Day 23 (Tuesday, July 4)

The above photo is of a firework that went off just outside of my door tonight. Looks pretty big, doesn't it?

Today I get to share a little about the differences between the Midwest and the Southwest. Here in Chicago, it's OK for everyone to light fireworks on the street. Big ones, small ones, bright ones, scary ones.

All day long today I heard fireworks go off from all over the neighborhood. The house was surrounded by people lighting fireworks in each direction. It was cool at first, but then it just go downright annoying.

Don't get me wrong. Some fireworks are really cool and I must say that I was very impressed by the type of fireworks kids were lighting around here today. However, when they light fireworks for about 16 hours of the day, it gets pretty annoying.

Toward the early evening, once the sun had calmed down for beating it's near-triple-digit scorch, I went outside and washed my truck. I had the day off and I relaxed for most of the day so by evening time, I was restless and I needed an activity. Washing the truck seemed the most logical and beneficial task of the day.

As I washed the "La Huera", I heard and saw many different types of fireworks. They were really cool. However, the sun had not set yet and a lot of the cool ones that would have looked nice at night were pretty much wasted in the daylight. I continued to wash the truck until I got so annoyed by the sounds so I had to go through my camera bag and find the ear plugs that I wear during concert coverage. It was the only thing that was going to keep me sane.

As I washed the truck, Diego came by and mentioned he was fixing to go se a movie. He invited me and it turned out to be the best way to get away from all the firework noise.

Diego and I are bonding pretty well. I am glad. I have usually been a stranger to most of my roommates in the past. I guess it's all due to the fact that he is closer to my age and we have a lot more things in common.

I finished off the evening by watching The King, a film featuring Gael Garcia Bernal. It was very cool. I recommend it to everyone. Especially those who have their questions about religion. It tackles those questions w/ some pretty good symbolism.

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