Jo-Ya Lake

Golf Commences in the Dead of Winter

2011-12-16T14:14:00.000-08:00

First lesson tomorrow at Golf Galaxy. Really looking forward to it.

There are hundreds of golfing books out there, but I have settled on two for the time being. The Keys to the Effortless Swing by Michael McTeigue and Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game.

The last toy

2011-12-11T16:12:00.001-08:00

The final journey is upon me. Could it be that all the hobbies have been leading me to this point? I have lessons lined up. Went to the Ditka Dome yesterday to hit for a while and try them out.

Quick Shots

2011-12-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

Through a scheduling problem I ended up being the only guy with a camera to get some quick publicity shots of some of the restaurant's specials for this month. Was a fun change to hang out with those guys.

2011-08-30T15:44:00.001-07:00

Amy and I have travelled west to South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, Wall Drug and Deadwood. All in all a valuable, low key trip with my dear wife. The photo situation hasn't been great due to heavy rains or shooting at the height of the afternoon sun, but I snapped a few. Corn Palace

Custer State Park
Dancer at Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse Monument

Sunday

2011-08-14T05:33:00.001-07:00

It's been a good weekend, I think. I burned yard clippings and branches early yesterday morning, mowed, took my laptop in for some servicing, etc. Got many things done. Amy and I went to Labriola and got wood burning pizzas, which is a minor passion of mine. I then lazed and wrote and listened to Duke Ellington last night while Amy went with a friend to House of Blues to see a show. Doesn't get a lot better than that.

I went on a bike ride this morning on the Illinois Prairie Path. I went west a little bit, caught the Elgin Branch north and then turned around. Maybe 12 miles, so nothing stressful. It's good to be so close to these things. I hate using the bike rack on the car, so it's always best to just ride right from the garage. There are a mad number of trails around here. Later I'm trying a friend's chicken recipe. Now off to yoga.

Further Galena

2011-08-07T06:43:00.000-07:00

I got up early this morning and walked around the grounds a bit more to see where the flood had hit. I ran into a friend of the owners clearing debris who told me it had rained 18 inches in 10 hours and where we were standing had been under seven feet of water. There but by the grace of God, I guess. I am told two people in Jo Daviess County died in their cars. Any damage that I saw did nothing to detract from the beauty of the area.

I do recommend coming here to Inn at Irish Hollow if you get a chance. The food and accomodations have been very nice. I have spent my time reading, sleeping and wandering Galena with Amy. We saw a magician Friday night. I seem to have become a born again magic show junkie. Was like something out of a Woody Allen movie.

Galena

2011-08-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

Amy and I took my last three-day weekend to go to Galena, IL. We're staying at the Inn at Irish Hollow, a country B&B located about eight miles away from the downtown. The area saw a flood last week in which 15 inches fell in eight hours. As you can see below, it was destructive, sending fencing, hay bales and other debris careening about their 500 acres.

Downton Galena. Very Pleasant.

Abbey of Ghethsemani

2011-07-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

Historic photo

2011-04-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

We had to choose a historic photo for my photography class to discuss. I chose a photo taken in-house at the Washington Post on April 30, 1973. In the center are Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the two reporters credited with breaking open the Watergate Scandal and tying it to the White House, which in turn led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation roughly 16 months later. They are discussing the next day’s stories with publisher Katharine Graham; Benjamin C. Bradlee, executive editor, right; and Howard Simons, managing editor.

If you consider the far edge of the table as a horizon line, approximately two thirds of the photo is for the human subjects. The many shelved books rain down in vertical lines which are to some extent picked up again by the larger items on the desk coming in toward the lens. The books on the top shelf are parted with roughly half leaning left and half leaning right, which serves to create an arrow effect on the two young reporters.

Color news photos were decades way from being standard, but the black and white serves this photo well anyway by breaking a cluttered, paper strewn office down into simpler, less busy images. The loud, 1970s wide ties are muted into shades of gray as are the hundreds of books behind them.

I have a strong affection for this photo, even though I would have been about five months old at the time. I believe it captures in single moment the conflicting energy and fear that must have been running through those five people as they planned their next steps to report on Watergate.

While not an artistic placement of the people, they are caught at fortuitous angles and expressions that capture there various roles within a newsroom. Woodward and Bernstein’s lean frames are sitting very close to each other, suggesting that they are the young team on the front lines. Despite the seriousness of their siege on the White House, or more likely because of it, they appear almost giddy, especially when compared to the other worried people in the photo.

Publisher Katharine Graham is the severe matron. It’s her employees, her paper. She has already gone through a challenging period with the federal government in 1971 with the release of the “Pentagon Papers” by her publication and the New York Times. From another angle seated at the same level the image of an exasperated father figure, Howard Simons, with a less dark expression but with a look of warning.

Ben Bradlee looks on from an elevated position (I think that is him). Some of the people in this photo are old enough to see all too clearly the consequences of the series of articles they are running. The two reporters seem to understand they are working with something enormous, but perhaps don’t yet appreciate the ramifications of embroiling an American president, particularly one as notably vindictive as Nixon, in a scandal.

Or perhaps I read too much into things.

It's self portrait this week

2011-04-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

Talk about a painful exercise. But instructive.

Where are they now?

2011-04-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

As I get older, I find myself more interested in what happened to people after their 15 minutes than what actually made them famous at the time. When I was seven or eight years old, I watched The John Davidson Show, which came on in the afternoon right before cartoons and reruns of bad comedies. I also watched That's Incredible, which he hosted. I then forgot about the guy and assumed he'd retired or something. Thirty years later, he's still out there making out a living. I just saw that in March he played a "pop music show" at a local education center. Tickets were $25 at the door. For some reason, this is fascinating to me.

If you are a Mizzou fan, this is pretty great

2011-04-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

Can't wait

2011-04-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

Eventually, The Book of Mormon will make its way to Chicago, and I will buy tickets for at least two performances. Leave it to the creators of Southpark to come up with a completely original story for a Broadway musical. Not based on a Disney movie, not based on any other movie, not some hoary revival, but a new idea.

New Company

2011-04-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

If I lived in New York, I think I'd spend a lot of evenings at the Philharmonic. I have enjoyed tuning in WMFT on Thursday evenings to hear Alec Baldwin's hushed introductions for their "Live at the Philharmonic" show.

I just came across this article about a concert production the NY Philharmonic is doing of "Company," one of my favorite musicals. Neil Patrick Harris, Martha Plimpton, Patty Lupone, John Cryer and several others are taking part. I'm hoping it might show up on DVD or on PBS.

2011-04-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

Headlines today include "Japan sets Radiation Standard for Fish" and "Shutdown Looms as Talks on Stopgap Budget Fail." Other items on Libya, Yemen, Iraq, etc. Someone wished for us to live in interesting times.

2011-04-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

It turns out that my photography professor collects fountain pens. I love fountain pens. I just can't use them because my handwriting makes Charlie Brown's look like calligraphy. I do own a couple, including a retractable Pilot that's pretty cool. He found a place in China (where copyrights and patents have never been considered) that makes beautiful replicas of nice pens for between $10-$30. He showed me one last night that was delivered to him for $8. The nib was surprisingly smooth. He also told me that a lot of people are cannibalizing antique pens for their gold, which, though sad, is making the remaining pens more valuable.

Lovecraftian Shots

2011-04-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

This week we have two "odd" pictures due. I didn't have time to mess with it, so looked through some recent shots and worked with these. Maybe it's the H.P. Lovecraft I've been reading as of late, but they reminded me of one of his minor creatures.

messing around with iPhone

2011-04-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

Crumley's eyebrows move in the direction he's looking. Wonder if mine do that.

Yoga Pics

2011-03-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

I attempted some yoga pictures for my photo class. In order to avoid making anyone uncomfortable, I didn't stay very long, which was probably a mistake. It would have been fun to take shots of some of the more dramatic poses. I tried to play with colors a bit, but I fear the bottom pic looks a little like Yoga of the Dead around the edges.

