esprit de l'escalier

Good music with an old friend

Libby and I went to see Josh Ritter open for Jamie Cullum tonight at the Vic (one of my favorite venues). Josh and his most excellent band rocked out, as always. Their set was so short! Yes, they were opening, but I still want more. One of the first songs they played was "You Don't Make it Easy Babe", which I refer to as a "pantyslider" song. (Have you ever read a Widow for One Year?) Anyhow, it's a great song, but definitely gets the girls all atwitter. The guys were in great form with tons of energy. Again, much too short. Between sets Libs and I made our way to the lobby to get our hugs from the man. As ever, he's great in person, talking to all of the fans and signing things and taking photos. We chatted with him and Libby got a kiss on the cheek!

We decided to stick around and check out all of the fuss for Jamie Cullum. Plus the first of our whiskeys had put us in a friendly state of mind and we thought they needed to be followed up by another double apiece. Whiskey-fueled, I chased down Zack Hickman, Josh's bass player (and sometime tubist). I told him his look was very Colonel Sanders does Disco, which I don't think he took the wrong way. He was nice enough to pose for a picture:

I'm not certain I'll ever buy a Jamie Cullum album, and I didn't love his yuppie Lincoln Park fanbase, but the man is a great entertainer. His dirty mop-topped hair and frenetic personality definitely had the women in the audience giggling and singing along and all the men wishing they were him. He was all over the stage, getting people to sing-a-long, breaking into random covers (that were great). He will be forever endeared to me for his rendition of "But Not For Me"— which I adore (he's no Chet Baker, but he did a good job). And the man can scat, actually pretty well. There were snippets of Snow Patrol, Jimi Hendrix, jazz standards, Garbage, Radiohead and more. It was a fun show.

I realized during the concert that Libby and I have now known each other for 7 years. Seven years have passed since we were awkard freshmen moving into our dorm rooms—how funny to think of all that has passed between then and now. We spent the ride home and a while back in my apartment shouting out things from that year and looking at old pictures. We looked so little back then.

Tomorrow I will put in links. (Done.) Now to bed.

Diner heaven

A couple of days ago I wrote about how all I wanted to do was hang out in a diner and enjoy some pie and coffee. Monsieur Lance asked me when I like to visit diners. I am up to visit a diner at any time of day. I love what diners have to offer: patty melts, cole slaw, diner coffee (ie: not too strong), pie, fresh donuts, camraderie, people watching, pickles. Today I found the diner I want to go to when I die. Or at least any time I'm in the vicinity of Madison. It's the Koffee Kup in Stoughton, in the shadow of the marvelously restored Stoughton Opera House. According to a Stoughton website, it is the longest running restaurant in town.

It was also the source of a dream come true for me. Behold:

I was so happy. The cherry pie made the weekend. Yes, we did go see Josh Ritter and his band play the night before, which was great, but the cherry pie brought tears of joy to my eyes. I go through life almost continually unsatisfied gastronomically and to have a dream fulfilled is a beautiful thing.

I had a nice quick trip to Madison— always nice to see my uncle and aunt and corgi cousins. Here's a peek of Belle and Bix as we are turning into a favorite play area for them, the fish park. More pictures here.

How I've become a little OCD

Buckingham Fountain
Originally uploaded by clairehelene7.

I'm not a woman who plans well. I believe plans are mere guidelines and can and should be thrown out as needed. This is probably evident in my haphazard approach to dressing myself every morning. This week, however, there is a little growth in my personhood. I have been haranguing a couple of my professors in my master's program about the rest of the year's schedule. (This is partially due to the fact that I'm scheming to take a big trip off the continent over my spring break and want to figure out dates so I can buy a plane ticket.)

Anyhow, I've become a little OCD about it, and two of these poor profs have received many prodding emails from me. Thanks to this, though, I have figured out my academic schedule up to this summer. Once I take all of those classes I have two classes left, and one of those is a required capstone class. There is one class that is left to chance. Isn't that nuts? I can barely plan to have enough food for the week. My life is now planned. SCARY.

The picture above is from my lunchtime walk in Grant Park today.

Damn fine cup of coffee

Today is a day where you want to find a clean brightly lit diner, sit at the counter, sip on coffee, pick at some cherry pie and do a crossword puzzle. I had to settle for a quick run to Dunkin Donuts for a donut instead.

The stars are aligned against me

Uh-oh, today could be a blessing or a curse (according to my Yahoo horoscope):

Your imagination is running amok. In some ways, this torrent of ideas is fantastic— you're getting inspiration for all of your projects. In other ways, it's not. Watch out for paranoia-infused notions. Find balance.

Note to self: no coffee today. Caffeine would only further fuel the paranoia!!

Beautiful Chicago Saturday

Yesterday I had a wonderful Chicago Saturday. The weather was beautiful (if a bit too warm) and it involved the Renegade Craft Fair in Wicker Park. I had been looking forward to this for a while, because it meant I was going to meet Ashley G of Kitty Genius in person (she's great, although a cramped vendor booth is not the optimal place to friend some one). I went with my crafty friend Shana (who had a booth last year) and we both spent more money than we had originally intended. I bought a print from Jaime Zollars, whose art I have been admiring for quite a while (though I can't remember how I found her originally, probably somehow through Tiny Showcase). She's also really nice— it was really neat to be able to talk to the artists, since I'm so used to looking at their work online. Shana and I both bought something from Jill Bliss, who is really great. Inside I was squealing like a teenaged fan because I think she's so great. I bought a datebook from her and she signed it for me (because I am such a nerd). I had my camera with me to take pictures of the fair but felt my nerdiness too acutely to take photos.

