Proximity

After I moved back to the Midwest, I had thought of reading the San Jose Mercury News regularly, but haven't. (I already read the top stories of the New York Times, the Guardian, the BBC, and CNN. Or at least, as much as I can get through.)

However, if a Bay Area story makes the national news (such as the Oakland fire), I'm more interested in it and react more emotionally to it than a similar story in a place in which I haven't lived. Which really doesn't make any sense.

I only look at Chicago stories when my friends post them on Facebook. However, when I was living in California, the City of New Orleans crashed a little ways out of Chicago, and I was really upset about that. (I said to people, "I've taken that train!" That was before my mom and I took the City to New Orleans. I had taken it to college in Champaign-Urbana.)

I go to Champaign-Urbana fairly often for meetings and classes held by our library consortium. My mom asked if Champaign-Urbana seemed like "my place," and no, it seems like a nice, but strange, city in which I know a lot of the street names. The main quad at the University does feel somewhat familiar though.

Hitting the Wall

I've been really lethargic today. Well, it was kind of a difficult week. I'm trying to get up energy to clean the kitchen. I'd drink coffee, but I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to sleep later.

My mom is really fed up with being sick. The latest is that the steroids that she's on for the pneumonia are making her legs swell. She isn't sure if she'll be able to wear her clothes or get her shoes on. I listened to her vent because there isn't much else that I can do for her. She's probably going to leave the hospital tomorrow. The good news is that she no longer needs to be in isolation.

Zara is refusing to go downstairs now. Maybe she thinks that I'll take her to the vet if she goes downstairs? Mimi has been clinging to me today. However, the flea meds appear to be helping.