2011-03-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

At first I thought I would be pretty thrilled with the NY Times article on a supposed resurgence in manual typewriters. Upon reading it, it seems kind of stupid. Typing parties? Where people get together to see and be seen typing? Can't people just get into stuff without making such a big thing of it?

New buddy

2011-03-28T15:43:00.001-07:00

Crumely has a new friend. Amy bought him a rabbit stuffed animal.

Sunday

2011-03-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

So we moved starting Thursday. The company who did the main portion was great, and we tipped them well. I would recommend them to anyone. We have spent the last two days slowly unpacking. The dogs love the new fenced backyard, and it's been a pleasure to let them run around. Sadly, the weather is turning on us today (Sunday). It has gotten a little cooler (All relative, of course. Compared to the last few months, it's been balmy), and it's thundering heavily this morning.

So I devoted my customary 60 minutes to my photography class before the rain began. It's nature this week, so I went to the Arboretum. We visit the Morton Arboretum enough to justify our membership, but I wish we were there more. I caught a few shots below. I would have liked to play more with exposure to see what I could've gotten out of the overcast gray.

So this week has been a deluge of the worst junk food, no exercise and a lot of stress. I hope to reverse some of that this week.

Bulls

2011-03-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

We also went to see the Bulls beat up on the Utah Jazz Saturday night. This was really Amy's deal, but I agreed to tag along. I did enjoy it, though. They have the 2.5 hours of entertainment down to a science. There isn't a ten second period that doesn't have some dancing girls, videos, giant balloons, video, something to keep you occupied. Was good to do. And they celebrated their 20-year anniversary of their championship that night, so we got to see Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and several other people I knew nothing about. Was still awesome to see them all. The people right in front of us were really into it. I shot this one with my iPhone Hipstamatic.

Fooling Buddha

2011-03-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

We went to see the one-man magic show, Fooling Buddha, at First Folio this weekend in the midst of our packing and moving. This had been a Valentine's gift to me from Amy. David Kovac was awesome. The show was a combination of personal stories, vaudevillian comedy, flawless juggling and legerdemain, all in the intimate setting of the First Folio Theatre, one of our great theatre treasures this side of Chicago.

The show leaves the viewer with an odd feeling. You know you have just witnessed clever patter and elegant slight of hand, but the character is so good that he walks away making you wonder if there might be something more to it all beyond prestidigitation (how often does a fellow get to use such a great word?). He seemed like a character out of Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. I could have watched it again immediately. Great showman.

Spaceman Stu

2011-03-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday

2011-03-12T03:00:00.001-08:00

Big day today. The carpet people show up this morning to carpet two rooms of the new house. I will be repainting a closet and a wall in the garage. Also home to mend a tiny big of fence just to guarantee there is no way the dogs will get out of their new huge backyard. We took them over last night to let them acclimate a bit. They couldn't get over how cool it all was. We met some of the neighbors who were great. The entertainment center arrived yesterday. It seems to be going well.

So I'm off to 6 a.m. yoga, then home, then the hardware store and then over to the other house.

First Self Portrait

2011-03-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

Cropping

2011-03-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

I thought a little recropping made this kind of a fun photo.

Good Friday

2011-03-05T08:08:00.000-08:00

I took the second half of Friday off and went downtown with my friend Pete. We’ve both had a hell of a couple weeks and agreed it would do us both good to chuck work and mess around downtown. And we were right. We started off at America’s dog where I forewent my usual Baltimore dog for a standard Chicago Dog (jumbo) and a side of sweet potato fries. Deep fried Twinkie for desert. The combined grease and sugar content sucked the life out of us for about ten minutes before we rallied and went to Graham Cracker Comics.

I saw much at the comics shop but only picked up the fifth trade of Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol. I am actually down to a single comic every month now, The Boys. A coworker had asked me to be on the lookout for Millie the Model, an Archie Comics type comedy comic that ran for 25 years or so on Marvel. I had never heard of it, but the store owner had and explained any collected editions of this book—assuming there ever had been any—were out of print. Millie is a New York fashion Model dating her photog, Clicker. There were probably dozens of these kind of books, but I’m unfamiliar with them. I have only a passing knowledge of Archie based on watching the original cartoon when I was a kid.

Then on to Reckless Records. Was nice to browse. Pete found Revolver on vinyl. I found a very inexpensive disc of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, which I had lost a few months ago.

We then walked over to Printers Row and visited Sandmeyer’s Bookstore on Dearborn. Nothing wrong with this place at all. Really nice collection of current books. High Brow. Could have spent hours there. There was an interesting used bookstore across the street, but the guy closed (two hours earlier than his sign said) just as we were walking up.

A couple of friends of Pete’s from the Radio Station had been bumming around Wicker Park and joined us there. Good to talk with them. The Final stop was Garret’s Popcorn for Pete’s aunt. I picked up a caramel popcorn for Amy along with a bag of Chicago Mix, which is a mixed bag of cheese and caramel.

I caught the train back to the burbs and, on the way, met a lady from Oregon who was attending a conference at Wheaton College for World Relief.

It was pouring when I got off in Glen Ellyn, so Amy drove over to get me and we ate at a French place called Bistro Monet. I had a beet salad with walnuts and goat cheese followed by a cassoulet with a duck confit, a duck leg, a lamp chop and garlic sausage. Amy had the onion soup followed by the chicken coq au vin. It was good ruddy fare and combated the rainy cold quite well. To complete my day of gastronomic suicide, I had the bread pudding with dark rum sauce. I made it home and laid there contemplating the damage I'd inflicted on my body. I did not go to yoga this morning.

We're now studying at Barnes and Noble.

David Gray and Lisa O'Neill.

2011-02-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

We went to see David Gray last night at the Chicago Theatre. A class act. Really enjoyed it, despite some sound issues, feedback, etc. They had crowded the musicians together to get a more intimate feel, which suits his music well, but they were so close together that the roadies couldn’t get in to switch off their instruments between songs. Lots of traffic jams that broke the pacing.

Further, Chicago Theatre persists in allowing people to carry in drinks. This leads to a huge rush in and out of the theater between songs. Very distracting in a venue like that.

We were treated to an interesting opening act. Lisa O’Neill, a charming, odd little creature from Dublin, had a voice at once cute and mindful a wife chasing her drunk husband out the front door with a rolling pin. Perhaps I’m simply projecting the Irish in me. Anyway, I really enjoyed her. She'll get better with age.

The Ten-minute Photog

2011-02-27T07:43:00.000-08:00

Yet another lesson this morning in what not to do. I had to get a neighborhoodscape and cityscape shot. I misjudged, by hours, when the good morning light would come out. I was hoping for those "interesting" warm beams you only get at the beginning and ending of the day. It was overcast and early, and about an hour after

I got home, the sky cleared and an unexpectedly rich sun shot in from the west.

I don't care enough to get back out there. They will have to accept my gray shots. I have some real work to get done today.

Speaking of gray, Amy and I are off to see David Gray tonight at the Chicago Theatre. Looking forward to it.

2011-02-21T14:27:00.001-08:00

I'm not a photo junkie, but I keep discovering amazing photographers. If you get a moment, click here on Alessandra Sanginetti's site and look at The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of their Dreams. This series of photos and the relationship she captures breaks the heart.

2011-02-21T13:47:00.001-08:00

It was a banner weekend for Chicago area gastronomy. Amy and I ran out to Geneva Saturday morning at around 11:30 a.m. I'd been told to check out Bien Truchas, a little Mexican restaurant right on State Street. There is some kind of Rick Bayless connection there, but I'm not sure what it is. Not unlike Bayless' places, though, there was a line waiting outside the door when they opened at noon, though. I don't have time to wax on about what made the place awesome. It just was. The guac was amazing. We had pork tacos and chicken tacos and ceviche and the best limonada of my life. It was like discovering Rick Bayless had opened a place just a few miles from where I live. Will go back repeatedly. Wow.

