Back from Milwaukee — I feel almost obligated to make these somewhat spur-of-the-moment trips now that I have the ability to. It feels so American to drive to another state for the weekend.

On Friday I visited my littlest brother Josh, currently attending Marquette. It's always a bit weird to be hanging around a college again, but it'd been three years since I'd paid much attention to freshmen so that was especially weird.

I was so shocked by how the people on his floor replicated the templates from my own freshman year (and yes, I was one or more of them) that I found it tough to take some of them seriously. I don't mean that there's anything wrong with what these people are thinking or doing or anything like that; it's just that the way they present themselves is... unsubtle. It's like there are certain roles that must be filled in any freshman dorm.

This is, of course, the exact type of jaded condescension I've always hated receiving from my elders, and it was disappointing to find myself falling back on it. I hope never to reach the second phase, where you assume that anyone who's somewhere in life that you've already been should follow the same path (e.g. "Ah, I used to be [political party] when I was your age").

Anyways, I don't think the statement that freshmen eventually become more complicated and self-aware is quite that sort of sin. However much you happen to think people actually change. I still have no idea, really.

After meeting the neighbors and talking about Lost with Josh for about half an hour (finally, someone who believes my Suspicious Bystander theory!), I went with him and seven other kids to the Safe House, where Josh had made reservations. It was pretty amazing inside with all the spy stuff on the walls, but the food was only pretty good, and I've a hunch that it's more fun as a bar than a restaurant.

I slept over at Josh's, on an old couch from my parents' living room, and the next morning/afternoon we went to the Milwaukee art museum. The all-access ticket was a bit of a ripoff, but they had a cool 19th century German art room, awesome etchings by a guy named Emil Nolde, some amusing folk art, and other goodness.

(Reading, writing, going to art museums... I don't understand how I just keep not doing these things I enjoy.)

The museum took hours, and when we were done I said goodbye to Josh and met up with fellow Lawrence alumni Jinx. After some studying and not-studying at a local cafe, we went out for Ethiopian food at a place called the Ethiopian Cottage. I'd never had Ethiopian before, and scooping up your entree with flat, spongy bread was definitely a novelty. The meal seemed a bit simple, but was good and surprisingly filling.

Jinx, it should be noted, has the best-situated apartment I have ever seen, above a bar and within a block of three others. Also, there's a little movie theater around the corner. We spent a looooong time looking at her Lawrence scrapbook-in-progress before walking across the street to the fabulous "Von Trier," a dimly-lit but lovingly-decorated German bar, where we were later joined by two of Jinx's friends.

I left Milwaukee apparently just in time to miss the next blast of the winter storm, but it was still snowing for most of Wisconsin, and it took a long, long time to get home. If I visit again, it will be when the weather is warm. We were supposed to be done with snow.