mojosmom

I was a good girl and voted today. The judicial ballot was annoyingly long as usual, and I spent inordinate amounts of time on the web reading the various bar association and judicial commission reports trying to figure out who to vote for. The one race I chose not to vote in was for our Congressman. The incumbent is someone whose positions I generally agree with. However, he is suffering from a depressive disorder that has required multiple hospitalizations. While I certainly don't think that illness of any sort should be an automatic reason to vote against someone, in this case it has interfered with his ability to perform his duties, and I was also very unhappy with the way he and his staff handled the disclosure of his situation to his constituents. He had two opponents, one a Republican whose positions - where he actually disclosed them - are the opposite of mine, and the other an independent candidate who can't put together a coherent sentence. (He also has a really annoying website and misuses quotation marks constantly.) So I sat that one out.

I plan to spend election night watching the returns in the hotly-contested race in 14th-century Genoa between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. (I'm seeing Simon Boccanegra at Lyric.) Also keeping an eye on traffic as the Prez is in town, and what I hope will be the celebration is to be at the McCormick Place convention center, right on my way home from the opera.

Has it really been two months since I posted last? Apparently so. I will not even attempt to say what all I've been doing. But a few brief highlights are in order.

Our local branch library, the oldest in the city, participated in the Open House Chicago program, a weekend during which historically and architecturally significant buildings are open to the public free of charge. I organized the volunteers to staff the branch, and had a lot of fun. Then I went and checked out several other places that were open, places that normally aren't.


Some friends and I went up to Wisconsin a couple of weekends ago to check out the new Sir Norman Foster-designed building at S.C. Johnson company (famous for their Frank Lloyd Wright administration building). We drove by a couple of other FLW buildings in Racine, went to the Racine Art Museum, and then headed to Kenosha to the Kenosha Public Museum and dinner at a very good, upscale Italian restaurant. We had a great, if tiring, time.

This past Sunday, I went to one of the Chicago Humanities Festival events, "The Making of an American Opera", about the opera Lyric has commissioned based on Ann Patchett's book, Bel Canto. The composer and lyricist were discussing their collaboration, how the commission came about, etc. All quite interesting. Later the same day, I saw Beppe Severgnini's documentary Portland 2 Portland: A Political Train Journey Across America. Afterwards, Severgnini and two of the crew talked about the trip and some of the technical challenges of filming on a train.

I've also been to a couple of plays, some concerts, and some art exhibits.

Non-cultural stuff: a new coffeehouse opened across the street from me. I can recommend their carrot cake.

I was sitting at my computer, minding my own business, when the phone rang. No, it wasn't a robo-call! It was a real live person, claiming to be from "Governor Quinn's office". First red flag: it's a no-no to make campaign calls on the state's dime, and one would expect "I'm calling from the Pat Quinn for Governor campaign". He asks me if I know about early voting, and I say "yes", but that I haven't voted yet. Then he asks me if I'm going to vote for Governor Quinn. Another red flag. That's not how campaigns usually phrase the question. I say, "I haven't decided yet who I'm going to vote for." And he says "Fantastic!" and hangs up.

How much does anyone want to bet that this call was from Quinn's Republican opponent?

Too bad he didn't stay on the phone long enough for me to tell him that I couldn't decide between Quinn and the Green Party candidate, and that the Republican wouldn't get my vote if he were the only candidate in the race!

Had to laugh, though, because when I called Quinn's campaign office to tell them I though someone was pulling dirty tricks, they asked me "what number did the call come from?" How startled were they when I said that I don't have caller ID!

I voted today, even though the primary isn't until February 5. We have early voting, and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity. The site wasn't very crowded, I expect because of the holiday, so I was in and out quite quickly, even with the judicial ballot to consider. It occurs to me that they would have a very hard time doing this without computers. With only a few early voting sites, it would be difficult to have ballots for every precinct at each one. Now, they can just program a card for the right precinct and you stick it in a machine. Very cool.

Afterwards, I ran a couple of errands and then went to check out the new building of the Spertus Institute:



It's pretty darn fabulous:



The Museum's permanent collection is in the process of being installed, so one can see the pieces but the labels aren't up yet. It'll be good to go back when that's done. The library is big and open and airy, and must be a pleasure to study in.

