Virginia Beach: Day 2
June 28, 2008
The legs of J
Virginia Beach: Day One
June 28, 2008
The Landscapes of Travel
The Sea and I
June 25, 2008
Tomorrow I’m going on a summer holiday. Every now and then I reach a point where my longing for the sea is unbearable, so it will be good to reconnect with the Atlantic ocean. Growing up in Ireland we always lived fairly close to the sea and almost every summer our family would go away to the West or Southwest coast. The first thing I notice when I go back is the strong sharp scent of salt infusing the neighborhood where my mother still lives. Even though Chicago has a coast, of a sort, with the lake a vast expanse* I’m looking forward to getting out of this intense urban environment for a few days.
Tomorrow the coast I see will be on the other side of the Atlantic from Ireland, below the Chesapeake Bay.
*The distance from Chicago to Michigan across the lake, approx 75 miles, is greater than the distance from Ireland to Wales across the Irish sea, approx 60 miles!
Keys in the Neighborhood
June 25, 2008
Today I needed to get an extra set of keys cut, so I went to the closest hardware store: Alvarez on 18th St. Read the rest of this entry »
Googleblocks
June 23, 2008
I have traveled downtown to the Loop by both bus and “L” during the past week and on both occasions my view has been blocked by Google. Read the rest of this entry »
Guerrilla Gardening
June 17, 2008
This is the site of one of Chicago’s invisible boundary lines. Neglected land on 15th St. between Blue Island and Throop St provides an ideal opportunity for Guerrilla Gardening. Read the rest of this entry »
Team Sports
June 15, 2008
I’ve never seen a live basketball game before and so when J. offered me a free ticket I decided to go and check it out. I felt like a cultural anthropologist, observing the procedure as an outsider. Read the rest of this entry »
Sacred Space
June 14, 2008
My Northsider friend J. came down to Pilsen yesterday and while we were waiting for Honky Tonk Barbecue to open, we accidentally stumbled upon a garden of roses. St. Procopius church spire dominates the view from my apartment, and even though I’ve attended mass there, I’ve never noticed the small sanctuary to the East. Read the rest of this entry »
Cotton
June 12, 2008
It’s hot in the city today. I took the bus up to the Graham Foundation to participate in a salon. the topic was: “Future Preservation,” my idea, to see what kind of discourse we could rally. Read the rest of this entry »
Neocon
June 11, 2008
Every year the design world converges at the Merchandise Mart, a building which is so large it has its own zip code. Architects, design professionals, dealers, salesmen, students and pretenders all converge during this three-day festival of glitz where products are unveiled, seminars are held and trends are identified. I met Bo there today on the afternoon of the last day to have a look around. Read the rest of this entry »
