Chinatown and The Prairie District

Today's adventures took me in a direction different that my usual Chicago travels. Most of my attention has been focused on the hip/happening, yuppie northern Chicago area. Today, I turned my attentions to the near-South. My first stop was Chicago's Chinatown, centered on West Cermak and South Wentworth streets. From the picture below, there is no question that I was in Chinatown. Why do all Chinatown's look, smell and feel exactly the same regardless of where in the country/world you are?

The gate to Chinatown on South Wentworth Street with the Sears tower about a mile away

I haven't had Chinese food in who knows how long, so I went looking for the Chinese restaurant that Leah had taken me to when I was here a couple years ago. She had mentioned that it had burned down and when I found it, alas, it was still being remodeled, therefore I had to find another place to go.

Here's where I ate

Food review:
1) Potstickers, surprisingly excellent
2) Hot and Sour Soup, poor, simply awful
3) Eggplant with ground pork, again, excellent. You can thank Mom for her YEARS of indoctrinating me to eat my vegetables for the fact that I voluntarily ordered eggplant. Her years of hard work paid off.

After wandering around Chinatown, I drove about a mile to the East to what is called the Prairie Avenue district. During the late 1800's, South Prairie Avenue was THE address for the rich and famous of Chicago. Marshall Field and George Pullman were only some of the famous names to have beautiful homes on this block. However, due to zoning changes and the slow drift of the wealthy of Chicago relocating to north of the loop, this area fell into disrepair. Many of the beautiful homes were razed and the neighborhood lost its luster. However, during the 80's, there was a move to save the remaining homes and to revitalize the neighborhood.

An original home at 1800 South Prairie Avenue

Right Across the street, the Glessner House at 1801 South Prairie Avenue

A peek into the inner courtyard of the Glessner House

With the prosperity of the late 80's and 90's, the premium on Chicago real estate apparently came to a head and this area, adjacent to the loop was prime real estate. Here's a look at how these remaining beautiful homes are juxtaposed next to newly constructed townhouses and high rises.

1800's and 2000's

New townhomes in the Prairie District

One of the attractions of the Prairie District is that it is right next to the train tracks (allowing easy access to the loop) and right on the other side of the tracks is Lake Michigan. I walked along the overpass and here's the view

To the southeast, The McCormick Convention Center

To the northeast, the newly renovated Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears

One note on Soldier Field. It is currently a designated national historic site, but there is discussion at the moment to have that removed due to the "spaceship" looking remodelling of the inner stadium part. Both the McCormick Center and Soldier Field are a mere quarter mile from the heart of the Prairie District, but separated by the train tracks, thereby giving the area a sense of isolation. Get your piece of this rock before it goes through the roof.

The loft

Now that I have my camera back, here's some pictures of where I am staying

I sleep in the bed that is in the upper part of the picture and there is another room behind the orange wall.

The dining area, with an amazing table. The chairs are by a Japanese designer and these same chairs are on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.

The kitchen area

A view of the Sears Tower from where I sit as I type to you right now.

So, my idealized romantic experience with Chicago is starting the fade. The weather is warming up and the humidity is starting to rise. And most telling, I am starting to get snarled in traffic (specifically the Kennedy, Edens and Eisenhower expressways). Ahh, the pains of Chicago living are bringing me back reality.

Madison, WI

My fascination/obsession with Midwestern college town was fed with an overnight trip to the home of the University of Wisconsin Badgers. In previous trips, I have hit Columbus (Ohio State), Bloomington (Indiana), West Lafayette (Purdue) and most recently, Iowa City (Iowa), but the big kahuna of all these has always been Madison. The day started with the phone call from Canon that my camera was fixed and so I picked it up on my way out of town. It is about a two and a half hour drive from Chicago to Madison (assuming you don't get all confused by the spaghetti like interstates out around O'Hare).

An aerial view of Madison, WI, which is situated between Lake Mendota (foreground) and Monona (background)

I arrived with no agenda or knowledge of the city other than the well-known State Street (Telegraph is the Berkeley equivalent and The Ave is the UW equivalent) that connects the University of Wisconsin on the west end and the capitol a mile to the east. I arrived and I saw hordes of people headed towards the capitol and so I asked what the deal was. I had luckily arrived on one of the nights in which the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra was performing one of it's six summer outdoor concerts on the lawn of the capitol. Bonus.

The masses on the lawn

My side view of the orchestra

A view of the eastern entrance to the Wisconsin State Capitol

Alas, I must comment that instead of it being a concert with some picnicing going on in the background, it was more like picnicing with some music playing in the background. Since most of the crowd was unable to actually see the orchestra they were listening it to it through speakers and therefore were holding conversations (loudly) or dealing with babies and children. One highlight was the United States debut of Hayley Westenra, a 16 year old singer from New Zealand. She was pretty amazing.

