Andrew / May 20, 2005 1:45 PM

(Not that you have to RSVP, but we'd love to see you at the Hideout tonight. Come say hi in person!)

waleeta / May 20, 2005 2:26 PM

2 years ago I was living in Spain. I wanted to come back to the U.S., move to DC and go to graduate school. And here I am!

Cinnamon / May 20, 2005 3:11 PM

Two years ago I was considering creating my own purse-making business and wondering if I needed a bigger home.

I've got a fledgling business, a bigger home, and more hobbies than I need. I'm also blessed with more friends than I ever expected and feel blessed to have such a wonderfully creative group of folks to be a part of.

Two years from now? Not sure but if things continue to progress as well as they have the pass two years, I imagine I'll be insane with the happy.

Friend / May 20, 2005 3:21 PM

Two years ago (on 5/24) a friend of mine was murdered in Ravenswood. I think this web site reported it at the time. No suspects were ever caught. Sorry for the downer, but it happened, and he was just the coolest, nicest, funniest guy.

e_five / May 20, 2005 4:42 PM

Two years ago today (May 20, 2003), I was working on month 9 of what eventually became 25 months of unemployment-- or at least full time employment. Nevertheless, I was relieved at the time because President Bush had just flown onto an Aircraft carrier in a flight suit with a big sign saying Mission Accomplished in Iraq only 19 days earlier.

Kelly / May 20, 2005 4:50 PM

Two years ago I was working a job I hated, wishing I could go back to school, living in a dark, cramped, and smoky apartment, and suffering through a marriage to a very angry and perpetually unemployed man.

Now, I left the husband, lost the awful job, got one I liked, went back to school, and met the man of my dreams. We just moved in together, into a lovely sunshiney spacious place. And he doesn't smoke. :)

Nicole / May 20, 2005 6:35 PM

Two years ago I was finishing my senior year of college realizing I had noooooooo desire to pursue my college degree in accounting (and completely freaking out about what the hell it was I did want to do and how I was going to do it). Now that I've moved to Chicago and started a completely random new career in PR, in two years I hope to take that PR experience and transition it into a job in the indie music business, which is my true dream.

cval / May 21, 2005 9:57 AM

Two years ago I was just dating the woman I am currently married to. Had, at 30 just started traveling outside the U.S. and found I really liked it. Italy, Canada, Jamaica, Bahamas, France, Belgium. I had managed to loose 110 pounds going from 330 to 220 and living a totally fabulous life. Unfortunately I gained most of the weight back but am still married, still traveling. 6 of one half-dozen of another.

matt / May 21, 2005 11:03 AM

Two years ago, I lived in Atlanta, Georgia, the Chicago of the South.

Now I live in Chicago, Illinois, the Atlanta of the Midwest.

In two years, I may or may not be starting work on my dissertation, which is so scary I don't even want to think about it. At least I'll still be here, and that's something to be happy about. :)

Meg / May 21, 2005 11:06 AM

I was in New Orleans on vacation. But other than that, I was in school going for an accounting degree (booooooring), was single, working at a job I hated - well, it wasn't the job's fault, it was the attitudes of the people I worked with that messed with me - and living at my mom's house.

I'm not living at Mom's anymore, I have a job I like with people I like, I'm still single, and an accounting degree that I don't use at all.

In two years? More fun, probably will still be single, and hopefully working at a job I like that uses my accounting degree. Or not. Whatever.

Erica / May 21, 2005 11:12 AM

Two years ago, I was just beginning to really not like my job as an editor for some crappy trade magazines, but I was getty by emotionally writting for zines I liked. I just moved into a pretty cool place in Little Puerto Rico (AKA Lyndale St.) w/my boyfriend of three years.

Today I am still at said crappy job, but I started my own zine about stuff I care dearly about: Chicago, DIY culture, music, arts, etc. The second issue hits streets in a week (fuck it, here's a plug -- it's LOVE, CHICAGO -- www.lovechicago.org). I just moved to a condo in Avondale w/my now husband !!! and we have a dogchild Chewie who is getting his first outside bath of the summer as I write this.

