esprit de l'escalier

Oh my goodness

Hi guys. I spent the weekend with this cutie in Chicago. I'm lucky, huh? He's a charmer. We sang a *lot* of songs, jumped in some puddles, read stories, gave lots of hugs. He and his mom, Elaine, are moving to Germany next month, meeting up with his dad, George. I get to see him and Elaine once more before they go, in Michigan for his birthday, but this was our last Chicago hang out for quite some time. Bittersweet.

I also got to see a couple of other good friends for some marathon catch up sessions. I never seem to have enough time when I visit.

I'm feeling a little sad today. I think it partially has to do with my friends leaving and partially has to do with me not getting enough sleep for several nights, but I haven't felt my normal enthusiastic self. I wish I could get some more of those Ben hugs. To make me feel a bit better, I thought I'd leave you with a couple of photos from June that are making me smile.

30th post!

It's my 30th post in 30 days! I hope you've enjoyed it. I don't think I can keep up the pace any more, but I think I'm back in the blogging swing of things. Today I went kayaking on the Chicago River with a bunch of friends. The weather turned out to be perfect for it - warm and sunny with some wind. It was so much fun! (My nose and forearms are a little pink and I am a little sore. Totally worth it.) Afterwards, the eight of us went to Goose Island brewery and ravenously ate and drank yummy, yummy beer.

Below are a couple of shots I took with my phone from river. What a fun way to see the city! Thanks again Natasha for the excellent suggestion!

Some photo links

I am slowly getting the hang of my new job. I have met a lot of people, sat in on a lot of meetings, and read a lot of information. My brain and my body are no longer used to the 5 day work week, but we're all slowly adjusting. I have noticed a couple of photo-related items recently that I'd like to share.

The Art Institute of Chicago has two great sounding photo shows. One just opened, the Henri Cartier-Bresson show, which I believe Kathleen went to see and raved about to me. I really want to see this.

I'd also like to see this Louis Sullivan exhibit. Long-time readers will remember that I am quite the fan of Sullivan. The exhibit features photos by John Szarkowski (I have one of his book that I love - great Half Price Books find), Aaron Siskind, and Richard Nickel. Nickel is another favorite of mine, I have one of his books as well. You can read about his tragic ending here. (Plus one of my favorite Chicago moments was during the opening weekend of Millennium Park, listening to Ira Glass do a live show of This American Life recounting Nickel's story to a Chris Ware cartoon.) I hope I can get to Art Institute soon.

I saw this story about Rich Clarkson, one of the most influential photojournalists in this country, on NPR and had to send it on to some people. Click through if only to look at the photo slide show. Great stuff.

Also, you know what happens this week? The Impossible Project's new color film comes out. In the words of one of my twitter friends, squee!

Lake Michigan

My favorite way of driving into Chicago from the east is to come over the Skyway and get off at Stony Island and wind my way through Hyde Park, ending up on Lake Shore Drive at the Museum of Science and Industry. That way I can maximize my time driving along Lake Michigan. I always seem to breathe deeper when I get to that last leg of my journey, looking at its jewel tones and the ever-approaching skyline.

Here are some shots from a bit further north from the museum, taken at Foster Beach in early July with my new-to-me Yashica Mat.

Things to share

It has been a while since I posted and I apologize. Last week I drove over to Chicago to spend some time with friends. Most of my photos from that are on various film cameras, which will be discussed in later posts, but I have somethings to share, via a list and some photos. 

My long weekend included:

• A road trip 
• Visits to the park
• Silly polaroids
• Pimm's with George
• Dinners and drinks with dear friends
• Figuring out a new camera
• An afternoon at Foster Beach (and a wicked sunburn to prove it)
• Meeting a flickr friend who has been leading a somewhat parallel life to mine
• Lots of talking (go figure)
• Photo walk with my photo mentor
• Some singing (to myself in the car and to my godson Ben)
• BBQs in 2 states on my way home (in Indy and Columbus)
• Corn on the cob, brought freshly picked by the person who grew it 
• Watermelon
• Playing around with sparklers, a tripod, and long exposures

I missed fireworks and parades, but it was fun.

New year road trip

I rang in the new year with a quick road trip to Chicago with these two ladies. We visited with my friends, soaked in some football, felt the Chicago cold, saw Jens Lekman play the Empty Bottle, crammed ourselves and our winter gear in a photobooth for the photo above, went to sleep, braved the Chicago cold again, had brunch, and returned again. Lots of laughing and fun involved - even some pie. Here's to a splendid 2010!

Weekend polaroids

Guess where I am

It's not that hard. My visit is brief, and I'm en route to Wisconsin.

New year, new hair

I'm in Chicago again to ring in the new year.  There have been all sorts of travel mishaps for me and for some of my friends (including one of my hostesses, who finally just arrived from South Dakota!).  Luckily there are lots of people who are willing to let me sleep on their couches (even when they are not home).

I had some time to kill yesterday afternoon and found myself getting a haircut.  It was much needed - the last one was in September.  I called too late to go to my old friend Aime - she's popular and books up fast - so I just did a walk-in some place in Lincoln Square.  I love the flippiness of a new haircut - I can never straighten it like this on my own.

Anyways, I want to thank all my friends and readers who visit this space.  This year hasn't been my most prolific as a blogger, but you all still keep coming back.  Thank you.  I love the communities I visit and thank you for letting me be a part of it all.  Next year my friend Sharon and I are planning to each do a photo every day.  I'll probably be posting many of them here, and always on Flickr.

2009 is feels full of possibility for me.  God willing I'll be able to get a job when I graduate grad school in June (if you know of any urban planners looking to hire - I come with good papers!).  Hopefully the economy will pick up enough for that.  I could be in a very different place (geographically) in six months, and I'm kind of excited for the change and the new beginnings.  

Happy new year!

Couch surfing horoscope

I'm in Chicago for the week! After a day of driving hell! (And no, I don't want to talk about it!)

But I'm here, have already eaten lovely things with lovely people.  I'm still trying to figure out my plans for the week, but at least know the couches I'm sleeping on through Friday.  I was concerned, however, to read my horoscope this morning:

Taurus (4/20-5/20)
Your life is more intertwined with other people's lives than you realize right now, so don't think that your actions won't have domino-like repercussions. The choices you make, from how much eau de cologne to put on in the morning to where you do your grocery shopping, has an impact on other people. So be cautious about where you vent your frustrations -- and how you vent them. If small things make a difference, then big things like anger could do a lot of damage.

It's good to be reminded that it's important to be a good, sensitive guest.  Luckily I'm flitting about enough no one should really get too tired of me.