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mojosmomEveryone was there! Hecht, of course, and Margaret Anderson of The Little Review, Eunice Tietjens, Sherwood Anderson, Max Bodenheim, Vachel Lindsay. Okay, so it was actors playing the parts. But still, it was the house where Ben Hecht lived for a while (it was a rooming house):
We were entertained with music, poetry and a magic lantern show, and there was food and drink. There was even a costume contest, which I didn't know about, but I got Honorable Mention, basically for being mouthy to a lecturer. (He said something about having too much money to spend on books, and I said, "Lucky you!" He liked my "20s attitude"!) I live in a fun neighborhood.
I've been down to the Art Institute a couple of times over the last week for special events. Last week there was a lecture to preview an upcoming exhibit of Byzantine art, mostly borrowed from the British Museum, which coincidentally is closing their Byzantine galleries for renovation just as we are re-opening ours. So the show will be up for nine months, and it sounds like it's going to be fabulous. At pretty much the other end of the spectrum, there was a lecture about the current Roy Lichtenstein retrospective, followed by a reception and viewing of the exhibit. I'm completely in love with Landscape in Fog. There's actually a sign at the entrance to the exhibit encouraging photography (for personal use), a rarity for special exhibitions.
Last Thursday was "Make Music Chicago Day", with all kinds of music being played at venues all over the city - all day. Tremendous fun! I went down to the Fine Arts Building and heard Miss Chicago 2012 sing opera, and then to the main library for a dance tribute to Katharine Dunham. That was so good. They showed video clips from the Dance collection, and then a local dance troupe did some of her work, but then there were also hip-hop and South Asian dancers, influenced by her. Very cool. In the late afternoon, I went over to International House at the University of Chicago for jazz, more opera, and the Chicken Fat Klezmer Orchestra. There was also food and drink there, which I was not expecting, so I noshed a little but still stopped on the way home, as previously planned, for Thai carry-out.
And I saw the cutest movie! It's called "The Cat Returns" and is an animated Japanese film about a schoolgirl who saves a cat from being hit by a car. It turns out that this wasn't just any cat, but the son of the King of Cats! The King's attempts to show his gratitude lead to all sorts of complications.
And in "small world" stuff: I had lunch yesterday with the daughter of my high school biology teacher, whom I had met a couple of times years ago. This teacher was instrumental in my choice of college. Now, one of the women in my graduating class happened to mention that she sometimes comes to Chicago, and has a good friend here. You guessed it - my teacher's daughter. They know each other because their husbands went to school together. On top of which, L is a friend of D, someone else I knew way back when, and we are now hoping that the three of us can get together when D visits here in late July.
My friend Hilary was in town over the last weekend, visiting her two kids and her mom, so she stopped by on Sunday and we gabbed and ate pastries.
I have been swilling sparkling water all day. It's currently 96º and it's supposed to be in the 90s at least for the next week. At least so far, it hasn't broken 100º. We're also supposed to get isolated thunderstorms over the next couple of days.
Sorry about the length, but it's been so long since I last posted that I can't help it! I'll try to do better.
We were entertained with music, poetry and a magic lantern show, and there was food and drink. There was even a costume contest, which I didn't know about, but I got Honorable Mention, basically for being mouthy to a lecturer. (He said something about having too much money to spend on books, and I said, "Lucky you!" He liked my "20s attitude"!) I live in a fun neighborhood.
I've been down to the Art Institute a couple of times over the last week for special events. Last week there was a lecture to preview an upcoming exhibit of Byzantine art, mostly borrowed from the British Museum, which coincidentally is closing their Byzantine galleries for renovation just as we are re-opening ours. So the show will be up for nine months, and it sounds like it's going to be fabulous. At pretty much the other end of the spectrum, there was a lecture about the current Roy Lichtenstein retrospective, followed by a reception and viewing of the exhibit. I'm completely in love with Landscape in Fog. There's actually a sign at the entrance to the exhibit encouraging photography (for personal use), a rarity for special exhibitions.
Last Thursday was "Make Music Chicago Day", with all kinds of music being played at venues all over the city - all day. Tremendous fun! I went down to the Fine Arts Building and heard Miss Chicago 2012 sing opera, and then to the main library for a dance tribute to Katharine Dunham. That was so good. They showed video clips from the Dance collection, and then a local dance troupe did some of her work, but then there were also hip-hop and South Asian dancers, influenced by her. Very cool. In the late afternoon, I went over to International House at the University of Chicago for jazz, more opera, and the Chicken Fat Klezmer Orchestra. There was also food and drink there, which I was not expecting, so I noshed a little but still stopped on the way home, as previously planned, for Thai carry-out.
And I saw the cutest movie! It's called "The Cat Returns" and is an animated Japanese film about a schoolgirl who saves a cat from being hit by a car. It turns out that this wasn't just any cat, but the son of the King of Cats! The King's attempts to show his gratitude lead to all sorts of complications.
And in "small world" stuff: I had lunch yesterday with the daughter of my high school biology teacher, whom I had met a couple of times years ago. This teacher was instrumental in my choice of college. Now, one of the women in my graduating class happened to mention that she sometimes comes to Chicago, and has a good friend here. You guessed it - my teacher's daughter. They know each other because their husbands went to school together. On top of which, L is a friend of D, someone else I knew way back when, and we are now hoping that the three of us can get together when D visits here in late July.
My friend Hilary was in town over the last weekend, visiting her two kids and her mom, so she stopped by on Sunday and we gabbed and ate pastries.
I have been swilling sparkling water all day. It's currently 96º and it's supposed to be in the 90s at least for the next week. At least so far, it hasn't broken 100º. We're also supposed to get isolated thunderstorms over the next couple of days.
Sorry about the length, but it's been so long since I last posted that I can't help it! I'll try to do better.
