Ravenswood Artwalk

Ravenswood is both a street in Chicago and a neighborhood.  Officially Ravenswood (according to the realestate chatter) is part of the Lincoln Square area of Chicago.  Mostly residential, there is a corridor along  Ravenswood street that is home to art galleries and studios as well as small industry. The art walk is a yearly event and this year launched the 15th annual Chicago art month.  Unlike the art ffestival I attended earlier in the summer this one is strictly limited to the local artists that have studios in the area.  There were demonstrations and free classes in everything from silk screening to pottery and puppetry.  Because I am not a planner I was never quite in the right place at the right time.  But I enjoy seeing the individual work and talking with the artists.

A friend of mine at work is taking a pottery class and I think it would be fun to do.  One of the artists showed me the different looks of the pottery she makes as it dries and before it is fired and after it is fired before it is glazed and then of coarse the final product.  I especially loved the ceramic tiles and wall decorations. 

One woman had some very unique and pricey jewelry that I would love to have.  Lots of painters and photographers.  The main reason I went to the art walk in the first place was I received an invitation from a woman that I had taken photography classes from.  I get invitations from time to time from her but  have never made an event until today.  To my surprise I was more than just a email address.  She remembered me and even my name.  Lejean teaches art in the school system during the day, teaches photography in the evenings, works for Bella Babies (the company I worked for for a short time) on the weekends, and some how finds time to do her own work.

What I found most compelling about the day was seeing people's need to be express them selves in what every medium they choose.  For many of these people this is their full time jobs, supplemented it with teaching others to express them selves as well.  I don't know if anyone was buying today but it is nice to know that arts continue to flourish even in a terrible economy. 

Hibiscus tea

I have been pretty much addicted to soda (pop, coke) since my early college days.  I was working at a small diner and we could have all the fountain drinks we wanted.  An endless fountain of sweet liquid to drown out how much I hated the job.  I finally quit the job but not the addiction.  There have been times in my life where I would finish a 2 liter of Pepsi in an afternoon.  And start another one for the evening.

From time to time I have switched to diet soda but have always felt that aspartame is probably worse for me than sugar.  I also notice that when I drink diet soda (or regular soda) my water consumption goes down and my craving for sweets goes up.  The longest I've ever gone with out soda was about 6 months.  For some reason I decided (like an alcoholic) I could have just one and I was right back on the addiction wagon.

Part of the problem is that while I actually like water, I get tired of it.  I want something else to drink.  I can drink juice which at least has some vitamins but the calorie count is the same as soda and whole fruit is better.  At least with juice I don't drink two liters but still 16 oz is really too much. 

I have never learned to drink coffee.  I have never liked tea.  As a kid when dad would barbecue outside in the summer time and mom would fix iced tea, I would sneak into the liquor cabinet and get a coke to pour into my glass.  The color was a little darker but I guess no one noticed.  Half ice tea and half lemonade was a pretty good drink I found later on but still too high in calories.  Part of the problem when you are over weight is that you aren't eating or drinking for the taste of something.  If you were, you would be satisfied with just a glass of what ever and that would be fine.

My writers group meets every week at Argo Tea.  You can't just sit there and not order something (you could but that isn't very polite) so I tried the green tea and the black tea with out much success.  I don't even like tea with honey or sugar.  And then I tried the hibiscus tea in their signature drink Tea Sangria.  I know it has fruit and hibiscus tea but I'm not sure what else.  111 calories or 2 points for a 16oz drink and part of that may be the fruit.  It tastes like it might be sweetened.  But it is very yummy.  I also like their hibiscus steamer which is hibiscus and apple cider.

So I bought some tea to bring home.  It is a mixture of hibiscus and dried apple.  I make it every morning at home or work, drink it hot or cold.  I was sweetening it with a little fruit juice and then a little honey.  This morning I drank it with out sweetener and it tasted great. 

It turns out that hibiscus tea is reportedly very healthy.  It supposedly lowers blood pressure and may help with weight loss. For me, it is a nice naturally low calorie drink that makes me feel good.

Judy and Gail's Excellent Adventure

My sister, Judy came to see me over the Labor Day Weekend. The weather was wonderful and the company even better.