That evening, Amy's cousin and her husband took us to North Pond , a gorgeous little restaurant located on the grounds of Lincoln Park. Just approaching the place was great, because (kind of like Tavern on the Green), you have to approach the place on foot through the park. The food was indescribable. We did a tasting and had quail eggs, squab, scallops, the best beef of my life, creatively prepared root vegetables--it just went on and on. Truly blown away and grateful for the experience. Just amazing. We are so lucky to 1) know expert foodies and 2) live where it's worth your time to be a foodie.

Last week was aperture, minimum and maximum depth

2011-02-13T12:09:00.000-08:00

next assignment

2011-02-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

I am deeply frustrated with my photography class. The class and instructor and fellow students are great. I'm just unable to find any time to do these assignments. There are kids in my class doing genius stuff, using wine glasses as lenses, bringing out great colors in Photoshop, etc. I have no time to mess around. We were assigned a shadow and a reflection shot this week. I lucked out a bit in that the sun came out this weekend and shot through our guest room onto the bedspread. My bonzai and a small statue were in the way, and it made for a reasonably pleasant shadow. Further, the snow is melting, making for some puddles. Not great, but there's no time for anything else. I don't regret taking the class; I just regret being 38 with responsbilities beyond messing around with cool stuff.

New Hair Day

2011-02-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

We finally got Crumley his haircut. He was getting a few mats and smelled a little rough. Better now, and better for him as well. He seemed constantly hot.

Photography

2011-02-06T07:01:00.000-08:00

I registered for an actual photography class at the College this semester on Monday nights and am initially finding the study a little more tedious than I'd hoped. We're talking aperture, focal length, exposure meter, DPI, gray scale, ISO, and I just want to hang myself. I believe once we get these 100 or so terms ingested, it will get more interesting as we put them into practice.

My goals are simple: 1)Put a "pro-sumer" camera to better use than setting on "automatic" 2) develop a better visual vocabulary that I can bring back to my work 3) attempt to use photography to enhance any freelance writing I might do later in life.

We have a great instructor. He's been a professional photog for 40 years and is a pretty easy going guy. He pushed us in the deep end two weeks ago by assigning 36 exposures for the following class. Without a clue what I was doing shot over a period of three days around the house, in downtown Chicago, at the Arboretum, printed them out 4x6 and turned them in. He is choosing our four best and critiquing them tomorrow night. I'll be curious to see which ones he chooses. I'll post here.

Blithe Spirit

2011-02-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

Amy and I have tickets to go see a preview performance of a Noel Coward play, Blithe Spirit tonight at First Folio Theatre. Amy and I visited First Folio Theatre last year for a Wodehouse production that was quite good (Amy will not let me forget, however, that I fell asleep; it was Friday, it'd been a terrible week, and I was exhausted; and if you've read enough Wodehouse, you don't actually have to see it to know what happened; she liked the play a great deal, though). It's a first-class professional theatre located on a former estate in Oakbrook with three separate venues. This is precisely what I wanted to do on a Friday. Fortunately, Amy moved quickly on the tickets an hour ago. I just checked back, and they are now sold out.

Hanging in just fine

2011-02-03T05:32:00.000-08:00

I should have raised the ISO on my camera, I guess, to really capture that hell that is Mother Nature, but it's too cold to go back out there this morning to take better pictures. The homeowner's association snow guys showed up last night and tunnelled our homes out. It hasn't been bad. The power's staying on, which means I'm catching up on some good shows. I watched the second of the Red Riding Trilogy last night. These are awfully good movies, though the West Yorkshire accents are so strong I occasionally have trouble following. I read that they decided to subtitle some of it because of this, but I didn't see them. We also watched The Kids are All Right, which means we've seen all 10 up for best picture. I don't think it should have been nominated for best picture, but it was pleasant. May or may not go to yoga today.

Blizzard

2011-02-02T06:26:00.001-08:00

So we got a bit of snow last night. This was the view from my patio and garage when I went to take the dogs out. We have plenty of food and water and, as long as I have electricity for various entertainments, I don't anticipate losing my mind. Crumley still loves burying his head in the snow, "hiding", and then flinging his huge head up and back, spraying us all with his snow. They say the snow should begin to wind down at around 3 p.m., but the wind keeps coming through the night. Have no idea when we get to reopen at work.

2011-01-25T07:35:00.000-08:00

We have some pretty cool people here. One of the secretaries in our office also does baking and catering. She brought in a whole bouquet of these. I only had my little six-pixel, but I might use this bottom shot as one of the first 36 prints we are assigned in my photography class next Monday.

Gracie

2011-01-24T09:23:00.000-08:00

My Dad and my newly Christened Step-Niece, Gracie. Look at those blue eyes.

Hot Yoga

2011-01-22T15:45:00.001-08:00

Beginning in October, I have been going to Bikram Hot Yoga, or Hatha Yoga as systemized by Bikram Choudry. I'm very lucky that a beautiful, large studio opened about a tenth of a mile from where I live. Addicted but not obsessed, I go three or at the most four times a week. I'd like to go more, but it's hard to drink enough water to stay hydrated between classes.

It is 26 rigorous postures in a 105 degree room with 40 percent humidity. Most of the time I just wanted to die those first few weeks and nearly quit because I thought I might not be designed to handle the heat. It took a while to get down a system of hydrating before and after (my big discovery was not to drink water during) the 90-minute workout. At some point during the last third of the class I still wonder if I'm built to deal with heat.

I've been pretty pleased with the results. I am more flexible now. My neck feels better, I haven't had a twinge of back pain since I started. Perhaps most important to me, my right ankle that I had messed up so badly three years ago seems to be finally healing properly. And I sleep well.

Why do I prefer this kind of yoga? I could make lots of aspersions about other classes I've been to over the years, that they seemed more geared to make people feel pleasant than accomplish any kind of physical/mental/spiritual breakthrough: new age music, special straps and blocks, etc. But those classes do serve their purpose, I'm sure, even if it is just to provide a nurturing environment for people who need respite.

Having acknowledged that every kind of class has its place in the world, I do appreciate that Bikram eschews all of that inner goddess crap. With Bikram all you need is a towel mat. Nothing else. Unlike the fluffier classes, Bikram provides some genuine mortification that forces you to push past pretty compelling urges to get up, throw up and flee the room. I'm not wearing monastic horse hair, but for a desk jockey it's a pretty tough experience. I lose about six pounds every time I attend.

My dream desk

2011-01-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

This is the most amazing desk I have ever seen. If I had an extra $3,000, I would aready own it. Some day.

End of week

2011-01-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

I went to a dinner Thursday night, was given four cups of what I thought was decaf, went home and vibrated for the next day. Got about three hours of sleep and felt hungover. Never make that mistake again.

On the upside, it's been a good week. Our offer was accepted on the house, and we had it inspected on Thursday. Once we close, I will post a photo.

On the downside, my good friend Waad flew to Jordan this morning to work for the next five months. We'll miss him, but we'll continue ESL via Yahoo.

Amy and I are now at Panera, where she is doing homework and I'm keeping her company. Lazy Saturday. Needed it.

2011-01-13T22:03:00.000-08:00

Someone spiked my decaf with the real thing. Four cups worth. Could do a backflip screaming right now.

Don't know what this is, but I want one.

2011-01-05T14:14:00.000-08:00

Crumley: I. Feel. Like. Crap.

2011-01-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

Tough day for the big guy. He got his teeth cleaned, and they knock them out for that. He was a staggering mess when I picked him up. Now at home crashed out.

Resolutions

2011-01-02T14:23:00.001-08:00

1) Storm back into the job with rejuvenated enthusiasm.

2) Be more pleasant at home and be more appreciative of dear wife; be at work when at work and home when home.

