David Gray and Lisa O'Neill.

We went to see David Gray last night at the Chicago Theatre. A class act. Really enjoyed it, despite some sound issues, feedback, etc. They had crowded the musicians together to get a more intimate feel, which suits his music well, but they were so close together that the roadies couldn’t get in to switch off their instruments between songs. Lots of traffic jams that broke the pacing.

Further, Chicago Theatre persists in allowing people to carry in drinks. This leads to a huge rush in and out of the theater between songs. Very distracting in a venue like that.

We were treated to an interesting opening act. Lisa O’Neill, a charming, odd little creature from Dublin, had a voice at once cute and mindful a wife chasing her drunk husband out the front door with a rolling pin. Perhaps I’m simply projecting the Irish in me. Anyway, I really enjoyed her. She'll get better with age.

The Ten-minute Photog

Yet another lesson this morning in what not to do. I had to get a neighborhoodscape and cityscape shot. I misjudged, by hours, when the good morning light would come out. I was hoping for those "interesting" warm beams you only get at the beginning and ending of the day. It was overcast and early, and about an hour after

I got home, the sky cleared and an unexpectedly rich sun shot in from the west.

I don't care enough to get back out there. They will have to accept my gray shots. I have some real work to get done today.

Speaking of gray, Amy and I are off to see David Gray tonight at the Chicago Theatre. Looking forward to it.

I'm not a photo junkie, but I keep discovering amazing photographers. If you get a moment, click here on Alessandra Sanginetti's site and look at The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of their Dreams. This series of photos and the relationship she captures breaks the heart.

It was a banner weekend for Chicago area gastronomy. Amy and I ran out to Geneva Saturday morning at around 11:30 a.m. I'd been told to check out Bien Truchas, a little Mexican restaurant right on State Street. There is some kind of Rick Bayless connection there, but I'm not sure what it is. Not unlike Bayless' places, though, there was a line waiting outside the door when they opened at noon, though. I don't have time to wax on about what made the place awesome. It just was. The guac was amazing. We had pork tacos and chicken tacos and ceviche and the best limonada of my life. It was like discovering Rick Bayless had opened a place just a few miles from where I live. Will go back repeatedly. Wow.

That evening, Amy's cousin and her husband took us to North Pond , a gorgeous little restaurant located on the grounds of Lincoln Park. Just approaching the place was great, because (kind of like Tavern on the Green), you have to approach the place on foot through the park. The food was indescribable. We did a tasting and had quail eggs, squab, scallops, the best beef of my life, creatively prepared root vegetables--it just went on and on. Truly blown away and grateful for the experience. Just amazing. We are so lucky to 1) know expert foodies and 2) live where it's worth your time to be a foodie.

Last week was aperture, minimum and maximum depth

next assignment

I am deeply frustrated with my photography class. The class and instructor and fellow students are great. I'm just unable to find any time to do these assignments. There are kids in my class doing genius stuff, using wine glasses as lenses, bringing out great colors in Photoshop, etc. I have no time to mess around. We were assigned a shadow and a reflection shot this week. I lucked out a bit in that the sun came out this weekend and shot through our guest room onto the bedspread. My bonzai and a small statue were in the way, and it made for a reasonably pleasant shadow. Further, the snow is melting, making for some puddles. Not great, but there's no time for anything else. I don't regret taking the class; I just regret being 38 with responsbilities beyond messing around with cool stuff.

New Hair Day

We finally got Crumley his haircut. He was getting a few mats and smelled a little rough. Better now, and better for him as well. He seemed constantly hot.

Photography

I registered for an actual photography class at the College this semester on Monday nights and am initially finding the study a little more tedious than I'd hoped. We're talking aperture, focal length, exposure meter, DPI, gray scale, ISO, and I just want to hang myself. I believe once we get these 100 or so terms ingested, it will get more interesting as we put them into practice.

My goals are simple: 1)Put a "pro-sumer" camera to better use than setting on "automatic" 2) develop a better visual vocabulary that I can bring back to my work 3) attempt to use photography to enhance any freelance writing I might do later in life.

We have a great instructor. He's been a professional photog for 40 years and is a pretty easy going guy. He pushed us in the deep end two weeks ago by assigning 36 exposures for the following class. Without a clue what I was doing shot over a period of three days around the house, in downtown Chicago, at the Arboretum, printed them out 4x6 and turned them in. He is choosing our four best and critiquing them tomorrow night. I'll be curious to see which ones he chooses. I'll post here.

Blithe Spirit

Amy and I have tickets to go see a preview performance of a Noel Coward play, Blithe Spirit tonight at First Folio Theatre. Amy and I visited First Folio Theatre last year for a Wodehouse production that was quite good (Amy will not let me forget, however, that I fell asleep; it was Friday, it'd been a terrible week, and I was exhausted; and if you've read enough Wodehouse, you don't actually have to see it to know what happened; she liked the play a great deal, though). It's a first-class professional theatre located on a former estate in Oakbrook with three separate venues. This is precisely what I wanted to do on a Friday. Fortunately, Amy moved quickly on the tickets an hour ago. I just checked back, and they are now sold out.

Hanging in just fine

I should have raised the ISO on my camera, I guess, to really capture that hell that is Mother Nature, but it's too cold to go back out there this morning to take better pictures. The homeowner's association snow guys showed up last night and tunnelled our homes out. It hasn't been bad. The power's staying on, which means I'm catching up on some good shows. I watched the second of the Red Riding Trilogy last night. These are awfully good movies, though the West Yorkshire accents are so strong I occasionally have trouble following. I read that they decided to subtitle some of it because of this, but I didn't see them. We also watched The Kids are All Right, which means we've seen all 10 up for best picture. I don't think it should have been nominated for best picture, but it was pleasant. May or may not go to yoga today.

Blizzard

So we got a bit of snow last night. This was the view from my patio and garage when I went to take the dogs out. We have plenty of food and water and, as long as I have electricity for various entertainments, I don't anticipate losing my mind. Crumley still loves burying his head in the snow, "hiding", and then flinging his huge head up and back, spraying us all with his snow. They say the snow should begin to wind down at around 3 p.m., but the wind keeps coming through the night. Have no idea when we get to reopen at work.