the long hot summer...

Over Memorial Day weekend a few weeks ago temperatures here in Chicago were consistently over 90 degrees. It's no secret that I'm a total heat wimp. Although I spent five years in Utah where the summers do tend to heat up. However, I grew up in Seattle. Enough said. Heat is not my thing. The humidity induced heat of the Midwest is even better than Utah. Oh baby. Little Harper and I were beyond uncomfortable. She retreated to the closet and buried herself in my laundry basket. Cuddling together was definitely a no go.

My dad had been bugging me to get an air conditioner for the past month or two but the temperatures had been so mild and with trying to finish up school I just hadn't gotten around to it. After the grueling heat making me and Harper both want to keel over, I decided it was time. Last week I ordered my air conditioner off target.com and waited patiently for it to arrive. The only problem was the UPS guy wouldn't leave it in my building without me signing for it because he said it would get stolen. I'm not home during the day and I don't have roommates. Harper obviously can't sign for a package. Dang it.

I had to have the package re-routed to my work address. Did I mention the air conditioner weighs 42 pounds? Not cool (no pun intended). So Tuesday after work I hauled the air conditioner to the bus stop, lugged it onto the bus, got off at the Roscoe stop, and huffed and puffed the remaining three blocks to my apartment...only to be met with four flights of stairs. It was super fun. The joy of living in the city after selling my car.

Saturday I finally had the time to install it. I could have called my building manager to have him do it or help me, but I'm stubborn. I did it myself. At first I wasn't sure if the unit would be able to cool my whole apartment down but after a few hours the entire room was transformed. Harper slept peacefully and my constant sweating reduced itself considerably. Walking into my apartment from the outside is actually cooler now rather than the other way around.

All of this heat and uncomfortableness has made me long to watch the movie "The Long Hot Summer". A friend in college introduced me to the movie and my love affair with Paul Newman commenced. He's so ruggedly handsome and his acting skills match the caliber of his outward physique. Joanne Woodward was a lucky lady.  

For those of you unfamiliar with the film, the characters, storyline, and setting are all influenced by the works of literary master William Faulkner. The climax of the story is reminiscent of "Barn Burning", one of Faulkner's short stories I read in AP English. The sexual and emotional tension between the characters, particularly Paul and Joanne, builds throughout the course of the film just like the squelching heat of a summer's day. It's breathtakingly hot and all without skin and sex scenes. Thank you films of yesteryear. The story's depth is fantastic and shows the power of old cinema.

This weekend I ordered the DVD from Amazon. It's supposed to arrive today. So tonight, after watching the Mad Men finale, I will be watching "The Long Hot Summer" in the comfort of my air-conditioned apartment. Bring on the heat...

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