mojosmom

How did it get to be September already? Gosh, the summer has simply flown. The Chicago Jazz Fest starts tonight (well, actually, last night with the Jazz Club Tour), and I'm planning to hit tomorrow night's concert, as well as the day and evening events on Saturday and Sunday. Rain is predicted, so I will take my umbrella - to ward off sun and rain as required.

This being Chicago, there's been a lot of jazz this summer, and last Thursday I went to hear trumpeter Corey Wilkes (and friends) at Millennium Park. Went back there on Saturday for the grand finale performance of Chicago Dancing, which I hadn't planned to do until my younger sister said that a friend of hers was having a dance performed there by River North Dance. Also performing were the Joffrey, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, dancers from the New York City Ballet, the Martha Graham Dance Company and Ballet West.

Earlier that day, a friend and I went to Graceland Cemetery for the Chicago Architecture Foundation's "Women of Influence" tour. It was very interesting, and even though I knew about most of the women the docent talked about, I learned new things about them, and met some new ones. Walking tours are free to members; now that I have all this free time, I just might have to join. I'd definitely get my money's worth.

Friday evening there was a reception at the Chicago Public Library for the "One Book, Many Interpretations: Second Edition" exhibit, wherein bookbinders were invited to bind copies of the books that have been chosen for the "One Book, One Chicago" program over the last five years. They haven't put the catalogue online yet, though I understand that they are planning to do so. When and if that happens, I'll have to link to it, because there were some stunning pieces. In fact, they were giving out copies of all the books (labeled "This book has been placed here for you to Read, Enjoy and Pass It On . . .") and I picked up Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" solely on the strength of the bindings people had done for it, which were quite intriguing. I hadn't liked the one other novel of his I'd read ("American Gods"), so likely would not have considered reading this one otherwise. I also picked up the newest selection, "The Adventures of Augie March", by Saul Bellow.

On Tuesday, I went to the Art Institute to see the show, "Windows on the War: Soviet TASS Posters at Home and Abroad, 1941-1945".


Fascinating story of how this exhibit came about. Back in 1997, when renovations were going on in the Prints and Drawings Department, a couple of dozen wrapped parcels were found on the back of a shelf in a closet. They contained propaganda posters that had been created during the war by the Soviet news agency, TASS. The exhibition includes these restored posters, as well as some from earlier in Soviet history, some U.S. and British posters using some of the same images, and other Allied propaganda posters. After victory, came false hopes:


Went from there to my bank, where I refinanced my mortgage (something I should have done a long time ago, but better late than never).

And in a move that got me much thanks from my fellow Teatro Vista board members, yesterday I made chocolate chip scones and took them to our board meeting. I do so like baking, but you can't bake just a couple of cookies or one cupcake!

Yes, folks, it took me nearly five, count 'em, five hours to drive home from work tonight. In about the time it would take to drive from Chicago to St. Louis, I managed 40 miles. I left the office at 3:30 and got home about 8:20. It was a thrill in those rare moments when I got into 3rd gear. Have I mentioned that I hate snow? At least, I hate it at rush hour.

Other than that, I haven't journaled about my fun Sunday. The daughter of a couple I go to opera with was in a local dance school's performance of "The Nutcracker", and Sunday was her big solo as Flower #2 (also Harlequin Doll), so I went. It was really enjoyable. The school is an excellent one (the director is the Ballet Mistress for Lyric Opera) and the dancers ranged from tiny tots through talented teenagers, with a couple of instructors as well. Of course, the fun part was listening to, and watching, the children around us. I was sitting with another friend, and we both got the giggles when, as Drosselmeyer comes out swirling his cape, the kid behind us whispers, "He's wearing a cape because he's a pirate!" And there was some consternation among the younger set when only one of the flowers was wearing a pink tutu. Kids are so cute!

Then I went to the Chicago Hand Bookbinders holiday party, which, while rather sparsely attended, was quite enjoyable. It was held at the Chicago School of Violin Making, as one of our members is the co-director there, and has been wanting us to come. She gave us the 5¢ tour, and I very much want to go back for a more in-depth tour. What she told us about the school, and violin-making generally, was fascinating! (Pics here.)

Work was unexpectedly hectic yesterday, as I had to cover someone else's court call, and so was in a staffing and then court from 8:45 until 1:00 without a break. On the other hand, the person whose call it was didn't get in because her brand-new car, which she had just bought that weekend, didn't start!! Turns out it was the battery, but she had to spend the morning agitating with the dealership. PLUS, she's president of her condo association and a pipe in their sprinkler system burst over the weekend, so she's been dealing with that, too. Oy.

So I had a much needed glass of wine when I met tzurriz for dinner and the ballet. We went to Trattoria No. 10, one of my favorite Italian restaurants downtown, and then off to see Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. Very intense, very erotic, but I must say that I had forgotten how violent it is. No tights, but feathers and leather, and lots of bare chests and sweat. We had an excellent time!