After the concert, I took a leisurely stroll to the other side of State Street and ended up getting some ice cream a the Wisconsin Union and taking it out onto the terrace of the Union. This is perhaps the pride and joy of this campus. The terrace opens up directly onto a northwestern view of Lake Mendota and is famous for the bright orange, yellow, red and green steel chairs. Wednesday is apparently open mike night, and I just sat there like a lame older guy, watching younger college aged kids drink beer and cheer on their friends getting up to sing and perform.

The Wisconsin Union Terrace

This morning, I got up from a great night sleep and continued my exploration of Madison. I checked out the Monona Center (Madison's civic center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) and drove around Lake Mendota. I will confess that if there ever were a city that I had a hard time getting oriented in, it was Madison. First of all, it's flat, so there is no real way to use physical landmarks. Was I near Lake Mendota? or Monona? I never got it figured out so when I found the highway that I knew, I got on it and blew out of town, back to Chicago.

A Michigan Avenue kind of day

I read in the Chicago Tribune online this morning, that the past four day (July 23rd to 27th) stretch was the coolest July 23rd to 27th here in Chicago in a century. I am totally being spoiled with this California-like weather. 80's at the highest with absolutely no humidity to speak of. My luck continues.....

Today, I went back for my second trip to the Art Institute of Chicago to see the special exhibit on Seurat. There was an accompanying audio tour, which enhances any art type of experience. What was different about this exhibit more than any other art exhibit I've ever seen is the fact that the entire exhibit was an explanation of the experimentation and studying Seurat did in the years he painted his most famous work, La Grande Jatte. I've always believed that artists kind of have a vision of what they want to create and then do whatever they do and voila, there it is. This exhibit explained the painstaking process and incredibly systematic way in which Seurat went about creating his painting.

La Grande Jatte painted by Georges Seurat, debuted 1885, painted between 1880-1885

Judgemental me now holds an artist like Seurat in greater esteem. His incredibly scientific approach indicates that there is thought behind every single aspect of the painting from the clothes (up to date fashion at the time of painting) to the direction of the paint strokes. When we got to the painting itself, you simply had to stand back in awe of this masterpiece.

After a couple afternoons at the Art Institute, I took a leisurely stroll up North Michigan Avenue, known as the Magnificent Mile. This is the hub of Chicago's retail industry. For those of you who know me well, shopping isn't something I necessarily do but I did my best to be somewhat interested in the "art" or shopping. I didn't spend any money. At the northern end of the Mile stands one of Chicago's two landmark "tallest" buildings, the John Hancock Building (the other being the Sears Tower).

The John Hancock Building on Chicago's Magnificent Mile

I did the touristy thing and paid my $10.45 (why the weird price?) and took the elevator to the observation deck. On a clear day, one can see four states: Illinois (duh), Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. Since the Hancock stands a mere two blocks from Lake Michigan that when you step off the elevator it appears as you are walking into an ocean. All you see is the blue of Lake Michigan, it took me a couple seconds to get oriented. As you might expect, the views are amazing.

A political footnote. There is a rising star in the Democratic party and he will be the keynote speaker tonight at the Democratic National convention. His name is Barack Obama. He's a classically American story. He was born and raised in Hawaii to an African father and a Kansas raised mother. His parents were divorced when Obama was an infant. He went to Harvard Law and ended up as a professor of law at the University of Chicago. Aleeza S. had him as a professor when she was at UofC Law and raves about Obama. In 1996, Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate from a district on the South Side of Chicago. In this years Democratic primary, he beat out two self-funded millionaires. He was to fact another self-funded millionaire in the general election, but due to a scandal involving the opening of his divorce proceedings, the Republican candidate, Jack Ryan, has withdrawn from the race. This Illinois Republican party has yet to name a replacement candidate, so at this moment Obama is essentially guaranteed to be the junior senator from Illinois come January 2005. Keep an eye on this one.

