260103						4:11PM CST


 the year ended well, especially compared to last new years. 
we took advantage of the trains being free after 10pm to ride 
around chicago with two cheap drinks in each of our pockets and
a goal to commit the three minor crimes of public drinking, 
a little bit of vandalism in the name of "art", and perhaps some
semi-public urination. 

 that mission was very much accomplished despite freezing almost
the entire time we were out, and despite getting temporarily 
stranded without a way home right when we had just decided to 
give up after seeing four or five stations up close.
the mind conjures many unforunate scenarios when you find out an
entire major train line got taken out of service by a "medical 
emergency" on the drunkest night of the year. 

 but, at least it stranded us at the nicest station we had seen
all night, and it also gave me time to write a couple nice 
tributes to binky in some inconspicuous and hopefully long
lasting places. it doesnt make up for anything, but it does feel
nice at least in as much as i don't think she'd mind at all if
she knew someone were writing her name in cool spots around one
of her favorite cities.

 we left our phones at home when we went out, more out of wanting 
some sense of being disconnected than anything else, only to 
realize that meant we'd get lost if we wandered too far in any
random direction after we got off at the first station we picked.

 even without the ability to take my usual 500 pictures of 
whatever we get up to, and without being able to go more than a
block or two from whatever place we ended up, it was a very
memorable way to spend the last night of a weird, long year.
 plus, a countdown with a casio watch and a kiss on a street 
corner you'll probably never see again makes for a pretty
memorable midnight, too. :3