Monday, January 31, 2011

America's Dairyland

We've been in Wisconsin for a week now. We spent last Monday night and most of Tuesday in Milwaukee- it's probably a nice town, but it's hard to tell for sure when its 16 degrees outside everybody is hibernating in their houses. We did stay in a pretty cool hotel though, called the "Iron Horse". It was converted from an old warehouse and a had an industrial feel to it, but managed to be warm and cozy at the same time. It was close to the Third Ward so we walked around there and imagined how fun and exciting it probably is during the summer. We also saw the Milwaukee Art Museum before we left town (although we didn't go inside- we went to so many museums in Chicago, we've decided to take a break for a while).


The frozen Milwaukee River, downtown Milwaukee.


The Milwaukee Art Museum on the shore of Lake Michigan.


The journey to Appleton reminded me of home as we drove past silos, dairy cows, and ma and pa diners advertising fried cheese curds. Appleton's not so bad- there are a handfull of bars and restaurants not far from the hotel and the theater is right across the street so we don't have to spend too much time in the freezing cold. I'm pretty sure the water's not good though- my tummy hasn't felt right since we got here, but since I decided to stop drinking tap water I'm starting to feel a little better. Who would've thought that you shouldn't drink the water in Wisconsin?

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Reading in Chi-town

Two of my favorite books are set in Chicago- Native Son by Richard Wright and The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. One of my goals while I was here was to reread both of these books. I finished Native Son last week and enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time, if not more. It's the story of Bigger Thomas, a young black man living on Chicago's South Side in the 1930s- a time when Chicago had some of the nation's strictest residential segregation laws. The 'black belt'- the only part of the city where black people were permitted to live- was run down and overcrowded. Housing shortages were severe and drove the cost of living far above what it was in other parts of the city. Essentially, these laws forced Chicago's poorest residents to live in sub-standard conditions but pay a higher price to do so. As one would expect, such oppression produced high levels of racial strife and did nothing to improve the safety and security of Chicago's residents, as it was meant to do. Native Son exposed and drew attention to the ugly nature of race relations in America in the mid 20th century. One of the recurring themes in the book is blindness- a commentary on America's inability to see race relations as they really were. It's a dark story with some shocking and unexpected twists in the plot and an ending that is sad but almost feels hopeful. Ultimately, it's a story about the real consequences of oppression, the absurdity of token charity, and the dangers of using fear as a means to control people.

I didn't reread The Devil in the White City as I had hoped to. Napoleon was reading it and left it inside a cab. I was too lazy to buy another copy so that was that. It is still one of my favorite books though and having read it made my experience in Chicago more meaningful. It's a non-fictional account of the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893, and America's first serial killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes- who was operating in the city at the same time. It's a interesting book that tells two stories simultaneously- the first about the team of architects who created one of the most spectacular scenes in the world and the second about a man whose life revolved around luring young women off the street and killing them in a building that he had designed and built just for that purpose. It's creepy and fascinating all at the same time. Most of the sites discussed in the book no longer exist, but their architectural legacy can be seen throughout the city. In fact, the building that we've been living in was originally designed by Daniel Burnham- one of the primary architects discussed in the book.

So long Chicago...

Well, its been two months in Chicago and now it's time to move on. I've written about a lot of the things that I've enjoyed about this city, but here are a few more:
  • Deep dish pizza- not my favorite crust but the over-abundance of cheese makes up for that.
  • Jabarritos- a steak sandwich between two fried plantains created by Chicago's Puerto Rican community.
  • The Chicago Cultural Center- a nice place to check out local art, see a freeze concert, or just hang out at the cafe. Home of the world's largest Tiffany glass dome.

  • Roscoe's- we spent many a Monday night at this bar in Boy's Town for live band karaoke. Everybody gets a chance to be a rock star!
  • Blue Chicago- classic Chicago blues club. The musicians looked like they were thirty or forty years past their prime, but they sounded amazing.
  • Robie House- home on the south side designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. He considered it to be the cornerstone of prairie style architecture.