The great thing about my sister, Judy (my other sisters as well) is that we don't have to have definite plans. If you know anything about the Meyers/Briggs personality profile we are all J's. Non planners, go by the seat of your pants kind of people. What is important is just getting together and hanging out.

Judy got in late on Thursday night because she was caught in construction traffic for an hour and a half coming in to Chicago. Yup that can happen. I had made the white chili from Women of Great Taste with some modifications to make it gluten free. (It never occurred to me before that you can make your own cream of chicken soup.) We enjoyed our soup and conversation and a couple of episodes of Criminal Minds. Judy has been with out TV for a while though says she hasn't really missed it.

Friday morning we got up and decided to take a road trip to Galina, IL. I had heard it was a nice, pretty town about 3 hours away. Judy didn't object to more driving after her 12 hour drive the day before. Somehow driving is more fun when you have someone to talk to. (though sometimes its nice just to be with your thoughts. She had enough of that the day before.) While I took a shower, Judy got on the Internet and found us a relatively inexpensive bed and breakfast for the night.

The bed and breakfast is called the Snoop Sister's Inn. It is for sale by the way. if anyone is interested in purchasing a bed and breakfast. The owners were nice and it is a beautiful building. The economy has hurt their business just as it is impacting much of the country.

Snoop Sister's Inn

We spent the afternoon shopping and then had dinner at a place recommended by out Inn Keeper. Unfortunately they only sold Sangria by the pitcher and for some reason I thought that meant we should drink it all.

Saturday we both had massages (thank you Judy for the treat) and then did more shopping. More looking than buying. On the way home we listened to Judy's John Denver tapes. Exhausted, but happy, we had dinner with Kate and Charlie at my new favorite neighborhood pub, Rockwell's.

On Sunday we planned a bike ride but that was thwarted when it turned out we only had one working bike. Instead we headed to the Jazz festival, stopping at "The Bean."

self portrait reflection in the Bean

At the Jazz festival we met up with my friend Charlotte and several friends of hers. It was quite the interesting and diverse bunch of people. A psychiatrist, a geneticist, an owner of a massage school, a financial consultant, a psychologist, a director of a nonprofit and a nurse. Interesting conversation and the music was O.K. too.

Charlotte

Judy Resting

Judy and I left the group and had dinner at PF Chang's because they have a gluten free menu. At home we watched a great little movie call City Island. I highly recommend it.

 On Monday, sadly, Judy parted and I tried to sleep so I could work my night shift.

Judy

A Good Hair Cut

When I lived in St. Charles, I had found a hair dresser not far from where I lived who was wonderful.  I went to her for several years.  She always gave me a great hair cut and did a great job with color. And then she left town.  I was devastated.  You really only need two things in life.  A good hair dresser and a good mechanic.  Since I no longer own a car, I really only need the hair dresser.

Since moving to Chicago I have been moving from salon to salon looking for someone to connect with.  I had found a place near my first apartment in Rosco Village.  I think Kate had steered me there and her roommate had steered her.  But then the hair dresser I liked left, and I didn't like the next person and then when I decided to go back the place was closed.  For a while, I was going to a shop just off the Brown Line.  The hair cuts are 12 dollars.  No shampoo, sometimes a blow dry but really always a good cut.  The women in the shop I think are Russian though I'm not sure of their nationality.  I didn't always get the same one but it didn't really seem to matter.  For some reason when I decided to get my bangs cut (it was probably a Sunday and my shop was closed) I went to another shop in Rosco Village where some of the hair dressers from my old shop had ended up.  The man that cut my hair did a good job but something just wasn't quite right.  Then when my bangs started growing out I made the terrible mistake of going to a Hair Cuttery (a chain for those who aren't familiar).  Why do I not remember that I never get good cuts from those places.  I told the girl (she was young) that I wanted my bangs above my eye brows not half way up my forehead. 
I was trying to let my hair grow out.  Now my bangs looked hideous, someone call them my baby bangs and that is what they looked like, or a little kid's.  My hair was driving me crazy and impulsively (I always get my hair cut impulsively) decided to whack it off.  Again unfortunately it was a Sunday.  My shop was closed.  So I went to another one around the corner that was open.

