my diet. I joined a gym and dropped more than 40 pounds since November. I won't elaborate much because honestly I think that's pretty goddamn boring, but I will say that I feel fantastic and it's become really clear to me how much what I eat affects how I feel physically and emotionally.

Met one badass bearded and tattooed soccer fanatic

Thanks to the magic of The Internets, I've met a man that just amazes me. I don't know what much to say about the whole situation other than sweet baby Jeebus wow. I'm a fairly emotionally unavailable person in general, but this time I fell and, my god, I fell hard. I can't honestly ever remember being this crazy about someone, ever, and I can say that I'm actually content for the first time in years. You know, soccer fanaticism aside. (Really, I keed. I plan to use this enthusiasm to leverage for a trip to a baseball game at some point this summer. Fair is fair, right?)

His living situation is pretty interesting at the moment, and personally I think it warrants the production of a reality show. It's like the Osbornes over there, except with more alcohol and less fame. My plan is to film a pilot, pitch it to some cable network, and then we all become filthy, dirty, stinking rich. At the present time I'm working on Episode 1: Pissin Off The Neighbors. More on that to come.