3) Get in good shape.

4) Enjoy my photography class and make good use of my new Canon.

5) Attempt writing one more time. I have a great idea.

6) Take more advantage of the biking trails of the Western Suburbs.

7) Eat out less.

8) Use the library more.

9) Be more patient with others.

Sunday

2011-01-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

I have had a good Sunday. Waad, the fellow I've been tutoring in ESL, and his family took us to lunch today at Reza's in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood. We ate tremendous Persian food, in my case, primarily lamb, chicken, beef, various kabobs and a huge amount of baklava. It was a great time, and Amy and I have really valued getting to know them. Waad's going to be working in Jordan over the next few months, so our weekly sessions will be online for a while.

On Saturday, Amy and I saw "The Fighter," pretty much rounding off the movies we needed to see to be up to date for the Oscars. I found much of the movie interminably repetitive, but overall I enjoyed it. My own pick for best picture remains "Winter's Bone."

Tomorrow, it's back to work.

2010-12-31T04:37:00.000-08:00

The weather outside is delightful. Raining, lightning, but the temps are balmy and the snow is melting away. Love it. Now seem to have an actual cold, which I do not understand, so am about to watch "A Scanner Darkly" and simply chill until Amy and I go out tonight for New Year's. Just doing dinner. I've never really liked News Year's or St. Pat's Day or Cinco de Mayo, etc. It always seemed like amateur night to me. People with no experience with excessive drinking climbing behind the wheel or getting into ill considered brawls.

It doesn't feel like a new year is coming anyway. It feels like we have more to go. The economy changed and we're going to be dealing with it for a long time.

Having said that, I'm hoping to make a list for myself of resolutions for the year. Some of them take.

Vacation

2010-12-30T06:02:00.001-08:00

I have begun to wonder if one can read too much. I've had an unprecedented amount of time off over the holidays, and I'm closing in on four Philip K. Dick novels, various non-fiction books, the last couple New Yorkers, the last Atlantic Monthly and, because I am a sworn geek, the last five Detective Comics, which I have resumed now that they have dropped that stupid Batwoman/The Question arc. Please note the incredibly cool T-shirt Amy gave me for Christmas.

In the process, I've grown a beard, look like a slob, have gone to yoga three or four times a week, done tai chi, watched some television, including rewatching the three BBC "Sherlock" episodes and the first four--soon to be six after today--episodes of Breaking Bad. I've eaten great lashings of restaurant food, including some good Indian last night and some very over-hyped Mexican the night before. We went to Christkindlmarket and then saw A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre on Christmas Eve. And we've seen "Black Swan" and "The King's Speech" and "True Grit." I have played XBOX and watched "Layer Cake," one of my favorite crime films.

I've slept too much, nearly thought myself into a coma, never quite shaken a cold, and--to my point about reading too much--found that the lines between fiction and real life can indeed blur around the edges a bit in the wee hours when in the midst of good, paranoid science fiction. I guess if one is willingly surrendering to a fictional dream with enough regularity and intensity, it only makes sense that the book or movie could either follow you into your own dreams or at least take a while to break out of when resuming mundane duties around the house, like taking out the dogs or doing dishes.

I suppose it has been good to completely attenuate for a while, and I have done some good, including hanging out more with Amy, house searching and keeping my appointments to teach ESL. And the yoga will pay dividends for a long time to come. But my point is that I'm ready for this vacation to be over so I can go back to work.

2010-12-19T06:34:00.000-08:00

I actually have more than two weeks off now, with the exception of a meeting or two I have to drop in on.

Am unsure what to do with myself other than read too much. We are going to 127 Hours with James Franco today. Should be fun.

Otherwise, I'm hoping to pick up all of my stuff that I've cluttered the house with.

Excitement city. We do hope to run downtown a couple of times this week.

Breaking Bad

2010-12-17T14:59:00.001-08:00

During a less than arduous one-credit “science course” in college, I wrote a paper about the Lindbergh kidnapping and its ramifications on forensic evidence. I honestly don't remember if it had any; German carpenter Bruno Hauptmann was convicted of first degree murder of the Lindbergh child based in large part on his possession of several thousand in gold certificates that had been fruitlessly paid in ransom by the family and traced back to him.

What stuck in the back of my mind until the other day was the trial testimony of a carpenter who connected Hauptmann’s carpentry on the makeshift ladder used in the kidnapping. I believe he identified the handiwork with some contempt, citing it as crude or shoddy work and implying that anyone who would kidnap and murder a three-year-old would of course be a poor craftsman, his every gesture symptomatic of being a deviant.

So what happens when a very good man, a man of strong mind and excellent education and indefatigable work ethic, were to apply all of his skills to a criminal activity? That is one of the questions posed by the AMC series Breaking Bad, in which a mild high school chemistry teacher learns he is dying of lung cancer and, in an effort to leave his wife, son and unborn child something, turns to cooking meth.

It's brilliant, full of gut surprises and subtle character pivots. You come to realize that he might have other choices, but he proceeds anyway rather than suffer his family being taken care of by anyone else. It's my new favorite show. AMC has started over from the beginning of the first season (I think there are four seasons now) on Wednesday nights, so I'm only watching two at a time.

Undead

2010-12-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

The scariest movie experience I ever had was flipping on the television at 2 a.m. when I was 16 just as Night of the Living Dead came on A&E (this was before A&E was a trash station). Entranced, fixated, frozen, riveted, horrified into stillness, I don't think I blinked for two hours. I've seen scarier movies and better horror movies, but I intersected with this one at just the right time of night with enough caffeine and nicotine in my system to keep me awake and mildly jangled.

I've never seen any of the other Romero movies, though I think I will now that I'm watching AMC's new series The Walking Dead. It is awesome, gory goodness with great actors and thoughtful suspense. And they make it clear that anyone can die at any time. It does owe a lot to shows that kind of drive me nuts (Lost, the new V, Heroes) in terms of disparate ordinary people thrown together in the face of weird times, but the actors in this show make it. Definitely up there as a good solid drama. I am a fan of the 28 Days and 28 Weeks films as well as Shawn of the Dead.

This is a link to a NYTimes article about the zombie phenom.

2010-11-25T09:26:00.000-08:00

It's Thanksgiving. I'm in Palmyra. We're eating around 1 p.m.

Watching Macy's Day Parade, now with Ron and his brother Monroe and Amy.

Getting hungry.

I am making the cornbread casserole.

I love cornbread casserole.

Getting old. Getting cool stuff.

2010-11-13T19:45:00.000-08:00

So I made a haul on good books this year for my birthday. My father sent me The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes (all three volumes as edited by Leslie Klinger). They virtually glow. I started reading Volume 1 on my trip last weekend. I don't think I've read several of these stories since Dad read them too me. I have a distinct memory of have The Dancing Men read to me on the bus.

Dad also sent me The Refiner's Fire, by John Lee Brooke, a history of the making of Mormom Cosmology from 1644 to 1844 published by Cambridge Press. I'm about half way through this one. Beyond his dispassionate but keenly interested account of the many influences culminating in Joseph Smith's "visions," it's a lovely marriage of good, thorough academic research combined with graceful writing, craftsmanship that can be appreciated for its own sake. I've had an interest in this subject ever since visiting my brother in Salt Lake and going to see the startlingly bizarre and fascinating Gilgal Sculpture Garden.

Amy surprised me with the Library of America three-volume set of Phillip K. Dick novels. Most people probably know him best for Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, on which Blade Runner was based. The only novel I've read by him was Confessions of a Crap Artist, not a sci fi novel but one I liked very much. He's been an author I've been saving for a good period. Now that the election is over, I'd say I've hit that period.

A little earlier this week, Amy and I went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Muppet Exhibit. The Muppet exhibit was not what I'd hoped, though they had several drawings and posters by a young Jim Henson. I loved those. I realized that I knew very little about him. I was hoping for more actual puppet exhibits. I adore Muppets. I actually had more fun seeing museum's standing exhibits like the train above.