A day on the Chicago's North Shore

On Sunday afternoon, I was scheduled to see my friend Aleeza S. from my Cornell years who I had not seen since we both graduated in 1993. However, when I woke up and puttered around the loft for a couple hours, I got antsy and wanted to get going/do something. I was scheduled to take the train up to Evanston, but instead I got into the car and drove to the first ring of suburbs north of the Chicago city limits. These first ring suburbs are old and have a wonderful look about them. The trees are tall and leafy. The houses on big lots, but all of them of different varieties. There is a well worn feeling of age surrounding these small towns of Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe and Kenilworth. I had a couple of hours before I was to meet Aleeza so I drove onto the campus of Northwestern University and took a walk along their beach, which is right on their Evanston campus. I toured through the streets of beautiful houses and also saw the beautiful

The Baha'i Temple in Wilmette, IL

among many other local landmarks. A comment on suburbs. Unfortunately, with the advent of amazing urban sprawl, what we envision when we hear the word suburb is one of planned communities, cookie cutter houses and generally sterile living conditions. But these first ring suburbs just north of Chicago might have fit that billing way back in the day, but today they have graduated to a new, if not more dynamic, conception. Each small town appears to have its own business district with which they encourage people to walk. There are no huge parking lots. Although the houses are on lots larger than one would find in a city, still the houses are close together, thereby reducing "sprawl". What also helped to fall in love with these towns was the beautiful residential homes and the fact that the weather was 75 degrees and little humidity. Every one has told me that my infatuation with these towns will cease come wintertime.

I arrived at Aleeza, Yaron (her husband) and Mia (their 2 and a half year old daughter)'s home in Evanston. Aleeza is one of the most amazing people I've ever known. Back when she was a Freshman at Cornell, she organized an "Alternative Spring Break" where a group of us went to rural West Virginia and did community service. There is no other person in the world who has a stronger sense of civic purpose and giving of one's time and energy to worthwhile causes. In the 10 years we have seen each other, very little about each of us has changed. What was so wonderful was how comfortably Aleeza and I were able to get back into the swing of hanging out.

In the 10 years since I've seen Aleeza, she graduated from Cornell and lived in Isreal for four or so years working with an organization working with Battered Women's Shelter. While there, she became fluent in Hebrew (she's big Jew). During her stay in Isreal, she met and married her husband Yaron. The two of them spent two years in NYC while Yaron went to Columbia for a masters and Aleeza did something amazing (I can't remember what). Then in 1999, they moved to the south side of Chicago so Aleeza could attend The University of Chicago Law School. Last year, she clerked for a judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals based in Chicago. This year and next, Aleeza has been awarded a fellowship from one of the major law firms in America to work for The National Center on Poverty Law. Would we expect anything else from Aleeza?

Yaron, Aleeza and I hung out all afternoon while Mia took her afternoon nap. Then, we had a homemade pesto, fruit salad and a regular salad for dinner. But, we had to awake Mia from her nap to eat. There was heated discussion about the protocol on whether or not to wake a sleeping child. Mia's sleep schedule was off and if she slept past six, there would be little chance she would go to bed for good at eight. Eventually the decision was to wake Mia up even though she was still sleeping.

It was a wonderful afternoon and great to catch up with Aleeza. Aleeza, by the way, is eight months pregnant with her and Yaron's second child, a boy. Lastly, I wanted it on the record that Aleeza told me early on the Mia was shy and would probably not be very social with me. Ummm, NO. Mia LOVED me. I have a way with kids........

My Personal City of Chicago Sightseeing Advisor

Before I left on the trip back in June, I posted a small ad on Craigslist asking for some resident of the City of Chicago for some advice on things to see and do while I had my weeks in Chicago. I got a couple of responses, but the best one by far was a long email from a guy named Dave Fink.

Dave F. on the left with his partner Kim C.

I began to correspond by email with Dave and we have become friends. I took many of his suggestions for things to see and do. But since I have arrived, I have been able to call or email Dave for advice on things and he has always been so great at pointing me in the right direction.

Dave and I met up last Thursday, to finally meet in person. I learned so much about him that I didn't ever know in communicating with him by email and phone. First off, Dave's life passion is theater and performance art. So a couple of years ago, Dave and his partner Kim (male) renovated an old factory in the tiny town of Three Oaks, MI and turned it into the The Acorn Theater. Right now, the theater has performances only on weekends. Dave told me about it and I decided I wanted to go see it. So this past Saturday evening, I drove to Michigan (an hour ahead of Chicago time) and saw a caberet/medley of great American songs sung by Beckie Menzie and Tom Michael. It was so a classically American night that I had a big smile on my face.

One note, the little town of Three Oaks is exit 4 off of I-94 as you enter the southwestern corner of Michigan. Remember back when my car engine melted? That occurred between exits 13 and 14 of the same exact interstate. It's kind of the circle of life for the car!

Lastly, when I got to the Acorn Theater, this was standing right outside the front entrance.

"The Modern Family Cow" from Chicago's 1999 Cows on Parade exhibit. (FYI, that is Dave's picture on the cows rear end. Kim's is on the other side.)

