Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/30/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/29/10

The Daley Center at lunchtime.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/28/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/27/10

That's a lot of jumps--about 424 more than I could do at this point.

Superbadfriend's Art Show

There was quite a wonderful turnout Friday night for Superbadfriend's art show reception Friday night. I got a chance to meet people whose names I've heard for years without having faces to put to them and see some old friends for the first time in a while.

Oh, and there were many fab paintings, too.

I would post more photos, but my camera is a little iffy on close-up shots of art, so many of my pictures are crap. You can go to Superbadfriend's bloggity to see more shots of her work as well as the amazingly intricate pen-and-ink work of British artist Christopher Guest, who joined the party via Skype.

And this? Is the dark chocolate brownie I had there. The plate originally had two forks--when I ordered it, Superbadfriend's husband was ordering food as well, and the server put two forks on the plate in the assumption that we were a couple. (That happens a lot when I'm hanging with friends, whether said friends are female or male.) Don't know what happened to the other fork, though. Maybe it found its way to the plate of an actual couple?

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/26/10

What do you do when the power goes out on a windy, rainy Saturday night right in the middle of your weekly viewing of Doctor Who? You light some candles (like I wouldn't have done that anyway) and hope for the best. "The best," in this case, turned out to be three hours--just in time for the rebroadcast of Doctor Who on BBC America. Yay!

Because I Have the Maturity Level of a 12-year-old...

I found myself giggling when, while looking for the exact location of Superbadfriend's art show, I found, on nearby Goose Island, the intersection of Cherry Ave. and Bliss St.--just a block away from Hooker St, and intersecting with two streets with forms of wood in their names. (Yes, I know, "North Branch" actually refers to the adjacent Chicago River--don't interrupt my childishness with logic.)

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/23/10

A Reminder...

Superbadfriend's art show starts tomorrow night with an opening reception. Go there and see some beautiful paintings by one of the most talented people I've ever known!

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/22/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/21/10

I think the TV is watching every move I make.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/20/10

I've given Mayor Daley lots of crap over the years for the way he's run this city, but one of the relatively few things I'll give him credit for is the Downtown Theatre District, which saved one old movie palace--The Chicago Theatre, which was very much in danger of being demolished--and revived two others--the Palace Theatre on the western end of the Loop and the Oriental, which had gone from one of the premier movie houses in the country to a rat-infested grindhouse to a shuttered ghost with a discount electronics store in what had once been its lobby. Now, it hosts Broadway-level musicals; the Addams Family had a run there before heading to New York, and Billy Elliot: The Musical is playing there now.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/19/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/16/10

I was seriously considering seeing Kick-Ass this weekend, but the reviews have not been encouraging--when Roger Ebert declares a film "morally reprehensible," it's best to steer clear.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/15/10

Friends and acquaintances usually laugh at me and insist I'm kidding when I tell them about Dimitri, the vodka that comes in a plastic bottle.

That's understandable. After all, what kind of hard liquor comes in a plastic bottle? Couldn't be a so-smooth-you-could-drink-it-straight vodka like Chopin or Grey Goose, or a decent "mixing" vodka like Absolut or Ketel One.

What kind of vodka could be so cheap? This kind. Usually, when I find empty (always empty) bottles of Dimitri, they're lying along curbs, often crumpled before being discarded--do those desperate enough to consume this stuff crush them like beer cans? This particular bottle was found on a lawn outside a bar--somebody getting an early start, or having a nightcap after stumbling out into the chilly April air?--and was not compacted as usual.

You might ask: Have I ever tasted Dimitri? Yes, I have. Once. Just once.

And what did I think? Let me put it like this: I wouldn't use Dimitri for thinner; I have more respect for my paint brushes than that.

Superbadfriend's Art Show

Friend, supporter and regular reader Superbadfriend is having an art show with her friend, Christopher Guest, on Friday, April 23. I've seen photos of some of the pieces she's created for this show, and they're quite beautiful. You should go.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/14/10

Moo.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/13/10

One of the coolest old-school neon signs left in downtown Chicago, ballyhooing, by sheer coincidence, the place where I got my Canon AE1 repaired a couple of years ago.

This Year's Amazon Wishlist

My birthday is less than a month away, so it seems appropriate to mention my Amazon.com wishlist...although. come to think of it, with a lot of my friends unemployed/underemployed/flat broke, it's unlikely that anybody will be able to buy me anything off of it. So...yeah, there's that.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/12/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/9/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/8/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/7/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/6/10

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/5/10

A foggy evening in Chicago.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/4/10

Good Friday

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/2/10

Many more bunnies at work since Monday. (Well, they are bunnies, after all...)

Every Picture Tells a Story: 4/1/10

One of my coworkers repurposed her Christmas tree, adding shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day and eggs for Easter. (said coworker may have had hearts on it for Valentine's Day, but I honestly don't remember.)