Reileen van Kaile

Had a pretty interesting day today. To sum, in the process of staying up through last night/this morning after having gotten about of bed at around 6:00pm or 7:00pm(!!!) yesterday, I ended up - through a series of fortunately unfortunate events - learning a couple of things about the modern Hellenic religion as well as life in general, and was suddenly inspired to actually go out today. I mean, besides having to drop off something at the post office. It was also very heartening that the temps were up to about 60*F, with sunny and clear skies. So I was definitely motivated to get out of the house.

First stop: Post office to drop off a package. Nothing special.

Second stop: Salvation Army thrift store near the post office, along 87th and Cicero. This is the one I usually go to. I bought Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke and Patterns of Culture by Ruth Benedict. Yes, I know I'm an addict; I must've been to this thrift store at least three times in the past month. But I got both of these books for fifty-four cents total. Nyaaaah.

Third stop: Another SA thrift store, this time between 95th and 87th on Harlem. I hate the parking lot for this one - it's the most impractical thing ever. There's barely enough room for twelve cars to park, and barely enough room for two-way traffic...even though the parking spaces are slanted in such a way as to suggest one-way traffic. Which cars (like mine did when I first got here) routinely go against, either because of asshattery, laziness, or just plain confusion. Also, trying to get back to 87th is a pain in the ass because Harlem tends to be really fucking busy all the time, so making that left turn across four lanes of traffic from either part of the barely-there parking lot is a nightmare. Nevertheless, I also acquired tomes from here as well: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (which I'd read in 8th grade, but I couldn't seem to find my copy of the book) and The Iron Tracks by Aharon Appelfeld.

Fourth stop: Gamestop located along Harlem, close to 79th. I was hoping to stalk find Chris, the former assistant manager of the Gamestop I currently work at well, the Gamestop I would be working at if I hadn't been dealing with social anxiety problems and avoidant personality for the last couple of months. Before he left the Chicago Ridge Gamestop, he told me that I could find him at this particular Gamestop. I'd been meaning to talk to him for a while now, because he was awesometastically awesome, but I always found some excuse not to go out and see where he was. Some time last week or the week before, I did actually get out to the 79th/Harlem Gamestop, but I didn't see him there and was suddenly too fucking shy to ask the people who were working there about him. But finally, I went there today and asked, and lo and behold, he still works there, and lo and behold, he will be there tomorrow afternoon! Except that, whoops, I'm supposed to meet with mugging_hipster that afternoon. Maybe I can just head out early tomorrow?

Fifth stop: Michael's Craft Store. I'd gotten the wacky idea while driving around that maybe I could actually do a (semi-)proper offering to Artemis and Dionysus today to start thanking Them for how They've helped me over the past few years. This is also something I have been meaning to do for a while, but never got around to doing it for some reason or another. I bought two tiny figures of a doe and her fawn (for Artemis, of course), two cardboard-colored Chinese takeout boxes (which I intended to use for holding the offerings, but I later had to discard them because they were too big to bury in the ground), two pieces of Ghiradelli dark chocolate (originally intended for my own consumption, but I thought that would be a little selfish and disrespectful to Artemis and Dionysos, so I decided to offer it to Them instead), and a mini metal washbasin (it was only $1.00! And it looked cute).

Sixth stop: Dominic's. General grocery shopping as well as finishing up getting the rest of the offerings. Dionysos obviously got a bunch of grapes to round out His end of things. Artemis, shamefully enough, was trickier for me because I simply could not remember if She was associated with any fruits or vegetables. (Doing a quick look-over of my sources, Artemis seems more associated with trees, flowers, and herbs as opposed to fruits and vegetables.) I thought of the apple, but I realized that that was from the Atalanta story, and that those were associated with Aphrodite. In the end, I bought a small crate of strawberries. Looks like Reileen will have to get cracking on her Hellenic homework. General grocery shopping included a sliced loaf of Italian bread, boursin cheese to go with it (omgs I ♥ boursin, I first had it in French II class in senior year of high school and was hooked), Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies, and a 24-pack crate of Mountain Dew. I eventually used one can as libations to pour over the offerings after I'd buried them in the ground. Go ahead and laugh; it's perfectly and whimsically ridiculous, as can be expected of someone like me with my level of knowledge. Seriously, though: Mountain Dew is my ambrosia. I drink the stuff like I breathe air every day. (IswearI'mtryingtobranchout!) I figured that it was worth sacrificing one can to the Gods.

Seventh stop: The park right down the street from my house. Actually, I wouldn't call it a park so much as a huge fucking communal backyard. It's this plot of land surrounded on all sides by the backsides of houses and fences galore, and it's really quite depressing. Highlights include two jungle gyms, a tennis court, and a tree marked with a red spray-painted X whose top half is...like...broken or missing or something. This is the closest thing you're going to get to "nature" in these parts, so you gotta make do. ( park pictures beneath the cut )

Overall, today was a day that was better than most that I've been having. From what I could tell, Dio seemed pretty all right with what I gave Him. The Bitch Upstairs was generally cool with Hers as well, though She raised an eyebrow at the strawberries and snickered at the Dew. But I'm trying.

-Reileen
I never walked away from you, I never walked alone