Field Notes on a Sunday

Diary Entry: Sunday, May 18, 2025

The neighbors in Champaign have deployed their party tent again. It sits on the lawn like a makeshift embassy of good times, broadcasting a generic bassline into the night. I pointed my phone at it twice, hoping Shazam could identify the tribe's official anthem, but even the algorithm was stumped. The proper diplomatic protocol, I imagine, would be to present my credentials, go inside, and engage in some light-hearted American romance. Instead, I opted to remain an outside observer.

My counter-programming for the evening was a solo expedition. The itinerary included a long walk to survey the quiet emptiness of downtown, followed by a culinary adventure pairing cheap beer with whatever candy was on sale. The night's grand finale was a visit to a Chinese restaurant that treats chili oil less like an ingredient and more like a challenge. My taste buds lost, spectacularly.

My commitment to certain botanical hobbies continues to yield predictably poor results across all major life metrics. It’s a persistent drag on body, mind, and wallet. And yet, this is what they call freedom, isn't it? An invaluable, abstract concept that, upon closer inspection, requires a surprising amount of cold, hard cash to maintain. It’s a beautiful idea with a very inconvenient subscription fee.

I sometimes find myself gaming out what the business plan looks like after the family funding dries up. The list of stakeholders I can rely on once my parents and grandmother are no longer on the board is, to put it mildly, not a long one. It’s a solo venture from there on out, and the market looks bearish.

My roommate operates on his own ghostly schedule, a phantom I occasionally hear but rarely see. I’m waiting for the next cash injection from headquarters—officially for groceries, but I’m diverting the funds to a SIM card. One must have the proper tools of the trade to hunt for a job in this wilderness. If the hunt comes up empty, then it’s time to call the whole experiment a wash and book a one-way flight. Pull the plug on the whole operation and see what happens next.