Packing

The Beara's been hard at work, helping me pack. Here she is between the "Throw Away" pile of clothes and the "Give Away" pile of clothes (yes, the one with the underwear is the Throw Away pile...).

Art Is For the Unemployed

Last week, after unexpectedly being told I could/should leave work four days earlier than my two-week notice called for, I found myself with some free time on my hands. As I'd been meaning to get over to the Art Institute for the past five years (and even more so since they built the new Modern Wing), I decided to turn unemployment into funemployment. I had forgotten how utterly enormous that museum is, and after four hours I managed to hit only my favorite parts (Impressionism, Photography, Thorne Miniature Rooms) plus the Modern Wing before my feet and ankles were screaming for mercy. So, I gave in and went home. But not before I took a bunch of pictures (and got reprimanded for accidentally using the flash on an Andy Warhol). You guys are weak, feet and ankles. Weak, I say.


Cool and surprisingly modern Victorian scrapbooks wherein they took photographs of people they knew and superimposed them over paintings they created:



Frozen fruits and vegetables photo:


Thorne Miniature Rooms--these are my favorite thing in the museum. They are mind-blowingly detailed replicas of rooms from Colonial America, as well as European and Asian countries from the 18th and 19th centuries:

My favorite Monet:

Sunday in the Park:

Van Gogh:

Monet's Haystacks:

Monet's Waterlilies:

I can't for the life of me remember who the artist is on this one...

Andy Warhol, self-portrait:

It's Raining Babies!

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my mom and my aunt threw my cousin Dana a baby shower. Dana and her husband Anthony are having a baby boy, and they've decided to go the Jungle Book route for their theme. The nursery looks adorable, as they have a giant mural on the wall of several of the characters from the book. It looks like it was projected and then traced, but in fact, Anthony is so talented with the paintbrush that the whole thing was free-handed. Pretty impressive! The shower went off without a hitch. Everyone seemed to have a good time, the cake was delish, and the loot was plentiful...what more could you ask for? Congratulations to Dana and Anthony on their soon-to-be little one and impending extreme lack of sleep. :)

Since Dana's older brother Ryan's wife, Ryan, is also preggers, they apparently called each other before the shower and decided to dress as opposites so people would know who was who.

This one's for you, Grandpa.

The 44th Ward Dinner Party

Ok, I know this place sounds all fancy schmancy, but it's really not. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a nice place, but there's no need to break out the designer duds just so you can eat a BUILD YOUR OWN GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH. Oh, but I did just say that. Multiple kinds of bread, cheeses, toppings, and even infused butters to choose from lead to a culinary smorgasbord of goodness. Add a cup of tomato bisque and you, my friend, are good to go. Here are a few pics from an outing a few weeks ago with my "old" work friends (oh, how I love being able to say that...). My sharp cheddar, hickory-cured bacon, and granny-smith apple on sourdough with garlic-infused butter was one tasty bit of sammich.

Where is Rob?!

Improv Everywhere is a group started by a man named Charlie Todd back in 2001. They put on "missions" (kind of like pranks) where they try to get genuine reactions from the public to staged events that appear to be real. Most of the participants (known as "agents") met at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in New York, a well-known comedy club. Some of the missions require only a few people, and others require hundreds of participants. Most of them are really funny and/or just fun to watch. Take this one, for instance, which happened this past November. "Rob" and his friends went to a Knicks game, where "Rob" proceeded to get terribly lost after getting up to get food from the concession stand. You'll have to watch the video to see how the Knicks fans all tried to help him get back to his seat.

WOW!

I know, it's been a long long time since I've put anything up here, but it's been kind of a crazy month. Since I don't have anything particularly exciting to talk about (oh, besides the fact that I GOT INTO U OF I!), here is a hilarious video of a little boy seeing lobsters for the first time, courtesy of Becky. :)

Clara's Loot

Clara went trick-or-treating yesterday with me, Ann, Steve, and Owen (who's three). Owen decided Clara needed to have some treats for Halloween, so Ann took him to Petsmart where he picked out these delicious rawhide "lollipops" which Clara thoroughly enjoyed as evidenced below. A happy Halloween was had by all. :)

An El Station Of the Artistic Variety

I'm a pun.

Do you know what I was for Halloween this year?

Adam Lambert's New Album Cover

I have no words. Except HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

Soda Pop Stop

I came across this video from one of the blogs I subscribe to, and it's fascinating. I wish everyone could be like this guy: innovative, interesting, knowledgeable, fun, and doing his best to help the little guy. Not to mention he owns one of the coolest stores ever, and it is now on my list of places I must visit at some point in my life. The video is about 13 minutes long, but it's awesome and definitely worth the time investment. Mmmm...rose petal soda...

Last Evanston Symphony Concert

Today was my last official Evanston Symphony Orchestra concert, not counting the Christmas concert. It was a really challenging and fun concert to play, and as I played the last note I thought to myself "This is the last time you'll ever play on this stage" and I was sad when it was over. If I end up at U of I, I'm planning on coming up for at least a few concerts per season next year, but it'll be strange to be watching and not playing.

Thanks to everyone who has come to concerts over the past five years--it's so much more fun to play a show when you know someone in the audience. It's been a great ride and I'll miss all the friends I made through this group (though I won't be sad to see the 2.5 hour rehearsals after a full day of work go--Tuesdays are looooong days). I do still have the Christmas concert to look forward to and I hope everyone can come out for some holiday fun. I love you ESO!