Travel, etc.
I've pretty much decided to go to Venice at the end of July. It's not generally the optimal time to go, but a couple of weeks ago the New York Times had an article about Ghetto 500, an observation of the 500th anniversary of the establishment of the Jewish ghetto. I was hesitant at first because I already have a rather pricey trip to Barcelona and Bilbao planned for late October, but the opportunity to see The Merchant of Venice performed in the Campo di Ghetto Nuovo is unlikely to come along again. Add to that the Architecture Biennale and the International Theatre Festival, and it would be a crime not to go. I will, however, have to miss the mock trial presided over by the Notorious RBG; that requires a larger contribution than I can manage, even with the tax deduction.
Since I last posted (oy! two months ago!), I've been busy. I took a class at the Newberry Library called Edwardian Passions: Dress and Desire, 1890-1920. We read Vita Sackville-West's The Edwardians, Elinor Glyn's Three Weeks, and E.M. Forster's A Room with a View, and had lectures (with wonderful visuals) about fashion of the era. I'd had an earlier class from the same instructor about the rise of the department store in Paris, using novels of Émile Zola. She is an art historian with a great knowledge of fashion and literature, and I'm looking forward to taking her next course, which involves Edith Wharton and Henry James. I'm also considering a course in the History of Italian Fashion at the Italian Cultural Institute. Fortunately, they don't overlap!
I continue to give tours at Robie House, and mentor new volunteers. The FLW Trust has instituted a new program called "Wright Around the Region", and one event this year will go to Robie as well as two other house museums in Chicago, one of which is showing the Dressing Downton exhibit. I was able to get on that as a volunteer, so yay!
My trainer was transferred from the gym near me to another facility, so I have a new guy. I've also upped my sessions. I'm doubling up, doing 50 minutes rather than 25. The new trainer is much tougher on me, but he and the new schedule are paying off. So I'm glad I did that.
Since I last posted (oy! two months ago!), I've been busy. I took a class at the Newberry Library called Edwardian Passions: Dress and Desire, 1890-1920. We read Vita Sackville-West's The Edwardians, Elinor Glyn's Three Weeks, and E.M. Forster's A Room with a View, and had lectures (with wonderful visuals) about fashion of the era. I'd had an earlier class from the same instructor about the rise of the department store in Paris, using novels of Émile Zola. She is an art historian with a great knowledge of fashion and literature, and I'm looking forward to taking her next course, which involves Edith Wharton and Henry James. I'm also considering a course in the History of Italian Fashion at the Italian Cultural Institute. Fortunately, they don't overlap!
I continue to give tours at Robie House, and mentor new volunteers. The FLW Trust has instituted a new program called "Wright Around the Region", and one event this year will go to Robie as well as two other house museums in Chicago, one of which is showing the Dressing Downton exhibit. I was able to get on that as a volunteer, so yay!
My trainer was transferred from the gym near me to another facility, so I have a new guy. I've also upped my sessions. I'm doubling up, doing 50 minutes rather than 25. The new trainer is much tougher on me, but he and the new schedule are paying off. So I'm glad I did that.