mojosmom

Everyone 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.

Yesterday, as I was driving to the farmers' market, I did a double-take when I saw this:


Today, I went out on the back porch to have a cup of tea and do my Italian homework in the gorgeous weather, glanced down to the alley, and saw:


I have no idea why cows and scarecrows are suddenly appearing in this very urban environment!

Stacey arrived on Thursday, about the middle of the afternoon. I had assembled the vegetarian lasagna earlier in the day and, as we were both hungry, I put it in the oven as soon as she got in. That and a salad, with chocolate mousse (courtesy of Trader Joe's) made a nice dinner.

On Friday, we went to a couple of used book stores and both of us bought a bunch. I found one book I wanted that didn't have a price marked, so Doug checked Abebooks, and immediately started making snide remarks about parasitic booksellers. Really, look at the huge variation in prices, with no reasonable explanation. (He charged me slightly less than the lowest-priced copy on Abebooks, due to condition.) Yet another reason I enjoy O'Gara's is that you encounter things like this:


After the bookstores, we went and got the remainder of the groceries that I needed for my Sunday open house. Later in the evening we went to the opening of The Opportunity Shop, a transitory space for art in the neighborhood. Basically, they get a realtor to allow them to use empty store front space for a short period of time (this show is up for about a month), and a variety of artists just come in and hang their art. A good time was had by all, and then we went home for dinner.

The next day, we headed to the Cultural Center for a showing of Between the Folds, a documentary about paperfolding. This is not your grandmother's origami. The artists are doing incredibly complex and sculptural pieces. But it was also about the mathematics of paperfolding and some interesting applications of knowledge gained through folding. The film will be shown on PBS' Independent Lens series in December, so, as they say, check your local listings!

The film was followed by an origami workshop, but we skipped that to look at a couple of the art exhibits, the best of which was After the Storm, photographs by Jane Fulton Alt of the aftermath of Katrina. We also stopped briefly at the Art Institute, to visit the Museum Shop and say hello to the lions, newly decked out for the holidays:




Sunday was my annual open house. As usual, a wonderful group of people gathered to chat, eat and drink, and everyone had a good time.

I took the day off from work today, and finally got to a couple of fabric stores to hunt up buttons. I have a vintage coat and a short jacket, both of which lost buttons and for neither of which I had spares. Having realized that I wouldn't find anything close to the buttons that came with the garments, I decided I'd just replace them all. But I'm going to save the old ones and find some other use for them.

This afternoon, I did something I've been wanting to do for a while, but haven't gotten around to. At 47th and Lake Shore Drive, there's a birding trail/butterfly sanctuary:


and just west of that, there's a viaduct with murals on one wall and mosaics on the other. So I took a walk, and took pictures. Murals & Mosaics.

I decided to walk down to the produce store this afternoon, with the extra incentive of a small art/craft show nearby. I took my camera, though it turned out that there was nothing at the show I wanted to shoot.

However, as I was walking down the street, I heard sirens, and first an ambulance, then an unmarked squad, then some fire engines came tearing past. Then I smelled smoke. There was a fire in an apartment building about three blocks from me.



Fortunately, no one was injured, though I don't think anyone will be staying in that building tonight (or, probably, for a while). On the bright side, Quillroy the hedgehog was rescued by a firefighter:


In less exciting news, I went to the Art Institute yesterday to re-see the Japanese screen exhibit, because they had changed some of the items in the show. I also went, as usual, to the current Japanese print exhibit, and an exhibit of Japanese ceramics. Then I had lunch at the museum's new restaurant, Terzo Piano. It was quite good, though rather expensive, even with my 10% member discount.

Then I went book buying. First to Prairie Avenue Bookshop (70% off), then to Powell's on S. Wabash (50% off). Pleased about the deals, very unhappy about the reason therefore. Both are closing, as of tomorrow. Rant here.

