Short Shorts?

This is the paper of note for hipsters and would-be intellectuals in Chicago. The Chicago Reader runs articles on issues and happenings well beyond the preview of the mainstream media. So if you want to know what's going on in Chicago, it's a great resource. Unfortunately, it has a reputation for very long articles that few ever read.

Instead, the most popular sections are the entertainment listings and the Matches, or personal ads. I enjoy the weekly column, Savage Love. The Reader, as it's known here, comes out every Thursday. You can find copies in almost every bar and cafe around the city. Best of all, it’s free.

The Reader runs a regular feature called What Are You Wearing. I'm posting last week's because it interviewed a biker who rolled here all the way from Kansas City. Rather oddly it focuses on his “short shorts”. His shorts don’t seem all that short to me. That’s how the cool set wore them in the 70s before the NBA went all baggy. Isn't a nine-day roll or being fired for exposing his calves more newsworthy?

What Are You Wearing?
Short Shorts
Liz Armstrong
The Chicago Reader
August 11, 2006

Sean Eagan, 21, rode his bike here from Kansas City, where he used to help run a live⁄work⁄play space called Sleeper Cellar. He’s been in Chicago a few weeks and figures he’ll stick around a few more.

What’re you doing here?

Drawing pictures and drinking and going to shows.

Are you going to get a job?

I got hired at Cold Stone Creamery and then was told to go home because my shorts were too short.

What is it with those short shorts?

It all happened kind of gradually. I had an obsession with Magnum, PI in a totally heterosexual way. He has a fucking . . . not a Lamborghini, the other one . . . and he wore short shorts and had a helicopter.

But you ride a bike. I heard you rode your bike here from Kansas City.

Yeah. I can’t afford a car so I figured I’d ride a bike. It was cool ’cause from having a space in Kansas City I’ve met a lot of people, from across the midwest especially, so I had all these people who I treated very well for one day in the past. And it was memorable enough that they put me up. I camped the rest of the time.

How long did it take you to get here?

Nine days total.

What did you bring with you?

A tent, sleeping bag, an old stove that takes gasoline. I used it ten times, and I used premium fuel. So I did use gasoline to get here, but I only spent 80 cents.

Are you going to ride your bike back?

No. I’m going to go further. But I want someone to go with me--anybody who wants to ride a bike with me. I’ve already made it from Kansas City so I know what I’m doing, but some company would be swell.