Note that somewhere painted on the cow it references Dave as a "Patron of the Arts." I had to ask him about this, as he is not about bragging about himself. But Dave is quite involved in the Arts scene in the city of Chicago and therefore when he and Kim sponsored a cow, I guess the painters added that on. I finally got it out of him, but a couple of Dave's responsibilities are as the Vice President of the Poeter Center of Chicago Board and as the Chairman of the Chicago Improv Festival Board. Dave F, you ROCK.

FOOTNOTE
Now you are all probably wondering what the "Cows on Parade" thing is. Here's a link to the Chicago commission that was in charge of this event. From what I hear from Chicago residents, the Cows on Parade event was spectacular and incredibly well-received.

Quintessential Chicago Part 1

Yesterday, I drove out to Oak Park, IL. Oak Park should ring a bell, that of Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1889, he purchased a plot of land on the corner of Chicago and Forest Avenues, at that time right on the edge of the prairie. He built his home in the "prairie style", which emphasized the horizontal and open spaces within the home in contrast the the many Victorians in the area which stressed verticality and "boxes within a bigger box".

The Prairie Style

I took a tour of Wright's home and also his studio, which he added on in 1898. After the tour, I picked up one of those electronic handheld tour guides and took a walking tour through the Oak Park neighboorhood in which Wright designed many homes.

Today, I went for a bike ride along Lake Michigan. Chicago has done a wonderful job of preserving its lakefront as parkland. The highrise apartment towers stand across the street from the beach and are not on the beach itself. There are numerous beaches along the lake and most importantly, a bike path that stretches nearly the entire length of Chicago's city lakeshore.

Alas, the two photos didn't line up, but I biked from 63rd in the South to Devon up north and then back again

The total roundtrip mileage was 32 miles. Thank god it was all flat. I now have more respect for Lance Armstrong, considering I was wiped after a LEISURELY 32 mile ride on flat pavement. There was great scenery along the way: The University of Chicago, the newly renovated Soldier Field, the McCormick Convention Center, Grant Park, Navy Pier, Oak Street Beach and Lincoln Park just to name some of the highlights.

I think I'll bike this again next week.

The power of the blog.......

I have mentioned to more than one of you how this blog has fundamentally changed my relationship with my Mother. BIG SHOUT OUT TO MOM, who is reading this. Everyone who is not my Mom reading this, give a round of applause to my Mom!! Anyway, because I post what is happening on this trip (as well as pictures) my Mom reads this and then I don't have to get all frustrated trying to explain things on the phone to her. You see, as must happen when you get older because it's happening to me, when I tell her things she gets names and events all mixed up and I just want to go NUTS when I try tell her stuff. Now she has it all in front of her and when I talk to her on the phone she is already briefed on the events and so our conversations are much less hostile (me being hostile) and more civilized. We can get past all the descriptive stuff and talk about what she thinks and what is going on at home. The blog has taken my conversations and relationship with Mom to a new level.

So....in these new conversations, my Mom tells me something that indicates the apocolypse is upon us. My Mother is a pretty fair dyed-in-the wool Republican. She told me this morning that she went to go see Fahrenheit 9/11, of her own accord by herself. I almost fell out of my chair.

Oh my god, after all these conversations with you all, I guess I HAVE to see Fahrenheit 9/11.

You know when you are getting old....

When a student you taught is now a senior at Northwestern, 21 years old and taking you out to show you the bars on Halsted Street. Umm, yeah, that's what happened last night. Evan B. (I made him show me his California Drivers Liscense before going anywhere) is spending his summer here in Chicago taking summer school classes. He's also in a production of Fiddler on the Roof in a western suburb. I will be seeing the show next week. We had a good time it's nice to know that I can hang with 21 year olds and they still want to hang with me. Granted, Evan is one of kind, but I met a bunch of his friends and connected. Some SCANDALOUS things happened, but again as the saying goes, "what happens in the Vegas, stays in the Vegas."

My troubled relationship with art

Tuesdays at the Art Institute of Chicago are free thanks to the Ford Foundation. So I trekked downtown to take it in, because, well, it is one of the must see's in the great city of Chicago.

The Art Institute of Chicago

Now, as the title of the post states, I have a tenuous relationship with art. First, I have just realized that art and museums aren't the same thing. Right, right (I'm having an epiphany as I write this) museums are locations dedicated to displaying whatever. Art is, well, art. Sometimes, museums don't necessarily display art. I got it. This makes it all better for me. I've always wondered why there are things in museums I'm totally uninterested in. Now I realize that those things I am uninterested in, isn't necessarily my dislike of art, it's just that stuff I'm not into. Oh, it makes so much sense now.

