31 October 2012, Day 148, Pt. 2

Leon Russell at the Mayne Stage

Oh Leon, neither one of us is the skinny little package of crazy that we were the first time i heard your music, but baby you can still tease some magic out of that keyboard and make me dance like a wild woman!

31 October 2012, Day 148, Pt. 1

Halloween 2012

Where's Waldo? Getting an education.

Halloween evening at the 2nd floor lounge at the Mayne Stage

30 October 2012, Day 147, Pt. 2

What a lovely surprise to discover a second Buddha from the Ten Thousand Ripples project, resting in the migratory bird nesting area beside Farwell Pier. The weather today is chaotic, angry, but the center holds and things do not fall apart.

30 October 2012, Day 147, Pt. 1

Sandy is one big, powerful storm, flexing her muscles 700 miles inland, and making the third coast feel more like a real coast with angry, churning waves crashing against the pier. 

But even among the howling winds and crashing surf, there are moments of grace to be found as an elderly woman throws crumbs to the seagulls.

29 October 2012, Day 146

I think we have a slight case of hurricane envy. It was a pretty dramatic day on the beach--with powerful winds and whitecaps--but i'm not convinced that it required a news van.Tomorrow will be a different story, with predictions of gale-force winds and waves up to twenty feet high. I'll see how close i can get tomorrow and try to get more pictures (though probably leaving the tiny dog at home for her own safety). The most interesting thing for me was seeing that we appear to be exactly at the edge of Hurricane Sandy's reach. Here, looking east, the sky is cloudy. But just a few minutes later, the sun dropped past the edge of the clouds and lit up the western sky in one of the most spectacular sunsets i've ever witnessed. That slim strip of pale sky in the last two pictures is, i believe, Sandy's edge.

28 October 2012, Day 145

I'm going to cheat just a little bit today. I'm so scrupulous about sticking to the rules of taking and posting a picture every day, that this morning i took a few pictures of the Buddha head on Morse Avenue just west of Glenwood, even though i took several yesterday and probably could have snuck them in here with no one the wiser but me. But that's not how Ms. Demeanor rolls! 

Unfortunately, the dog was even friskier than usual after an exciting visit to the Glenwood Sunday Market, and was tugging at her leash too insistently for me to get any very good pictures. So i decided to compromise, giving you the best of this morning's few pictures along with a better one from yesterday that shows the sculpture in the context of its surroundings. The Buddha is one of 100 placed throughout the city as part of the Ten Thousand Ripples project (click on the link and watch the video for more information about the project as well as some great shots of my beloved Rogers Park). I'm going to try to track down more of them and if i do, rest assured, you will see them here. Wishing a happy, peaceful Sunday to you all.

Close up of the Buddha head, taken Sunday morning, 28 October 2012.

Buddha head on Morse Avenue, taken Saturday afternoon, 27 October 2012.

27 October 2012, Day 144

I used to go to the Division Street farmers market every Saturday morning before the Glenwood Sunday Market opened and before the CTA embarked on their seemingly endless series of "improvements," which make getting anywhere on the weekend a total nightmare. Happily, I rallied myself and made it to the last market of the year this morning. It isn't as crowded by this point in the season, and there are probably only half the merchants you'd find there at mid-summer, but is's still a good market. 

I managed to get a ginormous jar of honey, so i should be able to maintain my usual sweetness over the long winter months. And because the pace is a little slower, i had a nice chat with the beekeeper. I also got a ridiculously simple but delicious recipe for radishes sautéed in butter and sea salt from the very friendly young guy who sold me the radishes. It was, he told me, how his grand-mère used to prepare them. 

The Green City Market in Lincoln Park is bigger than this one, but there's something so charming about closing two blocks of a downtown street to traffic so that people can engage in vegetable-commerce on a Saturday morning--especially this particular, boozy stretch of Division, which is pretty much of a meat market on Saturday night. 

Here is a three-part chronicle of the morning's adventures, featuring a special guest appearance by the world's coolest-looking vegetable: Brussels sprouts. And by the way, if you are ever feeling terribly sad and alone in the world, try taking public transportation with a two-foot long stalk of Brussels sprouts. They are the ultimate icebreaker: four different people stopped me to ask me what they were.

Part 1: Division St. Farmers Market

Part 2: Commuting with Brussels Sprouts 

Part 3: Domesticated Animals and Brussels Sprouts