In two years, I want my own house and if we can save some money and/or make some money on the current place, we won't need to move to the 'burbs to afford it. I want a better job as an editor/writer for an entity that is doing something important, even if it pays less than my current job. I want to keep doing a zine, even if it's not my current one.

tom / May 21, 2005 2:05 PM

two years ago i graduated college, working part time at the audubon zoo, contemplating moving to chicago - the best city, in my opinion, to use my degree in...theatre.

now - get this - i have a full time job in theatre with a salary and benefits. i'm somehow making a living in a big city with a liberal arts degree and i'm pretty satisfied with that.

in two years? hopefully my plays will have been written and produced. student loans might be paid off by then. i'll most likely still be in chicago...but who knows...i planned my move up here in the span of two weeks, put my bedroom in the back of my truck and drove.

Ana / May 21, 2005 2:19 PM

In two years, I might be twenty-four. Guessing from what I now know, I might just be finishing my second year working in marketing for spectacle theater. Maybe I'll have learned and grown much over the course of this position, but rather than give my energy solely to my employer's company, I hope that I will also be well on my way to establishing my own company, ideally with a close circle of friends. This is a nice possibility.

pang / May 21, 2005 2:46 PM

Two years ago at this time, I was one month pregnant and two months married. I was working retail - only job I could find since moving to Chicago six months prior whilst husband was attending grad school.

Two years from now, I'll be the mama of a 3 y.o. and a 1.5 y.o. (I'm pregnant again!) Maybe I'll still be at my current non-retail job, maybe not. I hope I'll be continuing with my interior design degree -- which I'm not planning to start until next spring, post-pregnancy -- and maybe still living in Chicago. Who knows? I'll take it as it comes.

Emerson Dameron / May 21, 2005 11:34 PM

Two years ago I lived in Edgewater, worked at Select Video on Clark, and lived with my then-girlfriend. Within a few months, the relationship crapped out. I moved into a Roscoe Village garden apartment by myself and went a bit batty. Now I live in Pilsen, work five part-time jobs, know Chicago and its denizens much better, write a lot more, and am more in love than I've ever been. I'm almost 27... if I make it to 30, I'll make it to 80.

christian / May 22, 2005 12:27 AM

Two years ago I was just getting my greeting card business off the ground, with a little help for my friends mind you. I was also doing side projects for local crafters who needed display units for a new DIY trunk show thingy. I had also put art making on hold for some reason. I had a postal jeep in a car coma.

At the time, I was underemployed, working for a bakery as a delivery monkey.

Now I'm the head delivery monkey working full time for a boss I admire and respect. The card company is coming along nicely, with some prospects just down the way.
And I've been doing small art projects to get back in the swing of things. The jeep remains in its car coma.

In two years, I hope to be able to call the card stuff my full time gig and refocus on my artwork and photography. And put my jeep back together.

Paul / May 22, 2005 10:18 AM

Two years ago, I was just days away from getting married. I was in a job that was fine, but one that I would be forced out of just a week after returning from my honeymoon. Things were chaotic given the upcoming wedding.

Two years from now? I expect to be at the same day job (if not in a different position,) doing more photo stuff, doing more activism stuff, and - ideally - in the late stages of a plan to buy a place.

amyc / May 22, 2005 12:24 PM

Two years ago, I was about to get "downsized" and spend the rest of the year unemployed. I started thinking about going back to school for a master's in nonprofit administration. I was also about to get rejected from an alternative craft fair, which inspired me and another reject to put our own show together.

Two years from now, I'll have my master's and hopefully a job in professional do-gooding, possibly related to women's health, AIDS prevention, or environmental protection of some sort. I'll probably be starting to plan DIY Trunk Show 5, buying a place with Mr. Fella, and (hopefully) taking a new shelter mutt for long walks.

Mister C / May 22, 2005 12:47 PM

Two Years Ago: I was trying to get my fledgling tour guide business off the ground and hoping to get a website for it up and running.
Today: The business is taking off and the site is up and doing OK.
Two Years From Now: I just hope to be further along in the process; biz doing better, site larger and cooler, a few other creative projects up and running, and me self-actualized enough to go into art galleries without feeling self-conscious (Thanks Craig, that was right on).

Leah / May 22, 2005 3:10 PM

Oh, it has been two years since Barry was murdered. He was my upstairs neighbor, but I was new to the building and hadn't yet met him. By all accounts he was a remarkable man and an amazing spirit.

Two years ago: I broke a lease and moved into the apartment downstairs from Barry. I started working at an Ice Cream Parlor part time and now manage it. I was also fat, but have since lost 40 lbs.

