Benny Golson

I am now a card-carrying Chicago Park District member. I swam laps in their Eckhart Park pool this morning. After an hour I became so overworked and lightheaded that I had to lay on a bench in the locker room for 15 minutes in my underwear (because I was too dizzy to put my clothes on). It seems like I forgot the most important rule I learned while being on the swim team in high school: always, always, always eat something and drink a lot of water before swimming.

It's pathetic how I'm so out of shape. In my defense, I haven't swam laps in years and years, since sophomore year of high school. I'm pretty excited about this. I miss swimming so much! For some reason, I've always found the smell of swimming pools really comforting. It's right up there with the smell of gasoline.