I had a bad feeling from the start.  The girl was young.  No one else was in the shop.  I had a picture with me.  Kate said the picture looked like a mullet so maybe it was a good thing the cut didn't come out like the picture.  (I think I just want to look like the person in the picture and think the hair cut will do that for me.)  The young woman (probably just out of school) took an hour and a half to cut my hair.  I could tell as she was cutting it it was a bad cut.  But what are you going to do while she has the scissors in her hands?  She actually teased my hair when she was styling it.  I haven't had anyone tease my hair since the 60's or was it the 70's.  Even though the end product didn't look too terrible, it was just not a good cut.  A good hair cut falls naturally and continues to look good even when it grows out.  I had been struggling with this cut since day one.

So last week, (it was Monday and I thought my old shop would be open) I decided to cut my hair once again.  But I was over in a part of town nowhere near my shop, I had gone to my Weigh Watchers meeting, had lunch with Kate because she works in the area and decided I just didn't want to go way over to Kimble to get my hair cut.  I walked by a Hair Cuttery and almost went in when the little voice in my head said YOU ARE NEVER HAPPY WHEN YOU GET YOUR HAIR CUT AT ONE OF THOSE PLACES.  So I thankfully walked on.  The next two salons I walked past were closed because normal salons are closed on Mondays..

I walked for a while looking for an open salon and finally found one.  The stylist was busy cutting a guy's hair but said I could wait.  Normally that salon is also closed on Monday's but Jeffery (the stylist) just started working at that shop and he likes to work on Mondays so it was open.  And they had a 15 dollar walk in special.  Later I found out that hair cuts are normally $45.  I liked Jeffery from the start.  He agreed that I had gotten a very bad hair cut.  He didn't agree with exactly what I wanted to do (he also said it would look too much like a mullet)  and we compromised.  Oh and when he was washing my hair he massaged my head for a few minutes.  That in it self would keep me coming back for more.  Jeffery has been cutting hair for along time.  He is from Seattle and owned his own salon there before deciding to move to Chicago a few years ago.  He was easy to talk to.  Interesting.  And I got a good hair cut.  I think as it grows out it will continue to look great.

So now living in Chicago, I have many choices when it comes to getting my hair cut.  I will go back to see Jeffery even though his hair cuts are 45 dollars and my old shop only charges 12.  Why?  Because as with a good mechanic the relationship is almost as important as the work being done.  The beauticians in my old shop were nice enough but there wasn't a lot of communication or connection going on. 

After about 2 years of having my hair in it's natural state color wise, I have an appointment to have Jeffery color it.  He says he can highlight it without coloring it first and it will look great.  I believe him.  My bangs are still growing out.

Going Gluten Free

In June of this year, I started back to Weight Watchers in a life long effort to get thin.  Technically, it has only been half my life.  I realized this year that Kate was turning thirty and next year I would turn 60.  I got fat when I got pregnant with Kate and except for a few brief moments I have been grossly overweight ever since.  Half my life.  I decided that was long enough. 

At the same time, I decided that I would give up wheat and gluten.  It has not been as difficult as I imagined.  At first I simply got rid of the obvious stuff, breads, donuts, cakes, cookies, etc.  But the problem with gluten is that it is in everything.  At least in an awful lot of processed foods.  So now I am being very careful.  OK, yesterday I had a breakfast meeting and they served muffins, a breakfast burrito and a little bit of fruit.  I ate the fruit.  Dumped the muffin and unrolled the burrito.  I'm sure my eggs were contaminated but I was hungry.

So why am I going wheat and gluten free you ask.  Well for one thing it knocks out a lot of tempting foods right off the bat, making it easier to stay on my weight watcher's plan.  I can still eat a chocolate chip cookie, but I have to plan for it.  I can't just eat it because it is there.  And yes there are some pretty tasty gluten free cookies out there.  Giving up gluten also makes me stick to more basic foods that are naturally gluten free such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and meats and nuts.  They are making more and more gluten free packaged foods but I'm trying to stay away from those. 

