I've been nudged, so here I am to update!
Most important, my health is good. I've been working out with a trainer twice a week, which means I actually get to the gym.
I continue to volunteer with the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust. In fact, I do so much that last year I was one of the top ten volunteers (in terms of hours) and am on track for the same this year. Being on two non-profit arts boards also keeps me busy. Teatro Vista got a grant that allowed us to hire a Managing/Development Director, who is a real dynamo and brings a lot to the table. The Newberry Consort has some great projects in hand and we are building the board.
Lots of traveling happening. Last fall, I went on a food-and-wine tour of Piemonte with a group led by my Italian teacher, and just this past September I went to Venice for the Biennale. That was wonderful! Saw some great (and not-so-great) art, went to a couple of early music concerts (any given night there, you have your choice of multiple early music events, so I was in heaven!) as well as an opera at La Fenice. Back in February, I went an FLW Trust tour to Pasadena, where we visited some Greene & Greene homes, and also did some of FLW's textile block houses in LA. I went to San Francisco for a couple of days first, to visit my sister, who is teaching at a culinary school there. I got to sample her students' work! In late April/early May, both my sisters and I went to New Orleans for the Jazz & Heritage Festival, and in late May/early June, I went to New York for my 45th college reunion, and not incidentally to see friends and visit museums. I'm already planning for next year. I was so impressed with the Pasadena trip that I decided to go on the Trust's tour next fall to Barcelona & Bilbao. It's not cheap, but they are so well organized and get so much special access (like a private, after-hours tour of the Sagrada Familia) that it's worth it.
I continue to take my Italian literature class, which I find is more helpful now than I think another language class would be. (I was very comfortable speaking and understanding on my last two trips there.) There are a number of places in Chicago that have community classes in a variety of subjects, and I have taken two at the Newberry Library this year. One had the irresistible title "Let's Go Shopping!", which was about the rise of the department store and social change in Paris, through Zola's Octave Mouret novels (Potluck and The Ladies' Paradise). The instructor was a woman who is an art historian who has an interest in fashion as well. I've just finished a class called "The Courtier Sings", which was Italian Renaissance music.
So I keep well and busy, and will try to be better about keeping anyone who's still around here up-to-date!
I continue to volunteer with the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust. In fact, I do so much that last year I was one of the top ten volunteers (in terms of hours) and am on track for the same this year. Being on two non-profit arts boards also keeps me busy. Teatro Vista got a grant that allowed us to hire a Managing/Development Director, who is a real dynamo and brings a lot to the table. The Newberry Consort has some great projects in hand and we are building the board.
Lots of traveling happening. Last fall, I went on a food-and-wine tour of Piemonte with a group led by my Italian teacher, and just this past September I went to Venice for the Biennale. That was wonderful! Saw some great (and not-so-great) art, went to a couple of early music concerts (any given night there, you have your choice of multiple early music events, so I was in heaven!) as well as an opera at La Fenice. Back in February, I went an FLW Trust tour to Pasadena, where we visited some Greene & Greene homes, and also did some of FLW's textile block houses in LA. I went to San Francisco for a couple of days first, to visit my sister, who is teaching at a culinary school there. I got to sample her students' work! In late April/early May, both my sisters and I went to New Orleans for the Jazz & Heritage Festival, and in late May/early June, I went to New York for my 45th college reunion, and not incidentally to see friends and visit museums. I'm already planning for next year. I was so impressed with the Pasadena trip that I decided to go on the Trust's tour next fall to Barcelona & Bilbao. It's not cheap, but they are so well organized and get so much special access (like a private, after-hours tour of the Sagrada Familia) that it's worth it.
I continue to take my Italian literature class, which I find is more helpful now than I think another language class would be. (I was very comfortable speaking and understanding on my last two trips there.) There are a number of places in Chicago that have community classes in a variety of subjects, and I have taken two at the Newberry Library this year. One had the irresistible title "Let's Go Shopping!", which was about the rise of the department store and social change in Paris, through Zola's Octave Mouret novels (Potluck and The Ladies' Paradise). The instructor was a woman who is an art historian who has an interest in fashion as well. I've just finished a class called "The Courtier Sings", which was Italian Renaissance music.
So I keep well and busy, and will try to be better about keeping anyone who's still around here up-to-date!