Birthday Open House and Beethoven's 9th

Off to Ms. B-H and Mr. H's house for a birthday celebration. Then, a wonderful performance of Beethoven's 9th at Grant Park.

Bleachers for Cubs v. Phillies

In the bleachers the day after the beer tossing incident.













































Ryan Dempster allowed six runs -- four on a pair of homers -- in seven innings, while the offense could not solve Cliff Lee in the Cubs' fifth straight loss. Ryan Theriot set a career high with his 46th RBI, but Chicago slipped to 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Cards, who were idle.

Nephew in Town

Mr. S and girlfriend, Ms. K in town. S showing off the city of his medical education.

Valentine Trilogy Concert

A terrific benefit performance by the House Theatre of the music from their popular Valentine Trilogy.




Part Two.

Part Three.

NYC for Ms. S's birthday

We had a fabulous, fabulous time in NYC with Ms. S's mom, who hadn't been to the City since '64. The Guggenheim, the Met, Central Park, Hair, Time Square, the High Line, the World Trade Center site, Union Square Farmer's Market. No end to the fun. No end to the good food: Sea Grill, Esca, Union Square Cafe, Matsugen. And, of course, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in Battery Park.







































The High Line.




















Burning Ice installation at Union Square.















Merce in Battery Park.

Merce in Battery Park

This was part of the NYC trip, but deserves a separate post. We had planned the trip around seeing the Merce Cunningham Dance Company do an Event in Battery Park. It turned out to be the first performance by the company after Merce's death.

Girls vs. Boys at Northwestern

Went to the workshop production of the House's upcoming Girls vs. Boys. It's their next big hit, you can tell. And it was so cool that the son of one of Mr. P's workmates was in a major role!

Grant Park: Luna Negra and Luciana Souza

We didn't get to as much of the Grant Park Music Festival as we wanted to this year, but this was a nice music and dance concert.

Wedding Anniversary at Takashi

A pretty lowkey wedding anniversary, but a very nice dinner at Takashi.

Ummmm, pork belly buns. Ummmmm.

Planning retreat at Argonne National Lab

The usual summer work retreat, but part of it was at Argonne National Lab.






Touring the Advance Photon Source was cool.

500 Clown and the Elephant Deal

This was a bit of a mess. OK, a big mess. Really messy. Some fun moments. But a mess.

Cubs v. Atlanta

Wow, so much baseball this year. Ms. S's workmate had some tickets she couldn't use.

Carlos Zambrano started on short rest to fill in for Ryan Dempster, who missed his scheduled start due to a fractured toe. Big Z couldn't deliver a win, but pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits. A quiet Cubs offense cost Chicago a chance for the win.

Liked this kid:















Guess what promotion night it was?

Brewers at Cubs on the Fourth of July

Game, what game? We were at Wrigley on the Fourth in great seats thanks to my season ticket holding workmate, Mr. E.

Oh yeah: Milton Bradley homered for the first time since May 25, launching a two-run shot in the third, but that was it for the Cubs' offense -- and far from enough after Rich Harden yielded eight runs on seven hits before being pulled in the third inning.

Hot Doug's

What were we thinking going to Hot Doug's the day before 4th of July? Before they were going to close for 10 days? That we would enjoy standing in line for two hours? It was a beautiful day, and it was worth it.

South America

A long work trip with the Dean (and family) to three cities in South America. Sao Paulo, Santiago, and Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires was the recreational highlight. Good food, good museums, good neighborhoods, and we saw a Tango show!

The contemporary museum in Sao Paulo.
















The view from my hotel window in Santiago.















A wonderful lunch at La Brigada in the San Telmo neighborhood in Buenos Aires.




















Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires.