Category Archives: Friends

Ｉ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　Ｉ　ｎｅｅｄ　ｈｅｌｐ！ Mystery title

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After a beautiful, sunny few days the rains came; we got the remnants of hurricane Ike. It rained for two days and now things are flooded all around us. I moved to Carol's house, in tａhe 'burbs', on Sunday, getting only a little wet. Yesterday was only gray, no rain, but the floods made it difficult to get anywhere south or east. Raja and I were meeting Karen and Kathryn near where they lived; a forty-five minute drive that took an hour and a half. I think we were lucky we got there at all. I'm using my new ultra-mini laptop to write this. I got the Asus eeepc, not my first choice, but I was getting tired of waiting and this was available. I want to make sure it works and get used to it before I get on the plane for China. I obviously did something wrong and couldn't figure out how to fix it. This thing has mysteries I have yet to fathom. I'm waiting for Raja and Sandy to pick me up and we're off to Door County.

Home, sweet home

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A fiery, red sun, rising out of Lake Michigan, welcomed me to the city yesterday morning. Betty and I walked to the Art Institute on this beautiful day with the city looking as bright and sparkly as anyone could wish. Chicago never looks as grungy as New York, at least in part because there are alleys here, where trash gets picked up by an army of trash collectors and recyclers. New York trash gets put on the sidewalk, even on the most elegant streets. 

We saw a wonderful show about Benin, another show of Japanese prints about Americans in Yokohama and drawings about Daniel Burnham's master plan for the city. In 1909, Burnham laid out the system of parks along the lake front and forest preserves in the suburbs that are still in existence and cherished today. 

In the evening, I drove out to the suburbs and had dinner with some of my cousins. Unfortunately, the group keeps diminishing. They are all very special to me and I try to see them each time I come to Chicago. 

Today, by contrast, is a gray, gloomy day with occasional raindrops in the air. I met more cousins at the Museum of Contemporary Art where we saw the Jeff Koons show and then went on to a show of political prints at a new gallery space at Loyola. The exhibits were OK, but I was mostly interested in talking with these cousins whom I haven't seen for more than a year, possibly two. 

Most of my time from now until Monday will be spent with friends and relatives. Tuesday I'm on to Door County. Raja has a nice post about it here.

The adventure begins

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That's what Sonsee said yesterday as I left my apartment. My tenants are installed and I have moved to Robin and Steve's guest room. I was so wiped out yesterday afternoon I slept for at least two hours; not like me at all. I guess I've been under more of a strain than I thought. I've started to rearrange the stuff I brought with me. I was amazed to find I actually seemed to have packed the correct amount of underwear. After I showered this morning I had a moment of panic until I found everything.

My granddog, Darcy, has taken me over. She slept with me all night, fortunately quietly, and hasn't let me out of her sight. She knows it's unusual that I stay here, but I'm not sure what she's thinking. Of course, we are all going away tomorrow and she'll be left with a dog sitter, so I guess that will reinforce her anxieties.

Tomorrow morning we are all driving to Philadelphia, or actually King of Prussia. The kids are going to the Philadelphia Folk Festival and I'll be taking a bus into Philly to spend the day at the art museum and perhaps take a small break for a real Philadelphia Cheese Steak.

On Monday we continue on to New York. I'll stay with Renee for ten days; the kids will do other things. My first task will be a visit to the Chinese consulate to get my visa. I still have to arrange a hotel room in Shanghai and a flight from Shanghai to Xian, but I have some good referrals. I can't believe this has all come to pass.

Getting ready

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In one week the two women who want to sublet my apartment will be here. I've been busy emptying drawers and closets, making decisions about what I will need for the next four months–a New York trip, Chicago trip, China and Japan, summer, fall and winter, and what I just don't want to leave around. I have a storage room in the basement where some of the stuff is going, but I'm putting most of it in my second bedroom and putting a lock on the door. It's not as bad as moving but requires a lot more planning.

The success of this project requires lots of help from people around me. My daughter and son-in-law had to agree to take some of my stuff and to let me stay with them in between trips. My upstairs neighbor has agreed to keep an eye on my mail. I'll be out of the apartment too long to have the post office hold it and having it sent to Robin's looks like it could be a big mistake. My landlord is helping me and cooperating fully. He has always been wonderful, one of the joys of living in this apartment. I'm very grateful to this community of mine who are helping make the trip possible.

Friday evening

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Most Friday nights I go to Robin for Shabat dinner. It’s a lovely way to end the week with blessings over the wine and bread (challah that Robin makes), blessings for the children when they are present, a lovely dinner and a chance to catch up on the doings of the week. Robin and Steve went out of town for the weekend so I was on my own last night. I joined some new friends and went to services at Rodef Shalom, one of the oldest Jewish Reform Temples in the country.

I was raised as a Conservative Jew, although that, along with many other conservative things, didn’t take. In spite of the fact I seldom go to services it seemed strange to me to have someone playing a piano. No instruments, except the human voice, are used in Conservative congregations. And, although the words were the same, many of the melodies seemed more like show tunes, Andrew LLoyd Weber, than the chants or middle eastern melodies I grew up with.