A little time off

2010-11-08T08:05:00.000-08:00

Well, we won. Six months of hard work paid off.

So I took a couple of days off from work. I ended up going back in for a while on one of the days, and today have a project that I can't put off, but in the middle of this, we did go to a very pleasant bed and breakfast in Rockton near the Wisconson border. Loved it and would recommend it to anyone. Lovely people and glorious breakfasts.

During our stay, we went to the Anderson Japanese Garden. It was bare but not yet wintery, so I don't think we saw it at its most pleasant, but it was still very nice. There is certainly something to the harmony these gardens create.

Local Writers

2010-08-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

So I read an article this morning about a bookstore in Forest Park specializing in mysteries, histories and biographies, celebrating its 20th anniversary. So early this afternoon, Amy and I are on the way to Forest Park to visit Centuries and Sleuths.

It's a comfortable bookstore that doesn't overwhelm you with sheer volume. I can only speak for myself, but when I walk into Powell's, particularly the one in Portland, I spend half my time in a panic that I won't see it all. My own goal was to to get something by one of the many Chicago Crime writers dubbed "The Outfit." This is a blog they operate. The nice lady working the shop steered me into Chicago Blues, a collection of hard boiled short stories by several of them. Looking forward to it.

We had brunch after at Francesca Fiore. Sausage. Eggs. Good stuff.

The Last Exorcism

2010-08-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

I took Amy to see The Last Exorcism. A likable fundamentalist preacher is making a documentary about how he has faked exorcisms for the past 20 years by taking a camera crew with him to his "last exorcism." He shows how he arranges for sound effects and how he uses fishing line to pull over vases and pictures. He hasn't lived a sham so much as his faith has changed, and he has a strong belief in the science that recently saved his son's life. The only hitch is that for the first time, he seems to have run up against the real thing.

I mean that's great! I was delighted with the concept and execution with (as the critics I like are saying) the exception of the last two or three minutes.

Guys who like food

2010-07-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

When I was in high school a good friend and I wrote a food column in the school paper called "Two Guys Who Like Food." It was a fantastic excuse to leave school and eat. It was a lot of fun. Scott has had his own part-time photography business for several years now.

Now Amy and I are going to be doing a cool secret shopper gig for a good restaurant chain in the area, necessitating weekly detailed reviews. We went to our orientation this evening downtown. It's going to be an excellent learning experience, if anything. Pretty psyched.

Salt

2010-07-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

Horrible insults came to mind while watching the movie Salt today. "Even those who've suffered head injuries deserve to enjoy spy films," that kind of thing. Bottom line, it was deeply stupid with a "twist" so obvious it felt at times I was watching a satire.

On to something neat, though. A friend of Amy's has a neat blog using Hipstamatic (the iPhone application) that's very worth checking out http://prettykitty03.blogspot.com/.

Dinner/Breakfast

2010-07-25T06:56:00.001-07:00

We did go to Wildfire last night for dinner in Oakbrook. I would give the experience a 5.5 out of 10. Part of this is our fault in that we thought we were going to a slightly quieter more intimate and upscale setting. It was instead fairly loud, albeit comfortable. The food was fine. It was neither the best nor worst steak I have had. Our server was either a little harried or just not overly pleasant. I'm sure he's a nice guy or could have been having a bad day, but he did not check back appropriately or provide that sort of warmth that can tip the scales when deciding whether the place is to be recommended.

I ordered a rib eye, rare, encrusted with horseradish with a sweet potato. They did cook it properly, but I found the horseradish to be devoid of flavor and gave the dish a greasiness I hadn't anticipated. Amy had three fillet medallions, each encrusted with something different (blue cheese, potato, etc.). She liked two out of three. Our deserts were fine. The coffee I found weak or thin. The prices were more reasonable than expected. I don't mean to knock the place too much. Many people I know seem to like it. I think it's not necessarily for a "foodie," not that I claim to be one, and it would be a good place to take a undiscriminating group for a friendly time, as opposed to an anniversary dinner.

To be honest, I think we had a much better meal that morning at Labriola Bakery. Very good food, comfortable lighting and a gentle din of kitchen and diners that allows the still tired to read their Saturday paper in peace. I had a Toad in the Hole and Amy had a breakfast sandwich. We would have probably been just as happy going there last night. They too have pizza from a wood burning oven, and it's quite good.

Thank God this week is over

2010-07-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

After a fun work week, I now have much of Saturday to kick back a little before Amy and I go out for our 2nd anniversary. We're going to Wildfire in Oakbrook, which friends have mentioned to me multiple times, but we've never gone. I am told they have a horseradish encrusted steak that I would like. I'm pretty good about not eating meat except when we go out. Then all bets are off, I guess.

I've been steadily making my way through Diarmaid MacCulloch's "Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years." It's a long one, and I've been taking it slowly. Fascinating stuff. It's a good one for the Kindle for a few reasons. 1) It's about 1200 pages, which is a bear if you like to read in bed. Unlike my dad, I cannot lay a book on a table and read that way. Even when I do use a counter or a bar, I have to use a wire book stand to hold it upright. 2) It's such a well worded thing that I've underlined much of it, which, if you have handwriting like Charlie Brown, is much neater to do with the Kindle.

I still have Philip Kerr's latest waiting for me, but I haven't really found the time to do that one. I'm now saving it for our trip down to see Amy's new niece next weekend in Missouri.

Bonzai Show

2010-07-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

We stopped in at the Arboretum Bonsai show. Fascinating to talk with some of the experts. We also met a local maker of bonsai tables.

Bridgeport through an iPhone

2010-07-17T13:05:00.001-07:00

Kimball

2010-07-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

There are not a lot of people teaching martial application for Tai Chi, which is a shame, because it can be very powerful. This is a short section of a form as executed by Paul Kimball in Bridgeport. I shot it with my iPhone, so it's not terribly clear, but it's clear enough. Note any lack of unnecessary flourish. Health club practitioners wouldn't get into it.

Visiting the master

2010-07-17T05:16:00.000-07:00

Today, make the drive to Bridgeport for an advanced tai chi lesson. I'm not an advanced tai chi guy, but the teacher certainly is. My tai chi has been on minimal life support for the past year, so I'm hoping this might kick it into gear a bit. I may be alone in this, but I happen to like the south side. It's far more interesting that the burbs. Not saying I'd want to have my wife there, but I like visiting on my own.

Friday off

2010-07-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today was a little rough. Someone the other day smashed my right rear car door, smearing it with their red paint, and then fled without leaving a note. I hate those people. This is the same as reaching into someone's wallet and extracting $500. After dealing with my insurance agency and determining that it would be better to just pay for it myself, I threw my bike on the back of the car and headed to the Arboretum where I pedaled in 90 degree heat for an hour. I go to Bridgeport tomorrow for some authentic tai chi. Looking forward to it.

Napping: the poor man's opera

2010-07-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

LA Theatre Works

2010-07-11T17:31:00.001-07:00

I've been periodically listening to LA Theatre Works, which produces radio plays. I've listened to Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, Shadowlands and a play about Frank Lloyd Wright called Work Song. Most recently, I listened to Top Secret, a play about the legal battle between the Washington Post and the Nixon Administration over the Pentagon Papers. Some of these have been pretty good.

I grew up with a weird bent toward radio drama and comedy. I've met people my age or younger who are hooked on old radio, and they're equally odd. I've since gone back and listened to several comedies only to discover that they were surprisingly bad. They did not trust America to get good humor and relied on some pretty hokey stuff. The format is good for drama, though, and some episodes of "Suspense" are positively terrifying. Radio leaves more to the imagination.