By the way, I only worked my way through the bottom two floors of the Art Institute on this day. I am saving the special exhibit on Seurat and the third floor for next Tuesday's visit. So the following are comments I wrote down as I walked through the museum. These are my impressions, thoughts, feelings, insecurities, contradictions......take them in whatever vein you want. You may NOT however, think of me as a freak.

"I like nature paintings especially ones that have exaggerated and perhaps unrealistic portrayals of sunlight"

"I like to see furniture as art, probably because I like the function of furniture" but I'll contradict myself right away by saying "I find the drawing and decorative stuff on plates, cups and the like totally boring". I guess I like shape and form, but I am not so interested in the decorative aspect. This makes sense in my lack of desire to decorate my own home.

"I find museums overwhelming because there is SO much to look at that I walk into a room and am overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that I can't look just at one thing"

"I like Greek amphoras because I remember how cool I thought that was back in my Art History class in college. Since I had some reference and understanding of it, it came alive. But when I don't have that background, I can't give the displays context and so they aren't interesting to me."

"European Decorative Arts? BLLLEEECCHHHH!!! Who cares about the drawings and decorations on plates, vases, horses and most of all religious figures and icons. Jewelry and coins also fall into this category."

"Way too much religion. Buddhas, Egyptian gods, Jesus and all the Western people......"

"I was blown AWAY by a painting by a woman named La Jaune. It was acrylic lines (it truly looked like silly string) on a lime green background. It initially looked like one of those stupid modern day paintings where someone just threw paint at a canvas and called it art. But after 10 seconds of looking at it, what was revealed was that the "silly string" were pictures of women in poses taken from pornographic magazines. All of a sudden there was a deeper understanding for this piece. I guess this is what art is about. It's having the viewer see something beyond the initial response and seeing more."

The highlight though was seeing these two paintings in person

Woman and Child

American Gothic

I knew these two paintings from the childhood game Masterpiece. Now here I was standing right in front of them. So cool.

After the museum I went to eat at a place called Russian Tea Time.

Russian Tea Time Restaurant

I had borscht for the first time ever. The russian dumplings were good, but very similar to the boiled pot stickers my mom makes. The service was quite surly.

Luck and Serendipity

For those of you who are regular readers of the blog, I have subjected you all to horrifically blurry pictures due to my dropping the camera in the sand on the second day of the trip. Sorry about that. I've been taking pictures off the web of late and blatantly posting them right online to illustrate my trip without giving any credit. Since I am going to be in Chicago for three weeks, I plan on getting the camera fixed. I went online to find an authorized Canon repair location and LO and BEHOLD, the manufacturers repair center is right here in a suburb called Elk Grove Village, just west of O'Hare. I drove out (getting to listen to Independence Day) along the way and the nice front desk guy looked at my paperwork and told me it was still under warranty. I opted NOT to tell him about my dropping it, so let's hope I pull this off and get the camera repaired for free.

As I was driving back from Elk Grove Village, I pulled off at a Target to buy new swim goggles. But right next to the Target is the Vienna beef factory, which I believe also makes the famed Vienna Sausages. Now, the reason that this factory was on my brain was that I had heard an NPR story (sorry I couldn't find the archive on the NPR site) about this new factory and that when they moved from South Side Chicago to North Side Chicago they had difficulty replicating the color of the sausage and they finally figured out that the difference between the two factories was one worker, who did one special task that didn't move to work at the North Side factory. Once they figured that out the sausage colors were the same. Anyway, I wanted to take a factory tour, but they don't have one. Bummer. However, they do have a lunch counter and I had a great Polish Sausage hot dog. Yum.

To bore you to death, I bought a new pair or athletic shoes. I've been wearing them, but learned that I can't tie them too tight for some reason, so I think they look weird on my feet. I also purchased (for half off) a pair of more formal flip-flops. I hate to admit, but I'm becoming a fan of the toe thong flip-flop even though I've been harping on students of mine for wearing them. I just won't wear them to school.

Another bonus is that I've found a pool to swim at. Leah and Rich's loft lies right by the University of Illinois-Chicago and I went online and found out they have a pool that has lap swim twice a day. $7 is a bit steep, but it's nice to get the exercise.

Monday night had me go to the Armando Diaz Experience. which is an improv show. According to the young woman seated next to me, I watched "long form" improv where the characters recur and keep developing. "Short form" improv, as seen on "Who's Line is it Anyway" is where they play games and have more skit based comedy. I enjoyed it, but I could take it or leave it.

The highlight of the evening was "SHOW TUNES" night at a bar in Boystown called Sidetrack. From Ethel Merman to Hairspray, I was singing along with the crowd the entire evening. I'll be going back next Monday.