After the service I went to dinner with my friends, to Yokoso! aJapanese steak house. This not very Japanese. The food was OK. The performance by the cook was entertaining. The conversation was good. All in all, a different kind of Friday evening.

A good week (and today is my birthday)

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I've been too busy or too tired to continue writing all week. Spent most of my time with friends, and a few art shows during and in between. Wednesday morning I met Ellen at the natural history museum. We did a lot of talking, since I haven't seen her for about a year, and we saw the new exhibit about the horse. Thursday was a full day with Phyllis. First lunch at her place, a wonderful apartment on the West Side, then up to the botanic garden. Darwin's garden was fabulous; all of the colors and shapes were overwhelmingly gorgeous. We also saw a little of the Moore exhibit, but ran out of time and couldn't stay to see all of it. It's another reason to return to New York.

Back on the West Side, we returned the car to the garage, rested for half an hour, then went to dinner at a charming Japanese restaurant. New York is filled with sushi places, but this one was special, at 92nd and Amsterdam. After that a concert at Carnegie Hall with James Levine and the Met Orchestra. The first piece was by Elliott Carter, 100 years old and in the audience to take a bow. I guess being 100 is OK if you can be in such good shape and get that kind of recognition.

Friday I had coffee with Rose, lunch with Jean and dinner with C–a very rewarding day. Saw Mary Cassatt prints and drawings with Jean then went to the Japan Society before dinner. I often have mixed feelings about lacquer, but I loved most of this work by Zeshin. Along with wonderful boxes and trays they showed paintings he did with lacquer. Amazing stuff!

Second Seder

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We didn’t begin until 8:30, ate at 10:30 and got to bed at 2:30 am. It was a lovely event, but I am sitting here at 10:30 Monday evening and I’m still tired. The last time I was awake at 2:30 in the morning I was on an airplane over the Pacific.

Our friends, the Rabbi and his wife, hosted this seder. We were a small group, my family and the Rabbi’s family, ten in all. The Rabbi has a wonderful, baritone and is very musical–makes the whole thing a treat. We recited the entire book, with multiple interruptions for questions and comments by the children, all grown now, the youngest being 17, and very knowledgeable in matters of religion. One of them even brought a laptop, to look up the stuff no one else could answer. Another contrast with my childhood experiences, and I don’t mean the laptop.

At the end of each seder we say "Next year in Jerusalem." When I was a child, before the creation of the State of Israel, this was a yearning without much chance of fulfillment. Today we pray for peace in the State of Israel.

Wonder of the Internet

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Back in December I wrote a post about a church whose deterioration I’ve been watching from my fitness club parking lot, and asked if anyone had any information about it. Alice, from Wintersong, who currently lives in Salt Lake City, but once lived in Pittsburgh, replied that she would ask a Pittsburgh friend about the church.

Shortly thereafter I received a comment from M L Greene with some information about the church. Two days ago, Mage from San Diego, who posts at Day Tripper, sent me a link to some beautiful photos about the church. Although never identified in these photos, and I never before noticed the large red chimney/incinerator next to it, I couldn’t believe there were two different places with the same damage to their spires.

I drove over to it yesterday. It is the same church. The red chimney (or whatever) is behind it. The windows are boarded up, the damage to the spires continues, but the chain link fence is gone and there is a sign inviting people to come for "The Word" on Sundays at noon. So the church has become useful again, and hopefully will be repaired. Some Sunday at noon I’ll go over and see it.

Amazing, isn’t it, that people from all over the country can join together to give information.

Good friends, good art. What more could I want?

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Got up early this morning, picked up my neighbor, Mary, and drove to Columbus, Ohio to meet with raja and friends at the art museum, have lunch, see a very special art show. Not the Monet, which you might think if you followed the art museum link, but the Aminah Robinson show, Along Water Street. I saw her work in a huge show at the Brooklyn Museum in 2006 and was very impressed. She combines, drawing, paint and fabric to tell wonderful stories. You can see some of her work here. I’ve been nagging raja to meet me at the show since I found out it would be at the museum. Columbus is halfway for each of us.

It was a lot of driving, but we had a good visit and I loved the show; well worth the trip. I found it a little hard to say goodbye, but maybe we’ll meet again soon, in Chicago. I’ll be going there next month.

Ink, paper and friendship

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I just got off the phone with raja who complained about the persimmons being left so long on the blog–I’m supposed to keep writing. Raja and I have been friends for thirty or forty years. We no longer see each other very often but we talk and read each other’s blogs. Good way to keep in touch.

It’s kind of a slow week. I’ve been exercising, riding buses, another form of exercise, because my car is in the shop for three days. I usually ride the bus, but it feels different when I have no choice. I’ve spent most of the last week working on making the Japan blog into a book. It’s slow work; I’m adding more pictures and retrieving some of the information from the links. I have already created 42 pages and I’m only up to October 25. Like I said: it’s slow work.

I’m still wrestling with the pictures. I love the printed page, but there are too many pictures to consider printing them all out. I have a few videos; one of these days I might even get them posted on the blog. I suppose what I really want is something like that new device Amazon came out with, but not quite that one. Something where I can put slides and videos into the printed page so I can touch the paper.