What easily breaks radio's fictional dream is awkward but necessary exposition to make up for not being able to see what the actors are physically doing and where they are. So a skillful weekly show like LA Theatre Works is most welcome to me. It uses great actors and focuses on some pretty interesting scripts, though Top Secret was more of a heavy handed re-enactment than a play. The ending to me was too obviously ripped from The Cain Mutiny in which the attorney who represents the heroes of the story then drunkenly admonishes them for being too delighted with their victory, warning them them of unconsidered consequences.

These things are great for the iPod and for playing in the car. Even if you have short commutes, like me, it's amazing how much time we spend in the car. You can get through an unabridged novel in a week or so.

coyote

2010-07-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

There is a split second between experiencing a surprise and contemplating it when everything slows down and I am of one mind. When fishing, it's just as a living thing strikes the other end of my line. When driving it's when a Chevy Suburban does a 720 across four lanes of black ice right in front of me on the way to the Kansas City Airport. Since I am never of one mind, I relish these milliseconds of clarity perhaps more than most. This morning it was a coyote. A sly looking 35 pounds of sallow brown fur and teeth. Amy had told me there was one skulking around the other day, which may be why my own surprise on stepping out the front door with the dogs was so brief.

We followed him at a distance of 30 yards or so. He showed a disconcerting lack of concern over the suburbanite and his soft dogs. Crumley and Iris pulled on their leashes and showed hackles and all of that, but they were quiet about it. I don't know if their lack of usual bravado betrayed an uneasiness with actually catching up with a wild thing or if they were reverting a more primal silent running. Or maybe it was simply curiosity.

He finally slipped between two townhouses and we resumed our walk. Later as I ate half a grapefruit and read the Sun-Times, Crumley let out three booming barks and I looked up through the patio door to see the same coyote trotting through the backyard. It makes sense. They're resourceful and found everywhere from Alaska to South America to Central Park. The Western Suburbs has millions of rabbits and squirrels, and we're near multiple forest preserves. It was fairly early so it's possible he'd been out night hunting and had gotten far away from his den and was now attempting to find his way back. I know these townhouses all look exactly the same to me.

Another Good Friday

2010-07-10T06:10:00.000-07:00

We took Friday to go downtown again this week. We started with lunch at Frontera Grill. If you get there about 20 minutes before they open at 11:30 a.m., you can get a table right away when they open. I had a duck that was to die for. Amy had pork tacos that were incredible. We've eaten at all three of Rick Bayless' restaurants located there--all astounding--but this is my favorite. I can eat that guy's food until I'm hospitalized.

We then went to the Field Museum, where they are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their Tyrannosaurus, Sue. I had been there another time for a fundraising ball, but I didn't realize how great the place was until Amy and I went yesterday. We took our time--which I normally hate to do--and saw just about every bit of the place. It's a very old school, Teddy Roosevelt natural history museum with thousands of mind blowing examples of taxidermy, much of it from the 19th century and early 20th. In fact, most of it seemed to be done before 1935, but they are so well preserved that they still look very much alive. I'll include a few here along with another of my choppy videos of the robot dinosaurs (which were actually very cool in person; they had motion detectors that allowed you to incense the robots).

Messing around

2010-07-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

iPhone sucks in that it is really great. I love messing around with it. About the same time we paid a pound of flesh for the Canon, I paid about $4 for an iPhone app called Hipstimatic that takes prematurely aged pictures, complete with 70s flares, etc. It's fun. This first, as an example, is exactly how a bar used to look to me at about 2 a.m.. (It's actually at Piece in Wicker Park last week.) The next two I snapped while waiting for Amy to get ready for her friend Dorian's wedding. The last is one of infinite times I have annoyed my wife.

Arboretum and the end of my weekend

2010-07-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

I don't really care for these steel root sculptures, but there is something Lovecraftian about them. Amy and I went to the Arboretum today and messed around for a bit before going to the mall in Oak Brook, which is my favorite. I played with the camera, and Amy was very patient. I really need to sign up for a camera class and begin figuring out the other 99.9999 percent of how this things works.

Ficus alert

2010-07-05T17:34:00.000-07:00

The photo to the left is NOT my ficus, but one I lifted from a local website. I'm guessing it's reasonably mature because the trunk looks thicker.

My own ficus is not doing terribly well, which is distressing, but I've got plans. I'm looking up everything I can on it and making sure the soil never completely dries out, at the same time not over watering it. I'm also going to my first Bonsai society meeting, which, as luck would have it, actually meets at my place of work about two buildings away. So ideally, they'll have more info for me.

Right now my ficus sits in a very sunny window. It's not supposed to be in temps less than 65 degrees, and I noticed an air conditioning vent nearby, so I'm covering the vent with a towel.

I also found a pretty good Bonsai website called Bonsaigardener.

Grandma's 90th

2010-07-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

I attempted to use my Canon Rebel T2i to capture some video of my grandmother's 90th birthday party last month. I then tried cobbling some of the pieces together using a simple software option that came with the camera. Was sort of like using a croquet mallet and phillips head screwdriver to shape a diamond. The ultra-choppy result is that I've visually mangled a very nice event. Too many more of these and Canon is going to demand their camera back, lest I drive away business. Thank you again, Judy, for organizing all of this. It was a really good time.

Myopic Books

2010-07-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

Completely forgot that while in Wicker Park, we came across Myopic Books. Not as edgy as I'd hoped from the street (I don't really know that for sure, as we weren't there long) but nice people and a good collection that I could have browsed for some time if we didn't have a movie to get to.

Good times

2010-07-03T06:06:00.000-07:00

I spent the early morning Friday entertaining the dogs with a 3 mile walk while I listened to "Gentlemen of the Road" by Michael Chabon. This was followed by fussing over my bonsai trees and repotting for the first time an old, long-armed green leafed house plant that has refused to give up on my in the 10 years I have owned it and moved it from home to home, city to city, job to job.

I then did some actual work at the computer for a couple of hours, afterwhich Amy and I had a good Chicago Friday. We went downtown for lunch at ate in Wicker Park at Piece Brewery and Pizza, which is a New Haven style pizza place owned (or partially owned, I'm not sure) by the lead singer of Cheap Trick--thus there are a few ridiculous multi-necked electric guitars from his famous collection cast about a slightly smug loft environment. Our service was very good. I ate a gigantic amount of pizza and spent the rest of the day nursing ginger tea trying to get over it.

The Pizza is very good and, for Amy, a true relief, as she does not care for Chicago deep dish and apparently never will. The New Haven style is a flat but chewy wheat crust, someone bubbled and with light use of sauce. I personally like it very much, and it's a nice change from the
cheese-bucket-o-heart-attacks you get at Gino's, Giordano's, Milano's, crappy Pizzas Uno and Due, etc. We started with their guacamole and chips and then had a medium pepperoni and mushroom.

Then, we were off to Landmark Cinema in Lincoln Park to see Cyrus, a new sad comedy with John C. Reilly as a lonely guy who finds the perfect girlfriend (Marisa Tomei) only to walk into the buzz saw of her neurotic 22-year-old son (placed so well by Jonah Hill that he's possibly my new favorite actor). The entire cast is awesome, and we loved the movie.

They made very nice use of a technique I see sometimes in movies from the late 60s and early 70s in which you listen to the characters talk to each other while watching film of them doing something else together like laughing or drinking wine. It's effect can be magical. I can't think of an original example but Faye Dunaway comes to mind.

So what can I say? It was a good day ended with a lot of reading and too much sleep. It's now Saturday, and I have nothing pulling me in any particular direction. My dogs are fed. My wife is sleeping in. I have a kindle with great books on it. I did some tai chi and now hope to primarily laze and perhaps read at the Morton Arboretum. It doesn't get much better than this for me. I didn't even mention seeing Winter's Bone the other night. It will surely be nominated for best picture next year.

Monday

2010-06-28T05:41:00.000-07:00

Been trying to get in three miles in the mornings with the dogs. Sometimes less, but always fast. They seem to appreciate this. As soon as we get back, they eat and crash.

