may 9-13, 2002

blue line
my first view of chi town on my way in from o'hare.

library art
public art project on the ceiling of the library downtown.

deep dish
in four days, we tried 3 different chicago style deep dish pizzas at three different pizza joints other people told us to go to... giordano's, pizzeria due, and gino's east. giordano's deep dish spinach won my heart. it was the combination of simple, fresh flavors, not too much sauce and the oh so crispy crust i tried to capture on digital film here.

the L
at night

copycat
this not so interesting painter (i talked to him, he's not, really) teaches at the art institute on weekdays, and repaints other people's paintings on the weekends.

boy on ram
this goya painting wins my award for most disturbing.

pointillism
seurat's la Grande Jatte has a border of colored dots to aid in the visual transition from the white frame to the painting. seurat restretched the canvas after completing this painting to add this colorful border. i learn something new every day.

trains
architecture of trains and their stations exhibit at the institute had some interesting pieces displayed, but got tiresome and repetitive after the first handful of works. the reflection off the installation materials captured my attention more so than the content.

tulips
beautiful spring flowers line michigan avenue for miles and miles.

hancock observatory
afternoon sun casts lovely long shadows.

pretzel
waiting for the rain to clear up at navy pier, we entertained ourselves for about a half hour watching shoppers hit or miss this lost pretzel. for some reason it was damn funny at the time.

it's true, they are rude
singing and dancing and very rude waiters at ed dubevic's.

world's smallest sundae, served in a shot glass
for just a buck, the perfect amount of sweetness to end a meal.

excalibur presents the B-52s
hands down, excalibur is the cheesiest club i've ever been to. this is the type of place you can only have fun at if you are visiting from out of town, otherwise i wouldn't be caught dead here. luckily, we fit into that category and a decent time was had by all. but i could've done without the three white boys mceeing the joint complete with fake boobs and condom hats.

robie house, looking out onto woodlawn avenue
taken from the elevated front porch with cantilever roof of the robie house, designed by frank lloyd wright. did you know frank never graduated from high school and never went to college?

robie house, side view from 58th street
this is the only view of the house without construction materials blocking it. an 8 million dollar restoration project is under way, restoring its original interior, exterior and design structures as it was100 years ago under the original ownership of frederic c. robie. one of the interesting details is the use of roman bricks on the facade of the house. roman bricks are thinner and longer than bricks you and i usually see on buildings. wright instructed for the builders to use red mortar in the head joints to create the illusion of one continuous piece of brick to emphasize the horizontal lines of the prairie style house.

moving images fence
spotted in hyde park/university area. if i could tear down this fence and curve it around a circle and add some images, i could have a giant zoetrope.

thin crust
no more pizza for me, so i continue my search for lunch.

noodles etc.
i enjoyed a big bowl of steaming japanese udon noodles at this quaint little cafe in the university area. it wasn't a particularly excellent bowl of udon noodles, but it was hot and cheap and helped battle the wet cold that i was to meet outside.

fenced off mural
under the metra line overpass

dodging the rain
colonnades under the metra line overpass

barney's of new york
i couldn't even afford a breath of free air from here

red capped boy
this slit on the concrete allows me to peek through to the opposite bound train's waiting platform. the slit repeats down the tunnel every 20 feet or so, yet another giant zoetrope.

blurry train
the city should hang large images on the opposite ends of the tunnels so as the trains speed by the zoetrope slits, passengers on the train can enjoy some moving images.

red line platform
sometimes subways have such pretty colors

the west side
this is the part of town i would like to explore next if i ever come back to chicago.

trainfolk
on my way to o'hare, i stared at this man through these perfectly positioned staring slits for half an hour.

o'hare lights
light installation in the moving sidewalk tunnel between concourses B and C. i remember going through this tunnel several years ago on my way to italy. then i recognized it on mtv. the artist formerly known as puff daddy filmed a video in here. it's the video where he's wearing all white, and raps. you know which one i'm talking about.