What I did last summer, A Theme

Last summer for my vacation I went to Chicago. I rode a train from Montreal to Schenectady, New York. Then I rode another train from Schenectady to Chicago. I checked in to the hotel where I was staying and wandered around looking for people to meet who were everywhere but I was still too shy. I tried to find Meno and Ms. Chica when I discovered their bags in the hotel room but I could not find them. We finally met up later in the evening.

I at once took to Meno. She is a very kind person and acts just like she writes. She has a quick and sharp wit, but the most understanding heart. And she's a recluse and pragmatist like me too. Which made conversation quite fun and always lively. I have not felt so at ease around people in a long ass time. And I laughed so much, it was good for me.

Ms. Chica surprised me with her lilting southern accent but most of all I loved hearing her voice as she shared her insightful wisdom that we have come to know and love at her blog. Patches may be a smart-ass but Ms. Chica is artistic, intelligent, and of course snarky to boot. I really appreciated her grand capacity for empathy. Its a gift.

I went to a few conference sessions. I did not feel that I fit in mainly because there was a lot of focus on growing readership and marketing in order to make money off your blog. Not that I wouldn't one day consider it, but it's just not my goal right now. There was one particularly disappointing session due to its lack of teaching and basically becoming a floor for self-praise from individual attendees and the overall message of aren't we all beautiful in our own way? It was just a little too much. But in all, I'm sure the conference held great appeal for those it seemed to be reaching out to. The great part is that I got to finally meet Meno and Ms. Chica and bonus: I met Antonia of Whoopee and her husband Ian and they were a hoot!

Meno, Ms. Chica and I all went to the Chicago Art Institute's Art Museum. We toured around the french impressionists. Oh wow. I just love staring at art. And it was wonderful seeing it with a personal tour guide as Ms. Chica is a learned artist and was able to answer my questions while also providing added interesting information. I saw a Renoir I loved. The study of haystacks by Van Gogh* was gorgeous. But my favorite is still the pointillist painting "A Sunday in the Park on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Seurat, which incidentally takes up a whole wall - for a piece of art done in all little dots that is an amazing feat. It's fabulous.

We did a lot of walking. I found a used bookstore and scored the following: The Golden Compass, The Princess Bride, A Man Without a Country, The Woman Warrior and Kings of Infinite Space. So watch for reviews on that. After Meno and Ms. Chica left I had Chicago to myself for the rest of the day till my train left at 10 pm. So I went shopping on Michigan Ave - mostly window shopping. I took a ride on a 10 sail ship. Walked all the way around the pier. Was dumb enough not to listen to Meno and Baz Lurhman and consequently got a lovely facial sunburn, and had the original deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Uno. Oh boy that was delicious.

I have been talking my head off all over the place. Having fun conversations with anyone who stands still enough. I finished three books so far: Three Bags Full, Watching Baseball Smarter and Summer Reading. Book reviews to follow later this week. I have pictures coming too- will post probably Wednesday sometime. Check back for pictures of the sail ship especially - it was so cool. Ok, gotta get some sleep. I'm at a lovely B&B in Schenectady where being the only guest tonight conveniently upgraded me to a much larger room at no charge! Hurrah. Talk soon. I miss blogging you guys!

*Post Note Correction: Yeah so I'm a complete idiot. Ok not complete but really. I read my notes wrong. It was not Van Gogh that did the study in haystacks, it was Monet. Duh.