NaBloPoMo, day 2

Trains Magazine, August 1975
Originally uploaded by mod as hell

It's late, I'm sleepy, I fell asleep during election coverage and waiting for my computer to restart and having to redo things I was working on. I picked an image nearly at random. I may write tomorrow about Election Day...I may even have a new image from the day. Here's something from my vast collection of train-related things on this Flickr account.

NaBloPoMo, day 1

"My Favourite Collects"
Originally uploaded by mod as hell

So I've decided to participate in National Blog Posting Month, in which I'll post something every day to BOTH my blogs (which I haven't been on much in a while, but I won't give another explanation right now). I found out about it too late last year to join in, but I figured I'd try it. (I've also signed up for its precursor, National Novel Writing Month--but haven't started yet. I don't write fiction, so my results will either be disastrous, or thinly-veiled nonfiction, or straight-up memoir, making me a NaNoWriMo "rebel."--that's a category on their site.)

Hopefully I can finally move from blogging-from-Flickr to my long-planned ideas for turning this blog into more of a blog of photo essays. And I've got a lot to add to the blogroll. And need to delete all the spam comments I was told I've gotten.

Right now I'll just start slow with a random photo from Flickr (I'd forgotten this one, but it had the most recent activity on this Flickr account, so why not).

See you tomorrow! No, I mean it.

oh! the big announcement!

post-storm sunset, Humboldt Park
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

I didn't mean to vanish from this blog or my other one for weeks, but I've had computer trouble I haven't addressed yet (or more accurately, the hours I spent at the Apple Store earlier this year didn't help).

The next post was supposed to be about a huge project called 50 Till 15 (with #50till15 on Twitter), counting down the 50 days until my 15 year anniversary of living in Chicago. Featuring photos taken over my 15 years of carrying a camera virtually every day and seeing every neighborhood in that time (which, can I just suggest, would make a person a fascinating subject for an article or interview?).

That didn't happen...so I changed it to 15 Till 15 (and #15till15). Still couldn't do it. Now it's almost time. I will post something on August 11, the Chicagoversary, but my exciting and not-too-sappy ideas for what I was going to do to commemorate this time will have to wait. (My most important/essential Chicago places, most missed places, biggest regrets [about living in Chicago--not about work/relationships/etc.], zany accomplishments, etc.)

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY!

...THE PLACE!, Logan Square
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

...what's with all the caps? Anyway, a few days ago it occurred to me something was coming up, and I should do a variety of projects to commemorate it. Including something every day on this blog and my main Flickr account, and possibly my sports blog and my other Flickr account, since I'd like to post on all four of those every day if possible, and this project has something for everyone. Oh, and I'll put it on Twitter, too, with an annoying hashtag.

Later tonight. Right now though I want to go for my 4th bike ride of the day. I only got my bike working again last Friday, and I have a lot of catching up to do. I don't want to be out long, as my k of c Flickr page is less than 500 views away from 1 million all time and I'd like to see that when it happens...

let's go Hawks

GO BLACKHAWKS
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

It's been hard to get much done at this blog when Chicago has a Stanley Cup Finals going on for the first time since I moved here. And when my main blog for months (even if I've been neglecting it too) is my other one about sports, A Little Chippy, and hockey is by far my favorite sport. (Most of my sports content goes on the other blog but I have a few stories and photo essays I'll be cross-posting...)

So, here's a small, tasteful message for the team, taken on my first Metra ride in weeks (okay, months), passing through Galewood on Chicago's northwest side, last Sunday.

(Apologies for the much-delayed update of how the literary reading I announced below went. It was great--photos/links coming.)

Two days from now!

