Manky Space
July 31, 2008
Everyday I walk under a viaduct. In the winter it was bad – a glacial landscape, frozen and treacherous, water frozen into icicles resembling giant stalactites. Now that it’s summer the wet-dog smell of Chicago in the heat permeates. Mysterious fluids ooze from corroding concrete. Infrastructural breakdown is all around.
Urban Spectacle
July 27, 2008
Last night I went downtown to see the man being hailed as “The New Pavarotti” at Millennium Park. Read the rest of this entry »
Anniversary: Remembering my Arrival in Chicago
July 23, 2008
Saturday July 19th marked my nine-year anniversary of arriving in Chicago. It was a difficult entry. Read the rest of this entry »
Infrastructural Divide
July 13, 2008
The Stephenson Expressway divides Pilsen from the neighborhoods of Bridgeport and McKinley Park, further South. To get to the outdoor pool at McKinley by bike I have to go either under or over this dividing infrastructure. Read the rest of this entry »
Summer Rain
July 8, 2008
I’ve been trying to swim outside this summer as much as possible, exploring the wealth of pools in the city, close enough to reach by bike. Read the rest of this entry »
Visualization of Blog Text: an Inventory
July 7, 2008
My brother told me about Wordle yesterday and I just discovered you can feed it the text of any blog which has an rss button; so here is the current inventory of Lifetecture
I love this program, it reminds me of programmatic diagrams by OMA, 
Rem Koolhaus’s firm.
It represents a serene moment in the ongoing battle for integration between word and image…but that’s just my opinion.
Fuel for the Road
July 6, 2008
I went to see a blockbuster movie on July 4th. The only good thing about the one with Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy are the Chicago scenes. It’s a celebration of sites usually neglected by film-makers; under the freeway, on top of the El, down by the river, the top of the Carbide and Carbon Building. Overall I was traumatised by the blood and gore and generally agree with this review. I don’t know if it was because I was not part of the target teenage male audience, but it was good to see Catherine and Jose again and I got to ride the bike almost over to Logan Square.
On the way back, the violence of the movie bled into the streets. Bottle rockets and amateur fireworks were exploding around me as the celebration of America’s birthday degenerated into anarchy. To avoid injury, I took the Blue Line back, but first I stopped at Margie’s Candies, a Chicago neighborhood institution. Read the rest of this entry »
Fireworks…
July 6, 2008
Chicago celebrates the 4th of July with a big fireworks display in Monroe Harbor, on the lakefront nearest the Loop, the night before Independence Day; always ahead of the crowd. I rode my bike downtown to witness the spectacle. Read the rest of this entry »
Jamestown
July 3, 2008
- Powhatan Dwelling and Colonists cottage
On Monday, after we dropped my brother off at the tiny Newport News Airport, my wonderful host Susan took me to see Jamestown. Read the rest of this entry »
Invisible Line
July 2, 2008
I’m still on Beach Mode, and desperate to hold on to the lovely feeling of freedom I got from swimming in the Chesapeake Bay. Today was a stormy day, so the next best thing was the Chicago Park District. The nearest pool to my apartment is Fosco Park built about two or three years ago and free. I’ve never gone there before because I’ve always been afraid and I’m not sure why. Read the rest of this entry »
