As of a couple weeks ago, I am now covering arts and museums for Chicagoist.com, a blog about Chicago. If you point your browser to chicagoist.com/profile/laurambrowning, there’s an RSS feed at the bottom to help you stay on top of what I’m writing. Expect news about art exhibits and other worthy museum events as well as some in-depth looks at art around Chicago. And poke around the rest of the site, too!
Cross-posted at artcanthurtyou.com.
I’m back in Chicago and over the jet lag, though my mind is not fully Stateside yet. The Chicago accents greeting me in O’Hare were jarring, the tea here is terrible, and the museums cost a fortune. Until I figure out how to move abroad, I’m keeping myself busy. A few job-related notes:
- I was featured on a Chicago Public Radio blog last month in a series called, “Give me a job, please!” Check it out: Storyteller, art lover, wordsmith, factory tour enthusiast.
- Starting in about a week, I’m joining Chicagoist’s Arts & Entertainment bloggers covering museumy things. I’m pretty excited about it, and I’ll keep you posted.
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People keep asking what my trip highlight was. That’s impossible to answer — I was there for five full weeks and packed a lot in. I did catch a couple shows at The National Theatre — we had hoped to see more, but it just wasn’t meant to be — and I realized how much I’m missing out here in Chicago. I live in one of the best cities in the world for theater, and I think I’ve seen maybe two shows since I’ve been here. Unacceptable. I’ve done some poking around, and reduced-rate tickets are available at almost every theater, either by queuing up the morning of, or via HotTix.org (also usually the day of). Here are the current shows I want to see. Who’s in?
The Year of Magical Thinking — Court Theatre (in Hyde Park; based on Joan Didion’s book of the same name)
American Buffalo — Steppenwolf Theatre (a David Mamet play)
Private Lives — Chicago Shakespeare Theater (a Noel Coward play)
And just about anything at Looking Glass Theatre and Second City.
Email me or leave a comment if you want to join me. In general, cheap tickets are around $20 (compared to prices anywhere from $40 to $60+, so it’s actually a good deal).
Since I’ve moved to Chicago, I’ve found that I just don’t understand people who take summer vacations. I don’t mean a weekend in Wisconsin or a trip to visit friends. I mean the kind of vacation you save up for: exotic beaches, pool boys, drinks with umbrellas in them. People, Chicago summers are not a thing to be escaped. Make your week-long beach escape sometime in February and hang around here between May and October. Here is a list, one sure to be added to, of what I want to do this summer. Are you gonna join me or what?
Who’s in?
UPDATE 05.23.09:
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current book: Nearly done with Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao.
current music: Lots of old favorites: Old 97’s, Margot and the Nuclear So-and-So’s.
current socks: It’s sandal weather! PRAISE BE!
The high tomorrow is supposed to be 0. Awesome.
I feel incredibly lucky to be living in Chicago right now. From my office window, I’ve been watching the Obama rally tents go up for the last week. I’m surrounded by citizens who believe in a black man from the South Side of Chicago, whose street I used to run down when I lived in Hyde Park. Last night I went to the rally in Grant Park and cheered and screamed and celebrated because this wasn’t just a referendum on eight devastating years, this was a mandate for change. This was an uncynical, unjaded acceptance of the word hope.
I hope that President-elect Obama exhibits the same thoughtfulness and spirit of unification that he’s shown in his campaign, and I hope that the tears welling up as I type this won’t someday dry up out of contempt or cynicism. I’ve never been so involved in politics before—this is the first time I’ve ever given money to a campaign, the first time I’ve cared so much. Some people complain that Obama is all style and no substance, but I guarantee you that it’s not substance that’s inspired investment in his campaign, and it’s not style that’s kept us there.
A year ago, blogger Andrew Sullivan wrote a beautiful post that I was happy to see reposted today:
Consider this hypothetical. It’s November 2008. A young Pakistani Muslim is watching television and sees that this man—Barack Hussein Obama—is the new face of America. In one simple image, America’s soft power has been ratcheted up not a notch, but a logarithm. A brown-skinned man whose father was an African, who grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii, who attended a majority-Muslim school as a boy, is now the alleged enemy. If you wanted the crudest but most effective weapon against the demonization of America that fuels Islamist ideology, Obama’s face gets close. It proves them wrong about what America is in ways no words can.
I suspect McCain sees this, too. The enormous crowd in Grant Park stood quietly during his concession speech and clapped respectfully when he finished. I wish we had seen this McCain during the campaign—he was moving and gracious, not bitter and defensive, and he clearly recognized the magnitude of this election. This also made me tear up:
In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.
And finally, the words of the 44th President of the United States of America:
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
More pictures and video here.
Congratulations to everybody who ran the Chicago Marathon today! Y’all are awesome.
Since I swore after last year’s royal fuck-up that I’d never do Chicago again, I decided I should at least cheer the runners on. So I made a sign last night that said YES YOU CAN in huge blue letters, and I headed down on my bike to North and Wells. It’s a great location because you can easily walk between mile 4 and mile 11—they’re not even half a block apart. I finally got to see the elite runners live, something I’ve never been able to do since I’m a middle-of-the-packer. And… wow. I couldn’t run that fast for quarter of a mile. The women’s Olympic Gold Medalist, Constantina Tomescu-Dita, was there, though the pack went by so quickly I couldn’t pick her out (she came in fourth today). I hung around at mile 11 for awhile and saw two of the five people I was tracking.
I’d planned on leaving after that, but I really wanted to see my friends finish the race. So I hopped back on my bike, got on the lakepath, and headed downtown. I got a great cheering spot on the inside corner at Michigan and Roosevelt, where the runners turn onto Roosevelt, make a final left turn, and cross the finish line. That last stretch up Roosevelt is probably the biggest hill on the entire course. I once tried to run it for a hill workout, and it turns out that the incline isn’t really all that steep. But after 25.9 miles, it’s a freakin’ mountain. I screamed myself hoarse cheering people on, and saw two more of the people I was tracking, plus at least half a dozen other runners I knew. I headed to the CES tent afterwards, and then it was back home. (Where… I discovered that I have a moderately bad sunburn. The worst I’ve gotten all summer, actually.)
I was really impressed with the runners I saw—the weather, while a good twenty degrees cooler than last year, was still anything but ideal. It was nice this morning, but by 10:30 or so, it had really heated up, and I know most of my friends didn’t have quite the race they had planned on, which I know is really frustrating, especially when it’s been cool all summer. WHEN will they learn to start this race at 7am, honestly?
My next marathon plans are still tentative, but I’m hoping to do the D.C. Marine Corps Marathon next October. Heads up to my D.C. friends, since you may have a house guest with an insatiable need for ice (ahemryanlisajenbarb). I’ve got at least three more half marathons to keep me busy until then, and hopefully I can get my time down and get back into shape before marathon training starts next May.
More marathon pictures here. I unfortunately took most of them at mile 11—I wish I’d taken more near the finish line. And I wish I could have gotten a picture of the best t-shirt I saw on a runner: BRING IT KENYA.
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current book: It sounds like my next one will be Gilead, followed by The Poisonwood Bible. Weigh in below and help me figure out how to get through this mountain of reading!
current music: I really need to buy my tickets for the Calexico show in November. I just haven’t been by the Metro lately. Will do it this week, for sure. Who’s coming with me? It’s gonna be an awesome show.
current socks: I wore running socks today. Other than being very comfortable and having small purple stripes on the back, they’re not all that novel.
Took this during a break from my bike ride along the lakefront this afternoon. I love that you can see how his feet are tucked up beneath him.
Last week in Millennium Park, I watched these two girls have jump rope races back and forth across the pavilion.
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