The view goes on forever, but unfortunately, the terrace wasn't open, so I didn't get any pics (it's hard to do so through the windows because there's a kind of mesh over them). Taking the elevator, I was talking to a woman who works there, and she told me that the offices were in the back so that visitors can enjoy the views from all the floors. That seems a bit hard on the employees! But probably less distracting. I also highly recommend the gift shop. ;-))

I was intending to go downtown today. I wanted to go to a jeweler's to get an estimate on replacing the stone in my ring (good news from my insurance company - no deductible applies, and it's not chargeable - meaning my homeowner's rates won't go up). I thought I'd go to the post office (I desperately need stamps) and early vote. I actually spent a good bit of time last night on various bar association websites to check out their judicial recommendations. However, the temperature is in negative single digits, without taking wind chill into account, and I really don't feel like standing at a bus stop! I'm off work Monday, and it's supposed to be warmer (20ºF), so I'll go then. The post office will be closed for the holiday, but the Board of Elections will be open. Maybe I'll go look at the new Spertus building, too.

These people are probably glad they didn't pull this stunt this weekend!

Cold weather does, however, inspire me to do stuff in the kitchen. I've taken the leftover lamb bones from Christmas dinner out of of the freezer to thaw, and will make lamb stock tomorrow.

A friend of mine is on the front page of the Chicago Tribune this morning. Curiously, there was a story about a similar case in the New York Times today. And, no, I have no idea what I'd do in such a situation. Fortunately, I've never been in that position.

My client visit on Tuesday didn't take as long as I thought, so I got to Springfield in time to have a decently early dinner with my friend, Sue. We ate at Maldaner's, and I would highly recommend it if you are ever in Springfield. Sue recently resigned from her job, is doing some consulting and considering her options. She is luckily in a position to take her time. She hadn't been happy there for a while, having been lured in basically under false pretenses. There had been rumors the business would be sold, she was assured that wasn't the case, and, lo and behold! it was, and she had to be the hatchet woman and lay off a lot of people.

My CLE presentation went well, especially considering that I was the last speaker of the day and was talking about case law. As near as I could tell, no one fell asleep. After I spoke in Chicago, I asked some folks from my office who were there what they had thought. They were uniformly positive, but of course they work with me! But after I spoke in Springfield, people I didn't know complimented me, so it must have been good. And someone I do know from professional boards, but who didn't have to say this, asked me if I taught and called my speaking style "engaging". Isn't that nice?

The CLE people put me up at the Crowne Plaza where the seminar was held. Now that's a nice hotel! The room was immense, big enough for a king-sized bed, desk, full-size sofa and coffee table. There was a ton of closet space, and I could only think that it was a waste to be there for just one night. There was a pretty little gauze bag on the bed containing a sleep mask, ear plugs, and lavender linen spray, along with a CD of relaxation techniques and music. They call this the Quiet Zone floor.

The seminar finished shortly before 5:00. I hit the road right away, and made very good time - no traffic issues at all. So I got home in plenty of time to see this season's absolutely best Project Runway episode.

Thursday night, the judge to whose courtroom I am assigned, and his wife, hosted a gathering at a local watering hole for courtroom staff, and other lawyers and probation officers who appear before him frequently. His wife told me that it was their "holiday" party, but that they had decided to wait to have it until after the state ban on smoking in bars went into effect. Guess that's one bit of business not hurt by the law! It was a nice time, nothing fancy, just casual, very enjoyable.

Yesterday after work I met up with a woman who is considering opening a law office in our area, so she was looking for advice and information (two things I'm pretty good at handing out, sometimes to a fault!). She presently practices in another state, but her husband got transferred up here. I think she'll do well if she does decide to practice up here, because it's evident she has put a lot of thought into how to come into a new jurisdiction (always delicate!) as well as marketing strategies. I gave her some names of other lawyers to talk to (a couple of the "big dogs"), and touted the local and state-wide criminal defense organizations.

It was nearly a disaster, because I had suggested we meet at a steakhouse near the courthouse that has a nice bar and is a lawyers' hangout, but when I got there, there were no cars in the parking lot. And then I saw the sign, "closed for remodeling"! I waited for her in the lot (I'd left her cell # in the office, how dumb was that!), but after a bit she called, having gotten lost, and we arranged to meet somewhere else. So it worked out. It worked out quite well, in fact, because the weather was quite nasty and by the time we were done, it was better and traffic was much improved. I did a bit of grocery shopping on the way home, which is also nice to do when no one is in the store!