Prairie Avenue is also selling some of their gorgeous furniture, and I did inquire about some lovely reproduction Josef Hoffmann chairs. However, "see desk for details" turns out to mean "if you have to ask, you can't afford it", not that I'd have anywhere to put four chairs, anyway (they won't break up the set - I asked). So temptation is easily resisted.

I had the day off yesterday, and a lovely day it was, too. I did some chores around the house in the morning (my stove is sparkling!), and shortly after noon decided that it was much too nice a day to stay inside. I had a couple of small errands to run, so went to the bank, and then over to the shopping center, thinking I'd get lunch at the small café there. As I headed to the courtyard, I heard music. There was a jazz trio playing!


I got my sandwich, and sat outside in the sun listening to music. A very nice surprise, indeed, and I told the guys that afterwards. Apparently, the shopping center will be doing this regularly. It's just too bad I don't always have Fridays off!

On the way home, I noticed a sign in the window of the barber shop (excuse me, "barber studio") near my house, advertising Summer Jam Sessions! The next one is July 15th; I shall have to check it out. This seems a rather cool place; there are always guys in there playing chess.

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The Fourth

As usual, I went down to watch the neighborhood parade go by. It's always the same: bagpipers at the front, the usual politicians in costume and neighborhood groups, kids on bikes,

dogs and horses, etc. Also as usual, it was fun.

I then went over to the 61st Street Farmers' Market, where there was grilling going on. I had lamb sausage with onions and bell peppers, and then I had hand-churned ice cream with fresh berries:


There was good stuff available. I came home with some nice flowers, a cucumber, baby lettuce mix, and black raspberries. Not blackberries. Black raspberries. I've never seen those before. The guy let me taste them first; they are a bit tarter than red raspberries. They also stain. I just ate a bunch with my fingers and noticed that the tips turned dark purple! My tongue, too. So be careful. Probably not a good idea to wear white while eating them.

After I got home and got everything stashed away, and the flowers in a vase on the hall table, I headed out the door to go to a local park for more festivities. But it was raining a bit, so I stayed inside, putting my head out the back door every so often to see if there was any improvement. Shortly, there was, and I threw a folding umbrella in my bag and went off to listen to music and have some more fun. There was a Madeline Ring Toss:

and you could make a mummy or spill milk, or learn origami, or spit watermelon seeds, or see a magic show.

Everyone, young

and old

was dancing to the music and having a good time.

Umbrellas were in use occasionally, but it was pretty much just drizzle off and on, until towards the end of the blues set, at which point I headed home for dinner.

In court yesterday, I ran into a woman I used to work with. I don't see her very often now that she's in private practice, so we sat and gabbed and said, "we must get together". Then she said, "what are you doing tonight?" "Going to see my neighborhood community players." "What time?" "Seven-thirty." Upshot was, her daughter is on the board of another (professional) theatre company that was having a benefit at the National Museum of Mexican Art at 5:30 and would I like to go before I went to the play? Sure, said I. What company is it? "Teatro something," said Gloria. "Not Teatro Vista?", said I. And it was. I know one of the founders and current artistic director, because I worked with him at my last job (and also with another member of the company)! So I went, surprised Eddie and Jon, and generally had a very good time.

I left early to get to the other event. The Hyde Park Community Players are a new group, and this was their first production. "Productions", actually, as they did two one-act plays: Riders to the Sea, by John M. Synge, and The Bear, by Chekhov. The first was not very good, primarily because the actors talked too softly and too fast, and did not enunciate well, so I missed a lot of the dialogue. The second, however, was much better done.