Back to work after a good weekend. Amy and I went all over the place and had a great time.

The bonsai seem to be doing well. On reviewing the photos I took, I realized the new camera actually caught a spider web on one of them that I hadn't seen myself. Stepped outside and brushed it off.

So, off to work. I may be odd in that I tend to like Mondays, perhaps because I like my job.

The New Interest

2010-06-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

I have had more hobbies than I'd like to admit at this point, but this seems like a worthwhile addition to the house. Amy gave me the juniper, and we bought the ficus yesterday from a very pleasant bonsai enthusiest at a nursery in Hinsdale yesterday.

Good Morning!

2010-06-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

I'm still too much of a wimp to figure out the good software that came with my new camera, so I'm using Microsoft Office Picture. Still comes out fairly well.

2010-05-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

Went to the Coupeville Memorial Day Parade today. First pic below is my uncle Jim. Also saw random animals and cute kids. Forgot it gets cold and rainy here, or at least didn't think about it after having a week or two of unseasonably steamy weather in Chicago.

On the Beach

2010-05-23T15:53:00.001-07:00

Watching "On the Beach" (1959) with Anthony Perkins, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire and Ava Gardner. I came across it after reading the novel by Nevil Shute, which I'd heard about when reading of people other writers enjoyed.

It's a good book and a good movie. A sad reminder also that Anthony Perkins deserved far better than the "Psycho" typecast.

The premise: Nuclear war has wiped out the northern hemisphere. The only continent left unharmed is Australia, but the nuclear fallout is blowing south. It's just a matter of four or five months before the Australians die from radiation poisoning.

People are still leading their lives despite perfect knowledge they will die soon. Young couples with newborns, bibulous middle-aged fools, farmers continuing to tend land and animals. That's the backdrop. An American nuclear sub that made it to Australia after the war is sent up the American west coast to explore a random radio signal.

It might have resonated with me a little more than it should have due to the the oil nimbi roiling their way toward our southern coasts. It's rendered dispassionately in the book and fairly so in the movie, which was shot is a rough black and white. I can't imagine a movie about rational, comely, normal adults facing death fairing well in today's market. No explosions. No action. Just life ending.

Sunday

2010-05-09T18:57:00.001-07:00

Went to Morton Arboretum this evening with Amy and the new camera. Very relaxing. Been a good weekend. Saw Iron Man 2, which wasn't a disaster, saw Joel McHale at the Chicago Theatre, read half a good novel.

Small and Xoco

2010-04-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

Amy and I went downtown late this morning to see an exhibit at the Nicole Gallery on Huron and East Illinois. We had seen the artist Willard Wigan showcased on CBS Sunday Morning. He's an Englishman who makes sculpture so small you have to use microscopes to see his work. Far from being a silly novelty, the effect is fantastical. My two favorites were Charlie Chaplin balancing on the end of a human eyelash and the church.

Please stop to consider how the church was constructed. He pulverized a single grain of sand and rebuilt it as a replica of a church near Gloucester on a dare from his girlfriend. He then placed it in the eye of a needle. It's not just a shtick. We both were delighted with his works and with the gallery itself and its operator.

A cynic would probably ask why Wigan makes these tiny pieces that can't be seen with the naked eye. The same cynic would probably ask why Philippe Petit walked a tightrope between the Twin Trade towers in 1974. I'm no esoteric artist, but it seems to me that if you have to ask...Anyway, I felt as if I were playfully taken to the edge of a mystery, playfully.

We then went down to Clark and ate at Rick Bayless' new fast food place, Xoco. Two sandwiches, three churros, some chips and guac, two Mexican cocoas later and $43 lighter, we could barely walk. No complaints. There was the expected hour wait to get in and and another 20 minutes to order and sit down, but Xoco's is a well run place, and I'd go back. Though I prefer Frontera Grill.

My life

2010-02-16T11:29:00.000-08:00

consists of work, school, wife, dogs, home.

Kindle is still the greatest invention ever.

The wife and I go to Mexico at the end of March!!!

2009-12-16T08:01:00.001-08:00

I have written about this before, I think. The steam punk thing leaves me cold, but I do love how they've worked (obsessively) to integrate computers into other fixtures. The transformation of this old music box into a laptop is just astounding to me. My own dream would be to turn a 1930s-1950s portable typewriter into a laptop.

Knut

2009-12-13T08:37:00.000-08:00

So there is a whole world of free e-books out there by authors whose copywrites have expired. Most of it, I won't have much to do with, but I stumbled across Knut Hamsun, Norwegian writer, the other other night. He wrote from the late 18th centuryh to the mid-19th century and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920 for Growth of the Soil.

I only know of the fellow from reading Henry Miller in my early 20s. I seemed to remember that he had an enormous, perhaps unmatched, respect for Hamsun as an artist. I filed this away but had no time or inclination to read many artists. This would have taken time and mental application, of which I had little of either. Now, though, I have a Kindle. Suddenly, almost as readily as breathing, I can download a classic novel. So yesterday I decided to find out what Miller and these Nobel guys found so interesting. I downloaded Growth of the Soil from the free e-book site, moved it into a folder on my Kindle, and I was off. I assumed I'd read a bit of the dry book, realize there was no way I'd read an entire epic Scandanavian novel, and put it down never to finish. That was around 8 p.m. I went to bed last night at about 4 a.m. having read about a third of it. What tremendous stuff this is. (And I hate, absolutely loathe books about homesteading. I find them boring to the point of deadness.) I don't want to reveal much of it, but we follow a rough man as he builds a farm from the point of breaking virgin ground in the Norwegian Highlands. He takes a wife, has children. His farm slowly bears fruit. He suffers reversals quietly, life continues.

There is not so much a plot as there is an impressionistic tableau unreeling before us like the paper music of a player piano. The book makes me highly uncomfortable because I keep wanting to turn away as Isac patiently endures life. Death of children, encroachment of others, infidelity, being taken advantage of by people who know more than him. But so far, he keeps progressing without complaint. Breaking and tilling his land, moving with the seasons, never showing greed or sloth, enduring foibles of others without hate.

It's this last that makes me so uncomfortable while reading. How Isac is so able to suffer others without lashing out is beyond me. I find myself mentally dancing on the sidelines wishing I could step in as his agent to help him avoid the wrong people who would take advantage of his hard work. I am at once tempted to turn away and to skip ahead to see what happened. I'm no longer as enamoured of Henry Miller, and I think I would now find his fictional self irritating and shallow. Fun but basically a no account. Maybe I will enjoy him again later. I don't know.

Kindle

2009-12-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

My dear wife gave me a Kindle 2 for my birthday a couple of weeks ago, and it's stone cold awesome. I had assumed that I wouldn't want one of these readers, that it would be just reading a computer screen, which I do most of the day. But this thing is great. It has 19 shades of gray in the screen and uses some kind of "ink font" that comes across more like charcoal on paper than computer font. And I can take and save notes right in the book.

Further, I downloaded the Kindle application for my iPhone, and can now read a book for a while on my iPhone, close it and then open it again on the Kindle itself , where it "whispersyncs" to the page I'd left off. My only complaint is the "experimental section." It supposedly plays music, but it only plays MP3s, not MP4s. I don't want to bother trying to figure out how to convert music just to put it on another device. Better to just listen to an iPod while reading.

The danger of course is that books, just about any new book, are not only a severely reduced prices, but they download in roughly 60 seconds or less.

So far I've picked up seven books. Most recently, I bought Paul Auster's "Invisible." Deceptively elegant book. The only other thing I've read by Auster is New York Trilogy. I finished "Invisible" on the train downtown this morning. Tremendous book.

Blacksad

2009-10-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

What's not to love here? He's a 1950s private eye in a harsh, commie witch hunt world. He's a World War II Vet. And he's a cat. Blacksad is a Spanish graphic novel series that is first written in French, then Spanish and then translated into other languages , one of them English. I've never heard of it before, but I saw that Dark Horse is publishing one of their books. I will have to check this out.

