Nearly Ninety Road Trip

The whole point of this trip to central Illinois was to see Merce's Nearly Ninety, which we did, but there were other attractions: Calumet Fishery, the unexpected car show in Springfield, the whole Lincoln thing, the terrific Dana-Thomas house, and the horseshoes (burger covered in fries and cheese sauce) at D'Arcy's Pint, and our wonderful mid-century modern hotel--like being in Fiddle's living room.

Long work trip to California

I'm sure I did some work, but there was touring as well. Avedon at SFMOMA, out to North Beach, dinners at Farallon and on Belden Place.


































The beautiful "pool ceiling" at Farallon.

Book Club: Tender is the Night

Man, I hadn't read any F. Scott since college I think. This was a good pick, and there were Chicago/U of C references to boot.

Diversity and Contemporary Art at MCA

Went to a panel discussion "Diversity and Contemporary Art" at the MCA. Madeleine Grynsztejn, the MCA's new director (who is doing a great job) led the discussion with (formerly of U of C, miss you,Melissa) political scientist Melissa Harris-Lacewell, artist Glenn Ligon, and interdisciplinary artist Tania Bruguera, new on faculty at U of C.

Labor Day

It was a really fun Labor Day weekend, but all over the map: Full Moon, International Bacon Day (Canadian Bacon Sandwich for Breakfast, Rockit Bacon Burger for lunch, salmon wrapped in bacon and bacon ice cream for dinner) and for no particular reason, up to Argyle St. for lunch on the actual Labor Day Monday.

Met v Cubs with next door neighbor

Another windfall. Our percussionist next door neighboor, Mr. J, offered some great tickets for a Cubs v. Mets game. (Love my new camera: this is my shot.)















Things started promisingly as the Cubs took aim at a series sweep, with Aramis Ramirez driving in a first-inning run. However, that was all they could accomplish against Mets starter Nelson Figueroa, and Carlos Zambrano had his second successive difficult start since returning from the disabled list.

Art Institute

We finally made it down to the new wing of the Art Institute.

Book Club Movie Night: Safe

Our book club takes the summer off, but we get together to watch a movie. It was my pick: Todd Haynes's Safe. "Happy Birthday, Carol." Great movie.

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!