31 January 2013, Day 240

This elderly couple play the Erhu (Chinese violin), often accompanying American pop tunes. It's not my favorite music, but there's something very touching about them.  

30 January 2013, Day 239, Pt. 2

Scrap Metal Tony

This truck stopped to let me cross the street on my way to the market then posed while i took its picture. If it weren't for this ocular proof, i might suspect that it was a hallucination since: 

a) I haven't seen anything this cool since Key West in the '70s; and

b) I saw it immediately after walking downwind of the exhaust fan at the entrance to a commercial space undergoing renovations in the L station, and i don't know what kind of paint they're using, but the fumes are extremely potent.

30 January 2013, Day 239, Pt. 1

I've been wanting to take a picture of the parkway garden for a while, but it always seems to get trumped by something else. The little rainbow picket fence looked especially sweet today in the rain. As luck would have it, less than five minutes after i took this picture i saw something truly amazing; but this time, rather than pre-empting the garden photo, i decided to go ahead and post both. Be sure to check out Part 2 of today's post.

29 January 2013, Day 238

In anticipation of the rainstorm that hit Chicago this afternoon, the cows headed to higher ground. In retrospect, the roof was probably not the safest place to seek shelter, what with all the lightning and thunder. 

PS. Yes, ignoring the fact that it's January, the temperature hit 60℉ and we are having a bona fide spring storm. And yes, the temperature will plummet again by Thursday. Climate change is making my head spin.

28 January 2013, Day 237

Yes, it really is open, and i have the Munchkins to prove it.

27 January 2013, Day 236

Interesting ice formations on Lake Michigan this morning.

26 January 2013, Day 235, Pt. 2

Waiting for the Purple Line at Howard and looking at the sky.

26 January 2013, Day 235, Pt. 1

Snowy Buddha

Today seemed like a good day to revisit the Buddha at the corner of Morse and Glenwood last pictured here on 28 October. For more information on the 10,000 Ripples project by artist Indira Johnson, here is a link to the video used to raise funds for the project on Kickstarter.

25 January 2013, Day 234

And finally, after a record-breaking 335 days without any measurable accumulation, Chicago gets an inch of snow.

24 January 2013, Day 233

One little corner of the world's most frustrating building: the Behavioral Sciences Building at UIC.

23 January 2013, Day 232

Still Life with Sandbags and Tighty Whities.

It's really not all that unusual to find discarded underwear on the street in my neighborhood, but what i found surprising was how clean this pair of skivvies were. I wish i could locate the owner so i could ask them what laundry detergent they use.

22 January 2013, Day 231

Chicago skyline through the least dirty section of my office window. The white strip along the horizon is the ice on Lake Michigan. 

21 January 2013, Day 230

I'm double-dipping a bit here, using a picture from the series i took for my other blog ("How to Build a Substation"); but since this is one i ended up not using on that site, and since it is too ungodly cold out to go wandering the streets looking for inspiration, it will have to do. This is the infernal device that could be heard all weekend for about a four-block radius as it pounded huge steel plates into the earth. The steel is in place now, and relative quiet has been restored. 

20 January 2013, Day 229

Winter sky

19 January 2013, Day 228

I think it's safe to assume that sleep will not come easily tonight.... 

18 January 2013, Day 227

Inside the Morse "L" Pharmacy, much more photogenic (and friendlier) than those other drugstores.

17 January 2013, Day 226

Classic neon sign on Diversey Parkway.

16 January 2013, Day 225

"Belly dancers cloths"? "Hookah"? Now that's what i call a convenience store!

15 January 2013, Day 224

The remarkable little rose that clings to its stem through the frigid winter nights.

14 January 2013, Day 223

Guitars in the window of Flatts and Sharpe Music Co.

13 January 2013, Day 222

I happened upon a photo shoot taking place in the back room at MorseL this morning and snapped this totally random picture of it. 

PS. I don't mind graffiti when it's painted on walls, but i really hate when it's etched into glass. I don't know why i make this distinction, but i do.

12 January 2013, Day 221

Gargoyle overlooking the corner of Morse & Sheridan beneath a colorless morning sky. 

11 January 2013, Day 220

The night is unseasonably warm, so warm that the dampness in the air feels soft and comforting and casts a diffuse glow over everything. I was downtown this evening and took a few pictures, but in the end nothing seemed lovelier than my own neighborhood.

10 January 2013, Day 219

Life in Wartime

The alien forces invaded today in their battle helmets and day-glo yellow uniforms, making a fearsome noise with their war cry of "Ruh roh!" (English translation: "Railroad!") shouted at approaching trains. Rather than the traditional rectangular flag, they planted their surprisingly dainty pink streamers to mark the territory as their own. It looks like it's going to be a long siege. I think i'll watch "London Can Take It" tonight to bolster my courage.

9 January 2013, Day 218

Because it's mid-January and so unseasonably warm that i could comfortably go out without a hat, the dog and i travelled a little further up the road than usual today to admire Col. James Pritzker's investments in the neighborhood. These three gorgeous buildings are located near the intersection of Fargo and Sheridan.

Cat's Cradle Bed & Breakfast (1919)

Emil Bach House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (1915), undergoing renovation

The remaining pictures are of Farcroft by the Lake, an apartment building built in 1928 and scheduled to reopen in the spring after extensive renovations. I would LOVE to live there!

If you enlarge this picture and look closely, you'll notice that the sash around the little guy's waist says "the owner." I wonder if this is an original feature or someone's little joke.

8 January 2013, Day 217

Red Line viaduct at Columbia Ave. 

This isn't technically a mural since it consists of panels attached to the wall rather than being painted on the wall itself. But let's not quibble.

7 January 2013, Day 216

Window display at Green Element Resale on Broadway. 

6 January 2013, Day 215

I am grateful to Rogers Park for its inexhaustible supply of murals. This one is on the property of the thrift store affiliated with the United Church of Rogers Park on Morse Ave. between Greenview and Ashland. 

5 January 2013, Day 214

I should probably just cover the entire exercise bike in stuffed animals and put an end to the pretense that it ever gets used for its intended purpose.

4 January 2013, Day 213

There's something so magically strange and incongruous about miniature golf courses, even when only viewed from the window of a moving bus, like this one in Skokie. Wouldn't it be great if they were the only thing to survive long after we are all gone? Imagine how alien explorers might use them to hypothesize about the former inhabitants of Planet Earth.

3 January 2013, Day 212

These giant decorative golf balls graced Michigan Ave. during the Ryder Cup last September. Now they are scattered surreally around this empty building.

2 January 2013, Day 211

Ah winter, that wonderful season when Lake Michigan turns into a giant lake-sicle! Yesterday, there was a near-disaster when a young Siberian husky named Zeus ran out onto the ice shelf and fell through into the freezing lake waters. Fortunately, the fire department scuba unit came to the rescue and saved the poor pup. Needless to say, i kept a tight hold on Frisky McBisky's leash when we went there for our afternoon walk today. Click here to read more about Zeus's rescue.

1 January 2013, Day 210

Sic transit gloria mundi.

I guess this means the holidays are officially over.

Happy 2013, dear reader!