The main reason I'm giving up wheat and gluten, however, is for health reasons.  Ever since getting pregnant the first time, I have had difficulty with swelling in my feet and legs.  My lymphatic system just doesn't work well.  A Naprapath once suggested I might have an allergy to wheat.  Every time I've eliminated it from my diet my swelling gets better.  There is also some evidence that wheat can cause inflammation and lead to autoimmune diseases. 

Celiac's disease is an intolerance to gluten.  Although the main symptoms are gastrointestinal it can manifest itself in lots of different ways.  I never had the test done to see if I have the disease.  I never had the typical symptoms.  I did have awful acid reflux which I could never quite attribute to anything specific.  I had finally decided it was caused by a high fat diet and simply overeating.  Now I am wondering if it was gluten or  wheat.  (By the way gluten is also found in rye and barley.  Some people have difficulty with oats but that may be due to cross contamination with wheat.)  My acid reflux  has completely disappeared and I am still eating fat, though not nearly as much and occasionally I over eat.  I had a touch acid reflux the other morning after the breakfast burrito incident.  Hum?

So otherwise how do I feel now that I've given up wheat and gluten in various amounts for 3 months?  Well, I use to have terrible feet pain brought on by standing too long or walking long distances.  It was the top of my feet not the bottom.  Lying in bed I would feel them get tighter and tighter and then the pain would start.  Some mornings trying to get out of bed was an adventure.  Some days walking to the train was torture.   My feet still have some swelling and stiffness but the pain is almost completely gone.  Because I believe the pain is due to arthritis and because arthritis has a habit of waxing and waning I am not 100% convinced it is the diet.  I'm going to wait and see.  But the other morning I was running for a train having to go down a flight of steps and then up another and I almost flew down the steps.  That hasn't happened in a long time.  My knees seem to be getting better as well.  Oh and you know how sometimes when something goes away you kind of forget you ever had it.  Neck and upper back pain gone.  Stay tuned to see if it is just all in my head or if there really is something to giving up gluten.

Art in the City

The great thing about living in Chicago is that there is always something to do no matter the season, though summer especially is filled with outdoor festivals and activities. I sadly have not taken advantage of all that Chicago has to offer. My roommate, Kim, on the other hand always seems to know what is going on. She suggested the Gold Coast Art Fair at Grant's Park this past weekend.

The fair is a "juried" event which means not just anyone can set up a booth. You have to meet certain standards. In all there were 578 booths of quality paintings, sculptures, photography, furniture and glass and of course, jewelry.

Kim and I headed down town via the brown line. We took our time meandering over to the art fair taking in the new Chinese Sculptures in Millennium Park and watching the kids (and adults) play in the Crown Fountain.

Once at the fair we were pretty overwhelmed with everything there was to see. Not that I had really intended to buy anything but the prices were a bit overwhelming too. But the art was great. It was a warm day with little shade and then to our unhappiness before we could see everything we wanted the fair closed early at 3 pm due to a stupid preseason Bear's Game. I am not sure what one had to do with the other unless it was about parking.

Before we left one artist caught my eye. His name is danilo cuevas. He paints primarily in oil and then scans the paintings to create digital images. From his bio: "an extremely versatile and prolific artist, cuevas is best known for his urban landscapes and still life botanical. when viewing his paintings, it is easy to see how they reflect his true knowledge of his subject paying meticulous attention to line, form, detail and color."

I bought a digital copy of his poppies on black. I am drawn to still life though many people find them boring. It is a direction I would like my own photography to take. He was a very nice and personable guy. Not all artist are. It helped that it was the end of the day and there was no one else at this booth. Because I was his last customer he gave me a notebook with one of his paintings on the front. A simple purple flower that I love as well. You can see his work at his website: http://www.printedcanvas.com/.

Because our time was cut short due to the Bear's game, I decided to return to the fair on Sunday by myself so that I could have more time to get inspired. Going on my own had certain advantages. Kim and I tend to worry about each other getting too tired and frequently rested. On my own I could go at my own pace. I have noticed in life that it is important for me to mix company with being by myself. Too much of one or the other isn't good for me.