Two years from now? I'll be jewish and earning equity on my new condo. Maybe lose a few more lbs? Other than that, who knows?

Hal / May 23, 2005 7:40 AM

Two years ago - While freelancing, I screwed up a pretty good shot at joining a small, cool firm. Serious object lesson there.

Two years from now - I'll have taken my current, not-too-shabby job and gotten back on track career-wise and completed my masters.

Overwrought / May 23, 2005 12:22 PM

May 2003: I was in therapy. I had just started the job I'm still at now and thought I wouldn't be there longer than a year. I was single and pretty lonely, but not anymore than I had been in years prior. I was living in Andersonville.

May 2007: I'm not sure where I'll be in terms of my job. I suppose there's a good chance I'll still be here. I may be living with my now boyfriend or at least, living by myself again, in a neighborhood I deem swell.

eep / May 23, 2005 1:01 PM

Two years ago I was living in the western burbs, living in my parents' basement after being laid off. I had just changed jobs and was working in the far south suburbs, so my days were spent commuting, working, commuting, and going into the city on weekends to see friends. Thankfully now I'm out of the basement and working in the city, which was my plan all along. Go, me!

Two years from now I'd like to own a place. I should have enough money saved by then to get it done. I'd like to still be employed, as paychecks are good. And I'd like to still be friends with all of the friends I have now, because they're great.

flobear / May 23, 2005 1:37 PM

Two years ago I had lived in Chicago for about a month, was working at the zoo, was living with a childhood sweetheart, and was scared of the city.

Now, I live with a friend (to be getting my own place soon), have a great job in the burbs, am dating a great person I met a year ago, and I know the North side and the loop inside and out. Eventually I'll learn the Southside.

2 years from now: I hope to be at a better position with the company I'm with, have a sweet apartment, continuing to be in a relationship with the man I'm dating now, and will have started to learn more of the southside than the Sox and Chinatown!

paul / May 23, 2005 2:05 PM

Two years ago I was forced to go independent with the loss of a job, and days after my health insurance ended I got hit by a car.

The bills ended my dream of sitting on my ass for a few months collecting unemployment.

Also, 2 years ago I was, for a very short time, part of the elite staff of an ultra-cool web publication which shall remain nameless.

James / May 23, 2005 2:19 PM

Two years ago I was ten pounds lighter and trying to see my way out of a crazy but hot, love triangle.
I finally made it out with both my balls intact. I lost most of my friends and self respect in the process and have not had sex as good or at all since. Now I spend all my time hating my job as a Subway franchise manager, surfing the web when I should be working, and trying to nail the legal teenage girls who work under me.

In two years I hope to own this Subway. I would really like to get back in shape and find a nice girl who would satisfy me daily.

Roni / May 23, 2005 2:39 PM

Two years ago my world was shattered. In two years I hope to have more of my world cemented rather than the crappy scotch-tape that holds me together.

eliina / May 23, 2005 3:30 PM

Two years ago I had just quit my job at a Massachusetts non-profit, moved back home to Michigan, and was hanging out with the family while my dad was being treated for colon cancer.

Two years from now, hmm, I'll be finishing up my second year of law school, continuing to have phone chats with my healthy dad, and I'll have lived in the same space for more than one calendar year (something that hasn't happened since I graduated from high school.) More of my college friends will have moved back to Chicago (the only logical place for east and west-coasters to gather).

Steve / May 23, 2005 4:38 PM

Two years ago I was a few months into a very promising relationship and not liking my job all that much after my previous position had been eliminated and I was pushed into a new one because when you're on the Titanic, you need to make sure all the deck chairs are in the right place.

Two years from now I may well be married to the promising relationship gal of two years ago (we've been co-habbing for just over a year), and hope to have my novel published and another well underway. And no longer going in to an office every day.

Leelah / May 23, 2005 6:05 PM

Two years ago, I had just received an Earthwatch Education grant, and I was planning to go to Deia, Mallorca to work on an archaeological dig.

Currently I'm working on another grant, and I'm hoping this one will take me to Jordan.

Two years from now, I plan to have achieved National Board Certification, I'll be trying for another free trip to someplace exotic, and God willing, I'll have a boyfriend that I can bring to Steve's wedding by then.