Kilian Martin and the Beauty of Abandoned Places

I'm not what you would call a skateboarding fan. Most of the time, it's the sort of thing that doesn't even register. . . not until a kid cruises by me on the sidewalk, arms arcing and cutting the air around him, or when we visit friends in Logan Square and see the kids in the murk and deep of the skate park under I-90. But this video is beautiful and sad and nostalgic and filled with grace. Art lives where art can. . .

More Reasons Why Columbia is Cool

This past Saturday, after Anniversary brunching with Dan, we started wandering north to the Art Institute. . . but didn't get very far.  Why?  Because we caught Columbia College Chicago and its students being their usual amazing selves.

For example, what do continuing Columbia students do in preparation for the arrival of brand new students?

Paint giant welcoming murals. . . duh.

 (hehehehe.  i heart corn.  that was totally me 13 years ago. . . )

PLUS, Right upstairs in the very same building, Columbia was hosting The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo.  And it was amazing.  

  

Dan and I spent more money than we should have (based on our bank account balances), but less money than we wanted to (based on the talent in the room).  And Dan got to meet Sarah Becan face to face.

How my Garden Grows

So, remember this back in early May?

 

My totally ugly backyard garden that Dan converted into the lovely ready-for-planting wonderland pictured below?

Well, now it looks like this--beans up, zucchini and squash growing like gangbusters, tomatoes all either flowering or already sporting green tomatoes.  Totally amazing.

Gardening and then getting to eat what you've grown during the summer?  It's one of the best things in the whole world.

And look. . .

Baby baby baby squash.  I can't wait until he grows just a little bit more. .  . so I can EAT HIM!

We Licht It Up at the AIC

This blog post title is in honor of my honey who thought an awesome ad campaign for the Art Institute's Roy Lichtenstein retrospective could involve--with slight lyric changes, of course--Kiss's "Lick It Up."  My husband is funny, singing "Licht It Up" through the Asian artifact wing. .  .

Anyhoo, the show was good. . . though I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the giant Composition Book (my fave).  So, I took pictures of Engagement Ring (in honor of our anniversary day). . .

this Radio (which was Dan's favorite early on)

Modern Painting with Bolt (which D and I both liked and agreed would make a great album cover)

And then these. . . Seascapes . . . which I think are unceasingly terrible.

More than a decade ago, Casey and I went to go see a Monet retrospective.  In a lot of ways it was fascinating--seeing haystack after haystack after haystack or water lily after water lily after water lily.  You could see measurably how light and time of day altered the subjects of his painting and likewise, how age altered his sight and what he produced.  But, man, early on in the show, there was this whole set of bubblegum pink garden/cottage scenes.  They were commissions.  They were hideous.  They looked like starving artist paintings you'd buy in a parking lot for $29.95.  Casey and I were beside ourselves, giggling, poking fun, and we got shushed by a set of middle-aged women who gave us a brief lecture on respecting genius.  Gah.  Monet was a genius, but that work was not.

That's what seeing Lichtenstein's Seascapes reminded me of. . .

Anniversary Breakfast

Our anniversary is actually June 10th, but Dan had a show so we delayed until this weekend. We started our hang-out day with a train ride into the city and then brunch at the Eleven City Diner.

(my honey is so cute. . . even when he's messing around)

nom nom nom nom nom

 
These are not our drinks. But we sat at the bar and watched the bartender crank these out, non-stop, by the dozen the whole time we were there.

Super entertaining. . . and do Bloody Mary's usually have a deli cheese/meat garnish?  That detail almost made me want one.