Feedback

So, I got a couple emails today that are relevant to my trip and the postings on the blog. A first email came from my friend Catherine V-S (yes, that's her name) who was Michelle B's roommate at Cornell for four years. I, unfortunately, did not get a chance to see her during my New England swing and I apparently drove within 15 minutes of her home in Housatonic, MA in Western Massachusetts. My apologies to Catherine. Here's a picture of her and Joe's one year old, Leo. Leo was born within a couple weeks of Raymond B (featured in an earlier blog posting). So to give my friends children equal billing, here he is....




Leonardo S

Catherine did say there was a silver lining in my not actually visiting because she was not sure she wanted her parenting skills commented on and compared to either Michelle's or Andy's. You take the good with the bad.

________________________________________________________________________________

Here's what my friend Megan Maxwell retorted about my statement of being "hip"


"you still aren't cool.

Take it from one who has been uncool her whole life. The very idea of glorying in your uncoolness to affirm your hip status is the very epitome (pronounced ep-i-TOME) of uncoolness.

No, I've never read the DaVinci Code. Am I cool? No, I just don't read books by men. Did I get Harry Potter on the first day? Yes. Am I uncool? Probably, but it's a really good story.

You can choose to follow a crowd, whichever crowd, and define yourself as "cool". Or you can do your own thing. And then, as the immortal Crash Davis says: "people will think you're interesting."

Besides, if you suddenly got cool, we couldn't be friends anymore."
Enough said.

Here's why I'm TOTALLY hip

I was reading the Indianapolis Star (quality equal to The San Francisco Chronicle to give you a gauge) and came across this story. It totally validates why I am SO COOL. Come on, click on the link and read the article. Honestly, it's totally worth it!!!!

I finished The Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver on tape. I loved it and I have heard from friends that this is not her best book in the least. I am really excited to read/listen to some of her other books. The book I am now listening to is:

1995 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Richard Ford

I am already hooked by the end of the first side and I'm actually kind of sad that I won't be driving the roads for long stretches at a time to listen to the book. Don't be surprised to see me sitting in the car these next couple weeks just listening to the book!

I'm stalking Peter Sagal!!

The last day of "furniture" camp was a flurry of activity and then all of a sudden, in the last couple hours, everything came together and what seemed to be a hopeless mess of random pieces came together and made the frame of a CHAIR. What was particularly touching and great about the chair class, was that our class found out that one of our members, Terry from Tennessee, suffers from mid-stage leukemia. His chair is his legacy to his family. He has always wanted to do something like this and so he came with no experience and in six days created his own handmade chair. Powerful! The chair is now in flat pieces in the back of the Subaru. I also loaded the blanket chest in the car as well.

This morning, I awoke at 6AM to drive to Chicago. Many of you are probably wondering why I got up so EARLY when I could have slept in. Most of you know that earlier this year I was a call in contestant on the NPR show Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and am a HUGE HUGE fan.

Before I left San Francisco, I checked into getting tickets to a taping of the show since I knew that it was produced by Chicago Public Radio. I learned that there was going to be a free taping this morning, July 18th, at 10:30AM. Therefore, I had to BOOGIE to get to Chicago in time. I made it.

Now here is the twist. The reason there was a taping of the show for free was because it was being taped in the new Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's brand new Millenium Park. The park is on Michigan Avenue. The kicker is this...

The Pritzker Pavilion was designed by Frank Gehry

Yeah, it's quite a piece of architecture. The Pritzker was my first experience with a Gehry design and it certainly is great. The park is not that large, but it is divided into different areas and esplanades. But the Pritzker Pavilion is the main focus. It is an outdoor ampitheatre with seating in a bowl and a lawn behind.

The show was great. I have a crush on Peter Sagal, but as the show ended, I learned, alas, he's married with three daughters. BUMMER. The three guest were Sue Ellicott, Roy Blount Jr. (both regulars) and Richard Roeper (of Ebert partnership fame). Roeper was HILARIOUS and looking quite cute from where I was sitting. Perhaps he plays in my sandbox?????? But I will always belong to Peter Sagal, as he is the wittiest man on radio. It's probably a good thing that he's balding and not all that attractive because then I'd REALLY be depressed he was married with kids.

The show went smoothly but at the end they had to re-tape some segments and Sagel asked us to wait around. Whatever Peter Sagal asks of me, Peter Sagal gets. After they cleaned up the glitches, Peter (we're on first name basis now) thanked the crowd of 4,000 for coming out and then asked us to sing Happy Birthday to his one-year old daughter. He had it taped and promised to play it to her when she was older.