Bite the Bullet

2009-10-04T07:04:00.000-07:00

I had recorded several Gene Hackman movies on DVR a few weeks ago and never bothered to watch them. Last night I finally played Bite the Bullet with Hackman, Candace Bergen and James Coburn. Ninety-five percent of this movie was exciting and genuinely moving. Great for the new flatscreen. It's about a 700-mile horse race sponsored by the press around the turn of the last century in the southwest.

Above all, it's a good story about some very likable people, but they do make quiet allusions to aspects of the year it came out (1970). Hackman's character is gently chided for being "un-American" for not really caring who wins. It's mentioned about half way through that Hackman and Coburn are both former Rough Riders, and neither seem particularly impressed by Roosevelt's bombastic call through the papers for them to remember San Juan Hill.

This has to be one of the first and best movies that both addresses and depicts how cruel people can be to dumb animals. Some of the scenes of overworking horses will wreck you if you're not prepared for them.

It goes briefly zany near the end with Candace Bergen's subplot (her hair and the scenes with her boyfriend break the era in that Bo Derek/Tarzn kind of way). The movie would have been better without it but is too good to be derailed.

What struck me though was that this forgotten movie (forgotten only in the sense I'd never heard of it) might speak better to our times right now than it did then. I had caught myself thinking how odd it was that Hollywood continued making all of these great movies, and people kept flocking to them, while Vietnam raged and our people were dying in a losing war. And just this morning I read that we lost eight soldiers in a surprise attack by militia in Afghanistan.

Beyond Vietnam, what resonated even more for me was that the race is sponsored by a newspaper, which meets with the contestants every night and telegraphs the events to the rest of the avidly watching world. I don't know how that part of this movie might have resonated in 1970, but it seems only more pertinent now with our country's sad addiction to reality television--the chance for anyone, no matter their quality, to feel fame.

2009-10-03T11:13:00.001-07:00

Oh, I know many people wanted the Olympics in Chicago, and I do feel badly for them. I personally was not one of them.

Hello?

2009-10-03T11:03:00.001-07:00

So. It's been a while. In fact, I nearly forgot my passcode to get into my blogs. I had to close my eyes and just do the physical motion of typing to remember it.

Been a heck of a summer. I am in my second to last round of classes and will be done with my entire master's degree by March 11. In the middle of all this, I've been working hard at the new job (which I do thoroughly enjoy), eating like a pig and not exercising very much. To remedy that, I'm resuming my daily gym routine. The ankle will never be 100 percent, and I have to just get past that by sticking with the bike, elliptical, etc.

Amy's in Palmyra this weekend for our niece's second birthday. She's then in St. Louis for a huge concert. I am home. I have found a great tai chi class near where Amy and I have moved and do that every Saturday, which I did this morning. Then went to gym. Then came home. It's my intention to read, nap, pick up the house and then do some actual work.

I just got word from a former colleague that she was let go. I felt both bad and happy for her. She is much, much better off now.

Moby

2009-08-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

My radio friend, Pete, hooked me up with Moby's latest album, Wait For Me. I have to admit that I'm smitten with his stuff. When it comes to pop music, I've never been much of a lyrics guy. With very few exceptions, I prefer being affected sonically. This guy's got the touch. Really worth it. Two or three songs didn't have to be in there but Division and Study War are two of my faves now. I believe he might be playing at the Vic, which just might tempt me to go see an actual show.

Go Bill

2009-08-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/world/asia/05korea.html?_r=1&hp

Hard Case T-Shirts

2009-06-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

My favorite noir publisher, Hard Case Crime, has licensed several of their most salacious book covers to be put on T-shirts. I thought they would be cool, but I'm not so sure, based on the final product. They don't really seem to be doing anything to incorporate the cover into the shirt, so it sort of looks slapped on. Here is a link to the site.

2009-06-21T07:07:00.001-07:00

I loathe weddings for the most part. Not because I am a grouch, but because they are so rarely sincere. Between being an alter boy, my time in the band (where I was attached by a drunk father-of-the-bride) and then as the dutiful boyfriend/husband, I have been to more than my share. People lose their way and become outwardly focused instead of hanging on to the simple fact two people are going to be spending their lives together. Between being an alterboy, my time in the band and then as the dutiful boyfriend/husband, I have been to more than my share. Amy and I eloped, and it was amazing.

The wedding last night in a Missouri Synod Lutheran church followed by a reception on an acre of lawn cut from a soybean field in verdant New Haven, Missouri, was absolutely unique in its planning and purity of intent. The bride, Amy's friend Natalie, conveyed a rare appreciation for the very best and most beautiful aspects of rural America. It was the most thoughtfully planned and lovely wedding I have ever seen. It's tempting to list individual aspects, but taken out of context, they wouldn't do. Natalie and her family harmonized food, music, design and a loving spirit into an event meaningful to everyone who attended. It will stand alone, I'm sure, for most as one of the only perfect weddings.

Big days

2009-06-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

I've in the middle of my second week on the new position. It seems to be going well, though, for the first time, I'm really seeing that I only have so many hours in a day. I finally put another aspect of David Allen's book, Getting Things Done, into practice. His basic concept is that one must keep one's head as free of small items to remember as possible.

Thus when something comes up that will have to be dealt with at some point in my in box, I try to either 1) Deal with it if it takes two minutes or less, 2) delegate it if appropriate to do so, or 3) File it in a manner that I am comfortable that I know to deal with it later. This is keeping my Outlook inbox on zero messages these days, which is a great help. Why? Because according to Allen, and he's right, our conscious mind is like the RAM on our computer. It can only handle so many things at once before it begins to stutter and fail. If you keep your ram free to focus on tasks at hand, you will deal with those tasks more effectively.

So this led to the next stage for me, the "43 Folders," which has become something of a cult in the United States. There was a nice NPR story about it a year or two ago. The idea is that you have a tickler filing system of 43 folders--one for every day of the month and every month of the year. I in fact own a label maker.

The thing is that this actually works. I have never been much of a self-help guy, but this is an easy system that can be used a little or a lot. The end result is that your head is clearer and calmer than before.

Mary Poppins

2009-06-06T15:01:00.001-07:00

At Amy's suggestion, we went to see Mary Poppins at the Palace Cadillac last night. My feelings about the show were complicated. I admit a strong prejudice against this horrible trend of taking successful motion pictures and turning them into Broadway shows in order to ensure the return on investment. However in this case, they did change the story a fair amount and added in more of a storyline.

The care they took with the sets and costumes was amazing, as was the chorus. The main characters, particularly Bert and the kids were played extremely well, as was the father, who was always my favorite character from the movie and became mine in the play after a rough start.

The first act was too long. No way around it. It needed to be compressed. Overly long scenes in which very little actually happened, despite the lovely moving statuary in the park and other effects, it was too long of a set up.

The second act, which was shorter, darker and lively, saved the show for me. 1) Things began to happen dramatically: the arrival of the evil nanny, children running away, jobs possibly lost. 2)The chimney sweep scene on the rooftops really was a showstopper with Bill doing a dazzling up to the ceiling of the theater.

For me the best part was that it became clearer that the writers had taken pains to heighten the stakes a bit. In the movie, the father is a good man who's lost site of what really matters and is at risk of permanently alienating his children. Here we (and his family) learn that he was in fact raised by a ghoul of a woman who caused him psychological harm (and scared the crap out of me for a moment during her introduction).

Also, unless I'm just reading too much into family entertainment, the writers seem to be suggesting a bit more about Mary Poppins. There are allusions to the gods of Greek Mythology, voodoo, immortality, angels, the stars. She and Bert share an affection to each other, but it's understood that they really can't be together.

I guess I like the show better today than during the actual viewing.