  • The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago- houses some really cool artifacts from the ancient Mid East. I learned that in ancient Persia, bulls looked more like horses (or at least they did in sculpture form).


Friday, January 21, 2011

Seahorse riding

Buckingham Fountain may be more spectacular during the summer, but you can't ride the seahorses then.




Monday, January 17, 2011

Family time

My mom and Cheyenne came to visit last week. They were only here for two days but we were able to do so many fun things! We saw Sue- the world's largest T-Rex fossil- at the Field Museum, watched Wicked, ate deep dish pizza, and stood on a glass platform 103 stories above the city at the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower). Here's the view:



Although I've been skydiving and hiked into the Grand Canyon, I am still terrified of heights- even when I'm standing on a solid surface inside a building. This picture (of my shoes) almost caused a panic attack:




We also went ice skating at Millennium Park with these adorable children:


The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago has free admission the entire month of Chicago. I usually can't spend more than two hours in an art museum before I start getting bored so this has been really good for me because I've been able to see the entire museum in several short sessions. Here are a few highlights:


A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Le Grand Jatte, Georges Seurat


Water Lilies, Claude Monet


American Gothic, Grant Wood


The Old Guitarist, Pablo Picasso


My favorite part of the Art Institute is the building itself. The older wing was built for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 and is guarded by a pair of Lions that are often dressed in the uniforms of Chicago's professional sports teams. The Modern wing, designed by Renzo Piano, was completed in 2009. It was designed to be open with an emphasis on vertical elements that seem to float above the ground.











Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Resolutions

Last year I made a resolution to do Bikram Yoga two times. My friend, Belle, did it quite regularly and had invited me to go several times. She always talked about how amazing it was and how great she felt afterward so I thought it would be a good thing for me to try. I thought that twice would be a good commitment because I think it's generally a good idea to try things twice, even if the first time isn't so great. I went with Belle one day in January, and, to be honest, I was impressed with how much heat and overall suffering my body was able to endure. I wasn't impressed enough to want to do it again though. I kept telling myself that I should go back and try again just for the principle of it and so that I could fulfill my New Year's resolution. Apparently, I'm not that principled- I failed at a resolution that would have required an entire 3 hours of my year. This year, I decided to make more pragmatic resolutions- save more money, etc.- but at the end of my list I wrote- "Run a marathon in barefoot shoes." Go figure.

Dads should not always be trusted

My dad is considered a world class snowmobiler. I, on the other hand, am not, but I do try to go snowmobiling with my family whenever I have a chance. While I was in Idaho for Christmas, my dad took my mom, me, and my little sister, Cheyenne, snowmobiling in the mountains on Christmas Eve. It was the perfect day to be out- the snow was fresh, the sun was out (despite the valley being covered in fog), and there was hardly anybody else on the snow. It was one of those days when you feel like the mountains were made just for you. After a couple of hours we decided to head back to the truck. I was pretty proud of myself for being the only member of my family other than my dad who hadn't fallen off of their snowmobile or tipped it over. We followed my dad down the mountain through the trees maintaining a good distance between each snowmobile so that we wouldn't slide into each other. My mom and dad stopped ahead of me where there was a bit of a drop-off from the hillside onto the main trail. Somehow my dad was able to get his and my mom's snowmobiles over the ledge without crashing. My view was blocked by trees so I couldn't exactly see how he had done it, but they were stopped on the trail below waiting for me so I thought I would just let my dad guide me when I got down there. I drove down and stopped just before the drop-off, which was much bigger than I had expected- my dad was standing below and the top of the ledge was a few feet above his head. He motioned for me too just keep coming. I thought, "this can't work, but if he says it will, I guess it will." I trusted my dad despite my intuition and drove straight off the ledge. I did a somersault off of the snowmobile and landed flat on my back while my mom, dad, and Cheyenne laughed their faces off. It looked something like this (don't judge my artwork):