Yoga Pics

I attempted some yoga pictures for my photo class. In order to avoid making anyone uncomfortable, I didn't stay very long, which was probably a mistake. It would have been fun to take shots of some of the more dramatic poses. I tried to play with colors a bit, but I fear the bottom pic looks a little like Yoga of the Dead around the edges.

At first I thought I would be pretty thrilled with the NY Times article on a supposed resurgence in manual typewriters. Upon reading it, it seems kind of stupid. Typing parties? Where people get together to see and be seen typing? Can't people just get into stuff without making such a big thing of it?

New buddy

Crumely has a new friend. Amy bought him a rabbit stuffed animal.

Sunday

So we moved starting Thursday. The company who did the main portion was great, and we tipped them well. I would recommend them to anyone. We have spent the last two days slowly unpacking. The dogs love the new fenced backyard, and it's been a pleasure to let them run around. Sadly, the weather is turning on us today (Sunday). It has gotten a little cooler (All relative, of course. Compared to the last few months, it's been balmy), and it's thundering heavily this morning.

So I devoted my customary 60 minutes to my photography class before the rain began. It's nature this week, so I went to the Arboretum. We visit the Morton Arboretum enough to justify our membership, but I wish we were there more. I caught a few shots below. I would have liked to play more with exposure to see what I could've gotten out of the overcast gray.

So this week has been a deluge of the worst junk food, no exercise and a lot of stress. I hope to reverse some of that this week.

Bulls

We also went to see the Bulls beat up on the Utah Jazz Saturday night. This was really Amy's deal, but I agreed to tag along. I did enjoy it, though. They have the 2.5 hours of entertainment down to a science. There isn't a ten second period that doesn't have some dancing girls, videos, giant balloons, video, something to keep you occupied. Was good to do. And they celebrated their 20-year anniversary of their championship that night, so we got to see Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and several other people I knew nothing about. Was still awesome to see them all. The people right in front of us were really into it. I shot this one with my iPhone Hipstamatic.

Fooling Buddha

We went to see the one-man magic show, Fooling Buddha, at First Folio this weekend in the midst of our packing and moving. This had been a Valentine's gift to me from Amy. David Kovac was awesome. The show was a combination of personal stories, vaudevillian comedy, flawless juggling and legerdemain, all in the intimate setting of the First Folio Theatre, one of our great theatre treasures this side of Chicago.

The show leaves the viewer with an odd feeling. You know you have just witnessed clever patter and elegant slight of hand, but the character is so good that he walks away making you wonder if there might be something more to it all beyond prestidigitation (how often does a fellow get to use such a great word?). He seemed like a character out of Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. I could have watched it again immediately. Great showman.

Spaceman Stu

Saturday

Big day today. The carpet people show up this morning to carpet two rooms of the new house. I will be repainting a closet and a wall in the garage. Also home to mend a tiny big of fence just to guarantee there is no way the dogs will get out of their new huge backyard. We took them over last night to let them acclimate a bit. They couldn't get over how cool it all was. We met some of the neighbors who were great. The entertainment center arrived yesterday. It seems to be going well.

So I'm off to 6 a.m. yoga, then home, then the hardware store and then over to the other house.

First Self Portrait

Cropping

I thought a little recropping made this kind of a fun photo.

Good Friday

I took the second half of Friday off and went downtown with my friend Pete. We’ve both had a hell of a couple weeks and agreed it would do us both good to chuck work and mess around downtown. And we were right. We started off at America’s dog where I forewent my usual Baltimore dog for a standard Chicago Dog (jumbo) and a side of sweet potato fries. Deep fried Twinkie for desert. The combined grease and sugar content sucked the life out of us for about ten minutes before we rallied and went to Graham Cracker Comics.

I saw much at the comics shop but only picked up the fifth trade of Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol. I am actually down to a single comic every month now, The Boys. A coworker had asked me to be on the lookout for Millie the Model, an Archie Comics type comedy comic that ran for 25 years or so on Marvel. I had never heard of it, but the store owner had and explained any collected editions of this book—assuming there ever had been any—were out of print. Millie is a New York fashion Model dating her photog, Clicker. There were probably dozens of these kind of books, but I’m unfamiliar with them. I have only a passing knowledge of Archie based on watching the original cartoon when I was a kid.

Then on to Reckless Records. Was nice to browse. Pete found Revolver on vinyl. I found a very inexpensive disc of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, which I had lost a few months ago.

We then walked over to Printers Row and visited Sandmeyer’s Bookstore on Dearborn. Nothing wrong with this place at all. Really nice collection of current books. High Brow. Could have spent hours there. There was an interesting used bookstore across the street, but the guy closed (two hours earlier than his sign said) just as we were walking up.

A couple of friends of Pete’s from the Radio Station had been bumming around Wicker Park and joined us there. Good to talk with them. The Final stop was Garret’s Popcorn for Pete’s aunt. I picked up a caramel popcorn for Amy along with a bag of Chicago Mix, which is a mixed bag of cheese and caramel.

I caught the train back to the burbs and, on the way, met a lady from Oregon who was attending a conference at Wheaton College for World Relief.

It was pouring when I got off in Glen Ellyn, so Amy drove over to get me and we ate at a French place called Bistro Monet. I had a beet salad with walnuts and goat cheese followed by a cassoulet with a duck confit, a duck leg, a lamp chop and garlic sausage. Amy had the onion soup followed by the chicken coq au vin. It was good ruddy fare and combated the rainy cold quite well. To complete my day of gastronomic suicide, I had the bread pudding with dark rum sauce. I made it home and laid there contemplating the damage I'd inflicted on my body. I did not go to yoga this morning.

We're now studying at Barnes and Noble.