I headed straight for the fair on the second day and spent about two hours taking my time at a lot of booths. I still did not see everything. Mostly I focused on photography. There were three that stood out for me. I did not get names but I will describe their work. The first gentleman was not a digital photographer. He says he does very little cropping when developing his film much preferring to capture what he wants as he takes the picture. He does his own developing with very little enhancement. I have always maintained that digital photography has come such a long way that film is no longer necessary. I changed my mind this weekend. There is a quality in film (at least in this photographer's work) that isn't captured in the best digital. I told him I might have to give up digital. He was a bit snobbish and said no you won't, this is way too difficult. And truly that is why I and most of the world have gone digital. It is easier, and much more versatile. Besides, setting up a dark room even for black and white film is expensive and problematic. Color chemicals are carcinogenic and hard to dispose of.

The second photographer has some great photographs mainly of South Carolina. He had a huge picture of an banyan tree. What was amazing was the absolute clarity of every detail from the pebbles on the ground to the leaves on the tree. I know how he must have taken the picture. He had an extremely high quality wide angle lens and goosed up the f stops as far as he could. At that point very little light is entering the camera so you have to use a tripod and a long exposure time and hope there is no wind. I wish I had gotten his website address.

The third was a gentleman who takes digital photographs but prints directly on to canvas with a specialized printer and ink. Wonderful end product. Good photographer as well. I didn't get his website either.

I ended up buying a pair of earrings from a really nice woman, Daniel Desjardins, from Lafayette, Louisiana. We talked for awhile. She told me a little bit about life on the festival circuit. She wasn't selling much. She says she really doesn't like the selling part. Says she does much better when a friend comes along that does like to sell. Being an artist she has little interest in the business end of her work, hates computers and thinks there might be a job for someone catering to the artist community.

I also bought a cool pen. When I told the young lady I was going to use it in my writing group she said it was a Zen Pen to provide all the inspiration I needed. I certainly hope so.

Buckingham Fountain in Grant's Park

Summer is quickly coming to an end despite the last two days being the hottest of the season. I know this because it is dark now as I walk to the train on my way to work. The upside is that if I sit on the right side of the train, and don't have my noise stuck in the latest book I'm reading, I can watch the sun rise over the buildings. Technically we still have a month left of summer. My favorite time has always been summer's end, the warm September days when the kids have returned to school and the days are quieter again, a little cooler but still warm enough to enjoy the outdoors. For me fall has always been the anticipation of new things, new beginnings, excitement in the air.

The change of season is what makes the Midwest appealing to me. Except maybe fall to winter. The only benefit I see is that the dark days are at there peak and the light begins to return again. A guy I met in a writing class once told me that he liked winters. He said for him it was a good time to write because the good weather outside wasn't distracting him. He could hibernate, stay warm and write.

Winter to spring is a joyous time with all the new growth, the flowers, the baby bunnies and squirrels I see on my daily early morning walks to the train. I know I have said this before, but the great thing about Chicago's springs is that all the new blooms stay for so much longer and there is an overlapping of blooms we never had in Missouri. It is not at all unusual for tulips and daffodils to still be blooming when the lilacs and even the peonies begin to add their beauty to the world.

Spring to summer is a magical time when the mornings are still cool and your feet still get wet from dew when you walk in the grass. Everywhere there are neatly manicured lawns and flower beds. The days are at their longest. The festivals start. People are everywhere. Sidewalk cafes are full. You are finally free of cumbersome outer clothing.

Now as the days become shorter and the last days of summer are upon us the vegetation if not not tightly reined in is wild and untamed. The lovely flower beds of spring are outgrowing their borders. The hostas are huge. Black Eyed Susans are everywhere.

It will be five years since the Labor Day I came to visit Kate in Chicago and fell in love with the city and decided to make a big change in my life. It was the right move to make. I love living in the city, taking public transportation, working in a teaching hospital. I don't know if I will stay here forever. But it has been a good five years.

I am going to start blogging again. It will no longer be about Women of Great Taste (the cook book anyway). It will probably be mostly about my life in the city, certainly about food because that is where my passion lies and perhaps about the simplify I have found as I head towards the beginning of my sixth decade.

I am blogging because I enjoy reading my sister, Susan's, blog, 6 Sheep and a Llama (and others). I would sorely miss it if she quit and she says she misses my writing. So this is for her and the others out there that have the remotest interest in my internal and external life.