As I left the Pritzker, I walked over the Gehry designed pedestrian bridge linking Millenium Park to Grant Park. This is the ONLY Gehry designed bridge in the world. I also listed to some opera in the park and then I looked at this display called "The Millenium Family". This photographer went around the world around the turn of the millenium and took photos of different familes. It was a nice display, BUT I do have to take issue with the fact that there were all heterosexual familes. Hmmm, I think she missed the boat on that one.

So, you are all probably wondering what I am doing in Chicago? This is my chance to kick up my heels for a couple weeks, in the "City of Broad Shoulders". For the next two weeks, I'll be staying in the loft of my friends Leah and Rich. A BIG SHOUT OF OF THANKS TO LEAH AND RICH. It is in an area of Chicago which I think is equivalent of SOMA in San Francisco. It is just off downtown (to the West) and all these old buildings are being converted into lofts and condos. There is a Starbucks two blocks from where I am, so you know it's gentrified or well on its way.

I plan on "living" in Chicago. Seeing the sights but also, sleeping, watching tv and walking around. I'll be in this mode until the 31st of July. August 1-7, I am attending a conference on teaching Economics being held on the campus of UI-Chicago, which is a mere ten minute walk from the loft, therefore, I don't have to stay in the dorms. So, this is my home for the next three weeks!!!

Off to do some grocery shopping. See? Living in Chicago.

Progress

Here are some photos Dana took of me working on my chair.

Making measurements for the all critical armest

AARRGH, the frustration of trying to line up the spindles of the footstool so they go into their respective mortises

Feeding my desire to use large power tools

HERE IT IS!! One finished side of chair.

For those of you expecting me to have the finished chair with me when I return will be disappointed. I will glue up as many pieces that I can that are flat to drive home. I will then glue the chair together when I return to SF. I will also have to stain it and have it upholstered as well. But the hard work will be done.

Because of the day we missed because of the power outage, the last couple of days has felt like furniture "boot" camp. We have started working byt 6:15AM both mornings and worked until 7PM. It has felt fast though, because I am not feeling lost because I feel as if I have command of the woodworking techniques as well as an idea of what we are doing and why we are doing the things we are doing. At the beginning if felt like I was just doing what I was told even though I had no idea it's relevance to our project. Working "blind" has gone away.

We are able to work pretty fast in this endeavor because of the presence of all the special tools. Every kind of special machine that is needed is here at the school. In addition, most pieces are pre-cut by Brian Murphy (our instructor) and Mike (the school director). All that time usually spent measuring out wood is something we don't have to worry about. In addition, the settings for all the machines are done for it. When I have to drill a hole, I don't have to worry about finding the right size drill bit and then setting it into the machine. All I have to do is walk over the machine and drill my hole. I get to do all the fun stuff and never have to do the drudgery. It's woodworking heaven!!

Ernie in Action!!

The first days before the great power outage of July 13th, our first job was to build the four corner posts of the footstool, but laying out mortises and then cutting them out.

Laying out the location of mortises

Classmate Matt (also from California) using the dedicated mortise cutter

Then it came down to laying out the tenons:

Laying out the location and dimensions of the tenons

However, due to there being NO POWER on Wednesday the 14th (the day after the storm), we had to cut the tenons by hand. Were there electricity, we would have cut the tenons on a dado saw and/or a band saw. Instead, we had to revert to the old handsaw.

Cutting tenons by hand in the dark

Woodworking entirely with handtools after being accustomed to powertools, is equivalent to having to to all calculations by hand after being used to a calculator. It's torture. Plus, precision is much more difficult with handtools and I am not precise by nature. My hand cut tenons SUCKED, but luckily there are ways to remedy that and tenons are hidden from view when the piece is assembled.

I WANT THE POWER TO COME BACK ON!! I WANT MY POWER TOOLS!!!!

More Car Drama......

Tuesday July 13th, 2004 was our second day working on our Morris Spindle chairs. Around 4:30PM, all eight of us are in the shop working away when the lights start to flicker and the natural light coming through the windows dim and then cease.

KABOOM!!!!!!!!

A huge storm hits the area and winds in excess of 60-70 miles start swirling all around and then the power goes out. Here is the story in the Indianapolis Star. All we could do was stand around and wait out the storm. I walk to the front of the shop and this is what I see:

A fallen sycamore tree in the parking lot

Isn't that MY car parked where the tree has fallen

I rushed out into the rain to check on the car. It was my car.

Upon closer inspection, IT IS my car (I'm smiling for a reason)

Here is the entire sum damage to the car:

I was lucky in two ways. First, the tree didn't fall (or I wasn't parked) a couple of feet to the right of where I was parked. Secondly, another tree "caught" the fallen tree in it's "crotch" preventing it from falling completely to the ground and perhaps causing my car more damage.

