song: stairway to heaven OST - ave maria // download HERE



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when you're driving, you're always looking for shortcuts. i drive eastwards on lake cook rd. for the metra station monday, tuesday, wednesday, and friday morning around 9am. There's just a little bit of traffic right around sanders all the way to pfingsten. the metra is the stoplight right after pfingsten. and a few stoplights before pfingsten is my shortcut. i turn right into those fancy looking buildings with large parking lots and while every other car in traffic is stuck at 2-5mph, i'm cruising at a niiice 30mph. i passed 30 cars or so. then eventually i hafta get back onto lake cook rd. so i turn left and find myself at a stoplight waiting to turn onto lake cook rd and those 30 cars i passed...... passed me while i was stopped. haha. that better not happen on monday. we'll see. =)

when i'm making my way in the busy metra union station, i find myself easily weaving between luggages, newspapers, and briefcases. i dunno why i'm in such a hurry. i arrive in chicago 1.5hrs before my class even starts and it only takes 20 minutes (walking.. i think. i don't really keep track) or so to get to the uic campus.

i watched the movie click on thurs. and it got me thinking about what i would wanna fast forward in my life. what/who would i put on mute? which memories would i revisit? how many shortcuts would i take?

so today i tried something different. i got out of the station today around 10:20am. again. a whole 1.5hrs before class starts. the weather wasn't too humid just yet so i decided to walk a few blocks around the area, slowly head towards the uic direction, sip my jamba juice, and enjoy the view, atmosphere, and weather. and i got lost. horribly lost. the people in suits and briefcases slowly diminished in numbers and i knew that i probably strayed too far from the downtown area. i dunno the chicago map like i know everyone's birthdays, so i kept on looking for the sears tower. but that darn thing wasn't anywhere to be seen. and somehow i got back to the station and took the bus and arrived on campus around 11:30am.

ssooo what did i learn?
shortcuts will eventually lead you into cheating out of precious moments in your life. but if you decide to take the long road, make sure you still end up where you would've if you took the shortcut. =) don't be too carefree and then get lazy, aimlessly wandering until you happen to stumble on the answer, destination, whatever. i guess i've always taken the shortcut so i didn't realize what the long way was anymore.