Beauty = Sweetie

Thursday

"It's about to snow;
Clouds fill the lake.
Tall buildings and terraces
Shimmer and disappear.
Now there are mountains;
Now there are not.
From the rocks flows water clear;
You can count the fish.
In the deep woods there aren't any people;
Birds call back and forth."
Su Shih (1036-1101)

Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose...

Oh, that song has just been playing in my head. Most people don't have as much fun as I did in Court yesterday. The contents of my purse were fascinating on the xray machine. The errant officer showed up looking smarmy. The A.S.A. looked tough. The judge had long blonde hair and a really fun job. The other defendants looked very worried for the most part. Their attorneys joked and chatted and MY attorney looked handsome and totally in his element and winked at me. He told me to stand to his right when my name was called and truly, I barely got up to the Judge, when it was suddenly over. I'd rehearsed a curtsy if she said 'Not Guilty Of Course' but everything happened too quickly and I was ushered out of the room.'One Thousand Percent Not Guilty of Speeding Of Course' was the decision! I managed a snottyface at the smarmy cop, and as we walked through the Courthouse, everyone knew my attorney, stopped him, complimented me about him (they did!) were happy to see him, hugged him. I hope I never have to go back there, and am grateful I won't be needing even these kinder, gentler handcuffs.

Court. Today.

I retained who I think is a highly experienced attorney to handle my 'no-i-was-NOT' speeding ticket. He sent me a court reminder letter telling me 'to be on time and dress appropriately for court' which I think was a trick statement...if I've never BEEN to court, how would I know what appropriately meant? I've also been admonished over and over and over by him, 'not to speak' to the State's Attorney or the Judge. There is no 'MY' side of the story apparently, there is just mute silence on my part and whatever he learned in law school hanging in the balance between being able to drive again tomorrow or the hoosegow. Yes, I'm a little nervous.

Darn!

Well, sHe had our vote.

August v February

Do I NOT Keep Asking This?

Friday

Hello? Hello? What?

Eclipse!

"Art thou pale for weariness of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless among the stars that have a higher birth,
And ever changing, like a joyless eye
That finds no object worth it's constancy?"
Percy Bysshe Shelley

High Maintenance?

I'm just not. The appeal of having strangers 'make me up' is just not there for me. And every woman in a chair is wearing her 'going to the dentist' face. Yet they volunteered for this, stepped right up. Even the two 'boss' ladies are not all that into it. Could be I'm just missing something here.

Eight.....

"You shall not steal."

Scares me ......

The first time I saw one of these signs, it stopped me in my tracks. I worked in the Hancock Building and got off the bus and there it was. I read it, I looked up, I was frozen in place. It was a far far walk from the bus stop into the building and seemed farther now that I had to watch for 'falling ice'....how on earth? Look UP! No no, do NOT look up! With the Chicago winter sky the shade of 'none' most of the season, although some people say 'grey'....i'm thinkin' that ice would be invisible if you stood and watched for it. If you walk and look up, you're bound to have a disaster happen, as paying attention to where one is walking on ice and snow is pretty basic. And although I haven't worked in the Hancock for many years now, the signs still exist there and all over the city. My basic plan is teeter on the curbs as I walk, and when I get directly in front of the building I must go into, speedrace from the curb as fast as I can. So far, so good. Jeez.

Forecast: Rain then Ice then Snow

Introducing the Freezy Family

Mom Fran, daughter Fiona and Frula the cat. I actually did an illegal u-turn to snap them, because of Fran's pony tail..it eerily matched my own. What's this rumor I'm hearing about global warming?

It's All Over Now Baby Blue....

Well, it wasn't over when we thought it might be. But it's all over now. The dealers we worked with, yes, phoned a lot, emailed a lot, but we finally worked out a pleasant deal with the nicest, most laid back group of gentlemen we'd come across. The car had almost zero mileage on it of course, and is just beautiful and loaded and drives like a dream. We did get a letter from an owner whose dealership we chose NOT to purchase our car from. It was as ranting as most of his phone messages were. It was as sarcastic as some of his emails were. It was rude, and childish, and incredibly unprofessional. He'd like us though, to use him for service. Um, I don't THINK so.

For My H.H.......

Happy Valentine's Day dearest. XO

For Elseeanddee....

Happy Valentine's Day you three, enjoy the pizza! XO

for my friends...

yes, of course, You. and You. and You over there in the red pj's. and You. and You in the disreputable robe. and You scratching your chest. and You spilling coffee on the computer. and You. and You (nice hair, sigh). and You and You and You and even You. XO

I love Mayor Daley. I do.

For his artistic vision and our shared love of Chicago. And all that he's done to add to it's beauty.

Tried a new recipe last night.

I hope we won't be having it again. It was expensive, tough, left a bad taste in our mouths, and feels like it'll be at war with our intestines for twenty years or more.

More Ice Please

The top photo is the 'sweeping of the discarded bits' of frost that have been removed from the exhibit by scraping them off with a chisel, along with pieces that might've gotten lopped off in the process. Second photo is of a pile of discards surrounding a garbage can across from the exhibit, and the last photo is a closeup of Halloran's work. Brrrrreathtaking stuff.