Lucky Break #2

The last comment I want to make if about how different people reacted to my car getting hit. Most people had a "glass is half empty" kind of attitude, in that they were telling my how unfortunate I was to have my car get damaged. I was in other camp, laughing and feeling lucky for not having more damage to the car. One thing to remember, I picked the car up in South Bend with it's new engine the day before this happened.

I continue to live the charmed life!

"Furniture Camp"

Early Sunday morning (7/11/04), I left the Eastern Seaboard. I drove west across Pennsylvania and Ohio back to South Bend, IN. I had the opportunity to see Rae and Erin (from Baltimore last week) who were in town for Erin's parents 35th wedding anniversary. A shout out to Rae and Erin for coming to pick me up and driving us all back to Erin's house to eat ice cream, play with the dogs and hang out for an hour. It was nice to see familiar faces after a long day of driving.

FYI: The book I am listening to at the moment is "The Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver. I love the book although it took me a while to get into. For those of you who have read it and would like to discuss it with me, email me!

This morning, I went to the Subaru dealership to pick up the car. It was ready, washed and cleaned up. Unfortunately, my buddy Stephen was not in, but I was charged $73.40 for a timing belt and was on my way. I must admit that when I first started driving the car, I was quite timid with it, not wanting to "break" it again. It's just like the saying, once burned, twice shy. But the car is running great. How lucky am I???

This week and I at "furniture camp" as my friend Leah puts it. Two years ago, I came to the American Sycamore Woodworking School and loved is so much, I decided to come back. Click here to see a map of Cloverdale, IN. Here's what I built two years ago:

Cherry wood blanket chest

Because I had my accident right after I built this Mike and Dana VP (the owners and proprietors of the school) kept it here for me. I will bring it back to San Francisco this time in the car. Here is a picture of what I will build this week:

Morris Spindle Chair and footstool

I would post pictures of my progress, but, well, we all know about my camera woes.

The woodworking shop

Mike and Dana have become great friends and are so kind to me. One of the perks I have gotten is a free room here at the school. Mike has added two rooms (with bathroom and shower) for outside instructors to stay in while there are here teaching classes. This week there is only one instructor so I have snagged the other room. The other seven people in my class are all staying in local motels. My sister has been commenting on how lucky and blessed I am with good fortune. I say that a person makes their luck, but I think that on this trip, I am getting more than my fair share.

Master woodworker and friend Mike VP

Dana VPt

My accomodations here at "furniture camp"

So, that's the week. I'll post if anything interesting, but for those of you in San Francisco, You'll soon see me with two new pieces of furniture!

One last day in New Jersey

Saturday June 10th, 2004 and Jim and I got up and had the entire day to do whatever we wanted. What are two teachers with the summer off to do?

Quick aside: Jim J. has been urged by numerous friends (numerous is an understatement) to join the modern age and obtain a cell phone. He has been resistant, perhaps obstinant, in being a man without a cell phone. My visit was the tipping point. The fact is that I showed up in Jersey last Saturday and then went on my journey to DC and New York. During the time I was in New York, Jim called me on his new cell phone. In fact, he has the same service provider and same exact model phone as I do. I am all powerful and influential.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming. Jim and I decided to drive out to the shore again. This time to the beach at Belmar.

A beach scene taken from the Belmar town web site 
We spent a couple hours at the beach and just as we were leaving, Tim, Patrick and Elvin plopped down next to us. They were arriving as we were leaving. The weather was great, and the scenery (wink, wink) was fine too. Jim summarized the day, "the beach was littered with and smelled of mussels but not enough muscles!"

We left the beach early. Jim and I continued the theme of the weekend by going to Monmouth Park Racetrack to play the ponies. I will fully admit that I know nothing about racing, but I'm sure that I should stay away from it. If you have ever seen a racing form, it is full of DATA and I know I could get much too engrossed. Anyway, Jim and I bet on a couple of races and left. Races go off every 20-30 minutes. That is not nearly enough action for me to be engaged. At least at baseball games, there is between inning entertainment. At the races, it is 20-30 minutes of sitting around before the next two minutes of excitement.

Speaking of baseball, my last evening in New Jersey was spent watching the Trenton Thunder (AA) play the Norwich Navigators. I was accompanied by Jim and our friend Megan M. If you've been following the blog, the Navigators are the same team that played the Portland Sea Dogs. The Thunder posted a heroic come from behind victory. There were postgame fireworks and at the beginning the fireworks were dubiously anemic. But the Thunder came through with a great show.

Side note: All the music played at the Thunder game was dance/club music. I think the guy in charge of music plays in my sandbox.