the argument

argument |ˈärgyəmənt|
noun
[...]

4 archaic a summary of the subject matter of a book.

In 2004 (the year this journal began, as a livejournal, actually) I moved to the city of Chicago. In my previous town, I’d reached critical mass. I couldn’t really move forward in my profession (preschool teaching), or my musical endeavors (I am a singer/songwriter), and I’d just gotten out of a lovely but unfulfilling relationship with a young man–code name “Smashypants”–in the middle of an identity crisis. I was drinking far too much, bored, and generally dissatisfied with life.

Shortly after moving I got a job working in a preschool as a lead teacher. I worked there until 2006, when I decided to go back to school to become a children’s librarian. I recently graduated and I am working full time in a library that I love.

My major romantic relationships in the city have been [mcsey],  [the Fake Folk Boyfriend] and [xb]. These relationships and the subsequent break-ups are chronicled in this journal.

I dated an actor named [Seth] for a year following the break-up of his six year relationship with a woman who had moved to Chicago with him and cheated on him a couple of different times. That dalliance ended when Seth decided to start sleeping with one of his cast members in the show he was in at the time. Even though he’d promised to tell me if he was going to start dating someone else (we had an understanding that our relationship existed in a weird space between friendship and loverville), he instead lied to me and made up some bullshit. I am currently meeting people in my social circle and on the internet, and going on some spectacularly hideous dates.

I have some amazing friends in Chicago, including [J and T] whom I’ve known since high school and college, [Lane and Lil] who are like the cool aunt and uncle I never had, and [Sal and Gyre] who are always sweet to me. My friend [Ubu] also recently moved to the city, and now we’re just waiting for [Zero] to make the leap.

[Kitten] is the salt to my vinegar, always ready to present a counterpoint and help me delve deeper into a topic, no matter how resistant I may be. In matters of the heart, however, she is always on my side even if I am being a doofus.

Since moving to Chicago, my mother has died, I’ve gotten a master’s degree, I’ve shared an apartment with a lover for the first time, and I’ve begun seeing a therapist and taking medication to manage my depression, borderline personality disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder.

This blog is as anonymous as I can manage, to keep everyone safe.

That is the story thus far, briefly. Thanks for reading.

(updated September 2009)

-[Iris]