I started today by going to the bank, the dry cleaners, the shoe repair shop, and a few yard sales, all before 10:00. Around 11:00, I stashed the car over at the shopping center and then walked over to the 57th Street Art Fair. It was a bit cool and overcast, but that's actually not a bad thing when you're doing a lot of walking. As usual, there were also a few yard sales and rummage sales going on, so I visited a couple more. (You will not be surprised to learn that I bought books. Also picked up a couple of books at "20% off for Members" day at 57th St. books.) Also as usual, there were lots of kids selling lemonade and the like:



I always like the art fair, especially the crafts, and of those, I particularly like the textiles, pottery and woodworking. Much of it is way too expensive for me (there's one woman who does the most gorgeous woven jackets, but they run several hundred dollars - so unless I win the lottery . . .), but I often buy a small bit of pottery or wood. There's a guy there who makes really nice rocking chairs, which I don't need, as I have one, but I was admiring a bench he had, a beautifully-grained, polished piece of wood with a lovely curve to it, and rough-cut legs. "I'll give you a good price for that", he said. "Oh? What's your 'good price'?" I asked, fully expecting it to be a lot. "$35", he answered. I didn't even stop to think, and blurted out, "Is that all?" He offered to charge me more, but I would have none of it, and whipped out my wallet. (In fact, I've been wanting a bench for my bedroom, but haven't done any serious looking as it's just a "want", not a "need".) He had a second piece of wood, the twin of the first, and suggested I get two benches! I would have, too, except that I haven't any place for another. He held it for me while I finished browsing the fair and went and got my car. Anyway, here it is:



I got home just before it started to rain, although it was a pretty light rain and didn't last. There was an organ concert in honor of Albert Schweitzer at Rockefeller Chapel that I had thought of going to, but I was feeling a mite headachey, so decided to stay home. I made fried green tomatoes for dinner, with ham.

Tomorrow, I may go to the Printers' Row Lit Fest if the weather is halfway decent. It will be no great tragedy if I don't go; it's not as though I don't have any books!

Leon Despres, 1908-2009, the "grand independent" and "conscience of the city of Chicago"


Barely a year ago, I wrote here:
On Thursday, I went to an author event at our local library. Former journalist, and current author and bookstore owner, Kenan Heise, wrote a book called Chicago Afternoons with Leon: 99 1/2 years old and looking forward, conversations with former alderman Leon Despres, lawyer, thorn in the side of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, social activist and gadfly. Here's why I like Leon: he was asked about the plan to bring the Olympics to Chicago in 2016, specifically, the plan to build a stadium in a local park. Said Leon, who is now 100: "If they build a stadium in Washington Park, I'm boycotting the Olympics!"

Chicago Tribune obit

Sam Ackerman, 1934-2009, another Hyde Park activist

And word comes of the death on May 1 of Sam Ackerman, a mere 74 years old, but just as contrary and feisty as Len. The Trib described him in some of the same terms they described Len, an activist and "a vocal opponent of Mayor Richard J. Daley".

Chicago Trib obit

Hyde Park, and Chicago, are a bit poorer today.

My Independence Day holiday turned out to be entirely different than the one that I had expected, or vaguely planned. I had thought about going downtown to see the renovated Tiffany Dome at the Cultural Center, and to take in a showing of The Gay Divorcée at the Siskel Film Center. Or, alternatively, I considered going to the opening of A Declaration of Immigration at the National Museum of Mexican Art. In the event, I did neither.

( My Fourth - with photos )

I ran into the Ellings and their adorable daughter. They are moving to NYC for a year (or more, depending on how things go and how they like it). They have found a place at 83rd and CPW, and are renting out their condo here. I wonder if they get a higher rent because it used to be Barack's condo!

I think I'll check out the Tiffany dome on Sunday, and maybe go to the Film Center as well. If Visconti's Senso is two hours and starts at 3:00, and Top Hat starts at 5:15, I could see both! Or maybe not. That might just be overdoing things.

Oh, and here are my latest at croc_sandwich!

Christmas is coming!

I took a stroll around the University of Chicago campus to finish off NoNoNoNo. This, of course, meant a stop at Seminary Co-op Books.
( A few from a favorite bookstore )

( Seminary Co-op is in the basement of the Chicago Theological Seminary: )

( Gargoyles )

Last, but not least . . .