Shana and I lunched at Earwax (which has the flashiest website I've ever seen for a cafe/dvd rental place) and ended our afternoon with bubble tea. Fantastic.

The night included a viewing of Half Nelson at the Music Box. The movie was well made and heartbreaking. The main characters were played by Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps and they were marvelous. It's not a movie to wrap up things neatly or to give you an ending to have the audience walk out pleased with themselves and the moral of the film, but it's one that had my friend Allison and I talking about continually through our evening. It's a movie that makes you think without beating you on the head with it. Plus, Gosling, even as a basehead, is so pretty. As is Anthony Mackie, who seems to be sneaking into lots of films lately and is just great.

Cat napping

Pritzker Pavilion
Originally uploaded by clairehelene7.

I took a late lunch today and after some errands I found myself in Millenium Park, stretched on the grass beneath the criss-crossing overstructure of Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion. (Amazingly the grass was dry after the last few days of rain.)

Forget what I said about welcoming the fall (I firmly believe it is human nature to hold conflicting thoughts at once), give me the warmth of a blue-skyed September day instead. And I forgot my camera, again. I would have liked to have taken a self-portrait in the moment—even with my frizzy ponytailed hair and dark rimmed eyes. It was a nice Chicago moment, with the faint rumbling of construction, traffic and murmuring tourists in the background.

(The photo is from October 2004.)

Setting the bar a little higher

It may be rainy and horrible out (with me still needing to move my car due to street cleaning), but I awoke to news that made me smile. (It's not often that NPR at 6:45 am makes me smile, not that I don't love it.)

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation to bring the Green Revolution to Africa. Yes, I often curse Microsoft for Word doing screwy things on me, but I admire and appreciate so much what the Gates Foundation is doing to make this world a better place. According to the press release, 16 of the 18 most undernourished countries are in Africa. The partnerships first iniatives will include:

Breeding better crops that are adapted to the variety of local conditions in Africa. The goal is to develop 100 new varieties in five years.

Training African breeders and agricultural scientists who can spearhead this process in the future.

Guaranteeing reliable ways to get high-quality, locally adapted seeds into the hands of small farmers, through seed companies, public organizations, and a network of 10,000 agro-dealers, the small merchants largely responsible for providing supplies and knowledge to Africa’s farmers.

I think this an ambitious but wonderful project.

A pair of tights

Today is the first time I have worn tights in a very long time. My roommate is not happy that tights weather is upon us and has been complaining loudly to this effect for sometime now. I just keep rolling my eyes and telling her to get a sweater or something. Personally, I'm looking forward to fall and frankly don't mind winter that much. I miss my jackets and scarves. Once I got outside this morning, though, I realized that the tights weren't really necessary, but they really tie the outfit together, so so be it.

I am dressed nicer today than I am on most days (a nice knit top with skirt and tights as opposed to my t-shirt with pants and sneakers of my everyday). This is because I foresaw this as being a difficult day. I like to dress up on days I feel like shit or the days I think are going to be shit. It's my way of trying to force balance in the world.

My friend, Aimee, has a similar belief. On the last day of her spring quarter we met up for drinks. I had expected her casually dressed as she had had a four hour exam earlier in the day. There she was, however, resplendent in a suit and perfectly coiffed hair. So very Aimee to wear a suit to an exam. She says she likes to dress for success. I admire that in her, though I prefer elastic waists for tests.

Anyhow, I was hoping I'd be able to nip my problems in the bud, but I don't think that's going to be the case. Shit.

UPDATE: I seemed to have pre-emptively freaked out for nothing. I think all is well.

Birds on the L and other news

My L stop is not what I would call the nicest in the city of Chicago. It's certainly not the worst or scariest (I think that distinction belongs to the Wilson Red Line stop), but when it rains, there is a torrent of water that rushes through the building. Entirely through the building, making the CTA employees cordon off half of the entrance because of the rushing water. And what makes me happiest is at the top of the stairs on the platform where the water drips and falls over and through the light fixture. While it's lit. So now I can add electrocution to my list of possible deaths. But that's not what I meant to talk about, it's just been a pet peeve or at least a source of bewildered amusement for me lately.

This morning, as I reached the top of the stairs to the platform, I saw a man sitting on the bench. The man had something in his hands, pressed near his face, and he was cooing. He had a cockateel in his hands and was whispering sweet nothings to it. I didn't see a cage any where near him, so I thought I would move farther down the platform (I try not to engage with crazies on the CTA if I can avoid it). Then he let the bird hop around his shoulders. I made sure not to get in the same car, because the commute is long enough without a bird flying around my head.

This wasn't the first time I have seen birds on public transportation. About a month or so ago, my roommate and I boarded the Broadway bus to sit next to a young man with a cage with two freaked out parakeets. I asked if I could take a picture of them with my phone, because at that point I didn't think I'd see pet birds on the CTA again. They weren't his, he was doing his friend a favor because her apartment was being fumigated. Everyone who got on made comments about them, because they were hopping about and squawking. I started answering for him, because I thought it was funny and he was clearly embarassed. Public transportation is rarely boring if you keep your eyes and ears open.

In other news, I heard wonderful news from my friend Stacey the other day. She got a job offer in San Francisco and is moving there in a couple of weeks! This is really exciting, because she's been struggling with not loving where she had been living, out in southeastern Washington. I'm excited because suddenly I have three friends to visit there, which means I will be planning a trip very soon. Congrats Stacey!!

UPDATE: It's also been about a year since New York Hack started her blog about driving a cab in NYC. I love reading about her experiences, it's really fascinating. She also has a book coming out, which I can't wait to read.

ALSO: Briana is back from her blog break. YAY!