wait… eye boogers.

Looking south across the Chicago River on Michigan Ave

Part 2 (of 3) has been posted for Emperors, a story about a fat guy with an existential crisis brought on by medical advances, who serves fake hamburgers for fun on Wednesdays (via the writing page).

Back in Texas. The travel was nearly uneventful. The events were happy ones. In Detroit I just barely made it onto my next flight. And got an entire exit row to myself. My ride (Craig & Melinda) showed up to take me home, and we chatted a bit. My house is relatively clean, and I just ate the delicious sandwich I made back in Hamilton with the last of the Thai-seasoned chicken. With some leftover gouda still in my fridge. I will soon check to see if there is any ice cream in the fridge. I have a suspicion.

The phone messages were a nonevent. That’s nice. The mail, however… it filled the box. Rejections from UNCG (polite) and Dickinson (short and summary). Pie of the Month Club update from Sue Anne (Nesselrode Pie – I think I’ll try it sometime). Late gifts for Jason (music) and Alex (now it’s a birthday present). Bills. Mountains of junk. Latest edition of Analog (just finished reading the last one on the plane today).

Being home is wonderful in many ways. Yes, I already miss my wife and my cats. And my social life (which, spotty as it is, is pretty much all in Hamilton). But being home is a bit of bliss. My stuff is all handy. My couch has a back. My TV has stereo sound. My job is waiting. Sigh. I think I’ll bask in the homeness of it all for a day or two. Then get all frazzled with work again.

Oh. And church is now at 1:00. Do not want.

Looks like Kubrik’s monolith, don’t it?¹ And we are the monkeys dancing at its base :). It’s half of what I considered to be a wonderful — and even powerful — piece in the same park as the Chicago Mirror Bean. This was set at one end of a tiled plaza about fifty meters long, with a matching one facing it from the other end. I’m sure there’s an artist’s statement somewhere about what it’s supposed to represent, but I just enjoyed standing between two huge faces. I was surprised at how much of a visceral impact I felt when I stepped between them. The faces changed every few minutes, and each face shifted expressions every so often. After the jump, a few more pictures, including a close-up of the surface, which looks like bazillions of LEDs behind glass brick. Continue reading →

1. except the proportions aren’t 1 x 4 x 9 [↩]

That’s the Mirror Bean, a sculpture at the South end of the “Magnificent Mile” of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Amanda says it’s a butt. I find it very cool¹. More pics after the cut.

Continue reading →

1. But I have also been known to have an aesthetic appreciation for the occasional butt, so there you go [↩]

This is Alex, kissing an 8-foot-tall, chrome-plated, anatomically-correct¹ moose right in front of the very tall and impressive NBC building on Michigan Avenue. I think it’s safe to say that we like Chicago. Even Alex likes it². And I still like my footnotes plugin³.
I’ve been crappy use-up-all-my-hankies sick, but otherwise it’s been a great trip. Oh, except for being stranded for a day in Buffalo after our plane’s steering was broken. Alex has run into lots of fun people at the conference, and I’ve enjoyed wandering around the city⁴.

1. I dared her to grab its, you know, for a picture, but she was shy [↩]
2. She hated Manhattan [↩]
3. As you probably gathered from the considerable empirical evidence [↩]
4. Coming soon: Lots of Pictures of Tall Buildings [↩]