the simple life

last night, taher and i went to eat a restaurant in chinatown (they have the best lettuce wraps i've ever eaten) and then after a brief stop at home to do namaz, we went to a play. the play was on the north side and we took Lake Shore Drive to get there. we had the windows down, we were in high spirits, anticipating a good play and singing along with paul simon, and i stopped for a moment and just took it all in.

and realized that memories like this are the ones i will treasure most. and strive to keep creating.

i love driving along leisurely with taher, looking at chicago, absorbing the people and the stores and the moon and the lake. as complicated as i make my life, it is moments like that one in which i realize that happiness is really quite simple.

good, genuine company. a song to sing together, loudly, badly, freely. a lake, a moon, a car, a city, a play. a charmed evening indeed.

easy to drive

it drives smoothly, accelerates quickly, brakes and turns and glides and zooms. it's shiny and new and very, very cute. it is sporty and responsive and plush.

this is going to take some getting used to.

dying with bravado

last week, i was driving alone on the highway in the pouring rain when our oldsmobile bravada began to smoke, sputter and cough. minutes later, i was pulled over on the side of the busy highway, sure that the car was going to explode.

thankfully, it didn't explode. but apparently the radiator had undergone some sort of quiet death, and we realized, after paying an unfortunately large amount of money to have it fixed, that our relationship with the bravada would soon have to end. this was just one problem in a long line of problems, and we need a car that is slightly more reliable. with, um, slightly better gas mileage. we can do better than 11 mpg, i think.

it's clear to us that we need a new car, and the prospect of buying one is exciting. it will be the first non-hand-me-down for both taher and me.

however, i cannot help but feel sad at the thought of replacing the car. the bravada was handed down to me when i began grad school and over the last 4 years, i have become attached to the car. taher hates it, but that's only because the two of them, they have no history together. the bravada has served me well and despite its definite limitations, i love it.

it will be strange driving a new car. i'll miss my banged-up, noisy bravada. the new-car smell of our looming purchase will probably help me get over it, though...