KofC reads at this event, Friday 5/28
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

I'll be reading at this. Yes, posting two items in a row on the same event but it's a pretty big deal! And I'll post again on Friday! And I've got to work on the piece right now!

this is kind of a huge deal (to me)

This reading. The first literary reading for my longtime Chicago friend Jason's arts/literature center, and, oh, MY FIRST READING IN YEARS. Four or five years? I'm not sure. I haven't performed live since sometime before I reestablished (am I allowed to say "rebranded"?) myself as "Katherine of Chicago" in 2007 (I actually worry people won't know it's me with the name on the flyer!). I've missed it very much. I've thought of organizing my own events--about Chicago, about public transit, about urban exploration/abandoned buildings, about hockey--who knows. But reading at someone else's event is a good start. Especially since he picked a theme of urban decay/renewal!

May 28 in Hyde Park. More announcements to follow. I'll be writing a new piece...about the best story that's happened in my KofC days that I haven't yet told (well, it's a story I've told partially on Flickr). I'll have to look somewhat decent. I'll have to bring booze.

play ball!

Wrigley Field 7/5/09
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

This year I can't be expected to pay attention to baseball until hockey season is over, but if I can make it to an early game I will. I'm of the understanding that the Cubs and White Sox have had a few spectacular wins and a few spectacular losses, right? I'm covering a tiny bit of baseball on my other blog but mostly catching up on the hockey season and playoffs.

Here's a shot from my last visit to Wrigley, a July 5, 2009, win over the Brewers. My best seat there ever thanks to a friend. I've taken enough Wrigley Field photos by now that I'll try out a photo effect like cross-processing now and then. (That month I didn't realize my camera was set on the wrong color balance setting and I've had to adjust for terribly blue photos, which is a good excuse to just turn them b&w or x-pro.)

spring colors

store, Milwaukee
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

Do I even have to say why I'm posting this here? *sighs* I don't care if it sounds arrogant or not, I'm just going to create an "underappreciated" set on Flickr. (I have a set called "I'm not interesting" that automatically picks my 100 "least interesting" Flickr photos according to some weird formula, but it works strangely and I don't like seeing the set showing up on the page for photos even if it is a joke. I also have an "I'm interesting" set.)

Anyway, taken in Milwaukee in September, a very cute storefront that I thought worked well for spring/Easter. I don't have a bunch of adorable family and/or candy and egg shots like everyone else...

Beautiful green

Chicago River: after
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

Well, the Chicago River looked beautiful the one and only time I went to see it dyed green, in 2009. Can't remember if I posted this photo or not. I missed it this year due to watching what turned out to be a heartbreaking Blackhawks game on Saturday, but the weather was so lousy I probably wouldn't have bothered to go downtown anyway.

I do remember that I meant to do a photoessay here on the South Side Irish Parade. 2009 was the second time I attended; I brought a friend along. It wound up being the last year of the parade, so now I've got to post more of those shots on my Flickr, for historical value. I'll post it here, too.

and this is another one of those photos

mysterious animals
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

...that I liked much more than everyone else. I'm finally posting shots on Flickr from my last visit to Iowa, August 2009. I posted them to get photos with blue skies up again (yes, not in this photo, I know, but most of my trip was sunny), since it's been so white and cloudy everywhere I've been in the Midwest in 2010.

Ironically, the sun is out today, but I'm wasting time with the NHL trade deadline on Twitter. Where, after a hockey player named Scott Walker got traded, I posted lyrics from a great song by Scott Walker the musician, "Little Things (That Keep Us Together)" and no one got the reference. I really expected some crossover. Or that one of my non-sports-fan followers would get it.

Wow, it's been three weeks since I wrote here? Apologies for missing the entire Olympics. I'm still catching up with them on my sports blog.

inaccurate business names of Buffalo, NY

Just Pizza, Buffalo, NY
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago

"Just Pizza," huh? I think our language needs a word indicating "things that I find hilarious (or in this case, moderately funny) but no one else seems to." I face this often on Flickr, or elsewhere. Though, the person I was with when I took this also was moderately amused, at least.

I wondered on Twitter today if there's a word for "celebrities you weren't aware of until their deaths became a Twitter trending topic." For me, recently, Captain Phil Harris, and Casey Johnson. Not that I want to have more silly Twitter words--I can barely stand saying "tweets" (but have realized it's easier than saying Twitter posts or updates).

