A Chicago cab driver declined a tip. Truly. As I was getting tip money from my purse, he said, "Forget about it." Weird. This was my second interesting cabbie of the day. Earlier, I'd managed to snag a cab as he was depositing an earlier fare. Turns out it was his first day on the job, so we were giving him tips on the best way to get places ( Read more... )

A while back, Bookcrosser Kate Kintail posted about the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference (http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/5/6018758). I was tempted, and I fell. Saturday morning, I went down to the Hilton. Oh, my! There were several hundred ( Read more... )

"Big Spirits", by Thomas Schütte. This is at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago:

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He was 96 years old, had the fullest life of anyone I know, and I'm sitting here bawling like a baby. I guess it's at least in part because I grew up listening to his interviews on WFMT, and the station has never seemed the same since he left it. I can't remember a time when he wasn't a presence in my life, through his radio show, his books, and ( Read more... )

It was nearly 9 o'clock when I woke up this morning. And dark(ish). It was also pouring rain. I resisted the temptation to turn over and go back to sleep, but I did cancel plans to go to the farmers' market! The rain seems to have stopped, at least for the moment, but it's still very wet. So not much outdoor activity today, unless it clears ( Read more... )

Kitty cats:

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Sometimes it's good you don't know about something. If I'd known about this, I'd probably have gone to NYC this week to relive my misspent youth, and missed FutureCatNZ's visit ( Read more... )

Cross-post from croc_sandwich
This was a tough one - not due to a dearth of material, but due to too much! I went out to take photos last weekend, and when I got home and started adding descriptions, I realized that just about every building I'd photographed was by Holabird & Roche. As a result, this was going to be a Holabird & Roche-fest, but there were a ( Read more... )

I was waiting for a bus up on North Michigan Avenue tonight.

The Tribune Tower
The Wrigley Building
The Chicago River at Michigan Avenue

I wouldn't mind running around in that fountain. It's October 7, and I went out today in shorts and sandals. For a while there, I seriously considered turning on the air conditioning. I did turn it on in the car when I went out. But at least I'm not crazy. Like those marathon runners. The Chicago Marathon was today, and they ended it early. ( Read more... )