I agree with this booklet

Cooking is Fun
Originally uploaded by mod as hell

Didn't mean to have that previous post be at the top of the page for so long. Oh well. Tonight I finally got the rest of this 16-page recipe booklet from 1955 (1961 reprint) posted on Flickr (the full set is here). It's from the National Dairy Council out of Chicago...and does seem to have a lot of dairy in the recipes, now that I think about it. Adorable front and back cover, lots of basic kitchen tips, many decent recipes and some terrifying ones, as is standard for this era. (Well, prunes aren't bad per se, but "Prune Whip with Ice Cream?" For kids?)

I've made soup from scratch several times this year already and I'm quite happy about this. It's easy and it makes meals for days. Going to Soup and Bread nights at the Hideout in Chicago (okay, only been to one so far) has inspired me even more in soup-making.

Ugh, so much to catch up on. I might be inside a lot the next couple days blogging, what with the weather, and waiting to buy a CTA pass. This weekend is the last weekend (in over 20 years!) that Metra passes will be $5 (going up to $7, still probably the best transit bargain in the U.S.) so I need to make it out at least on Sunday...

it happens every winter

As I agonize over what to post next (all those end of year/new year posts seem more pointless by the day, but I still want to do them) I should take a hint from my sports blog (a little chippy) and just post something every day or so. I've been to Boston & Providence, Columbus, and Indianapolis since that last post (hey, four state capitals--that was unintentional) so...well, that's kind of an excuse. Today was dispiriting for various reasons, but this cracked me up, as it never fails to crack me up since last winter when I learned I get a fair number of views on my main Flickr page (katherine of chicago) from links on this forum:

Unfortunately since I'm not a member I can't see which photos it links to, but I'd assume it's the ones of me in a puffy winter coat. Who knew? I have not yet posted any photos of myself in the very cheap reversible brown/pink coat I got this winter (so cheap the zipper already doesn't work)...

welcome...back?

I worry that my year of barely posting has scared away the friends and followers I had--people blogrolling or commenting or "following" on Blogger (I could do that thing where I post the box with their images, but right now the number is so low, compared to the number I'M following, that it's just embarrassing). Of course, people might have other reasons for not being around here. Anyway, if you hadn't noticed (I tried to go a few posts without self-conscious stuff about how much I was or wasn't posting), I've been posting much more lately, enough that I feel I have to post something hours before I go on a trip, so that I won't go a whole week without anything new. I've changed nearly everything about how City of Destiny is designed and organized (it's easier than I'd realized. I think everything seems to run easier on Blogger now). Maybe a longer post about that later. And hopefully by mid-January, my 2009 year in review (of things I did). Welcome back! Feel free to comment, I'm getting tired of various forms of spam here (I guess listing something in your profile means people spam you about it). Why, I've even started/returned to commenting on some of YOUR blogs...

The image was found in the file cabinet of $3 photos at Grayland Station, a transportation collectibles store in Chicago. It's a favorite, and posted to my secondary Flickr account (mod as hell).

one more visit to Standee's

Standee's, Edgewater, Chicago
Originally uploaded by katherine of chicago
I'm a little slow in posting about my visit Tuesday. Turns out they're open through this weekend, so I'll be going Saturday around noon, should you be interested/available. It'll be COLD here but I've got to visit one more time before they move (supposedly move--I'm still sad about Filter! though maybe they are opening? see the photo linked on the Flickr photo), probably not bringing the sign along.

edited to add: I meant for this to be an announcement I'd delete later because it's not "good" enough to be the first post of 2010 (but I'd repost the photo), but I'll leave it since I've been slow coming up with another post due to travel plans. That was why I turned comments off--wanted to save them for the "real" post. It's worth clicking on the photo to see the discussion of it on Flickr, if you missed that. Photos from my last two visits on the way...