Hello from Chicago!

October 2, 2008 by 8 Comments
Chicago postcard

Chicago Postcard ©2008 Bo Mackison

Spent a few fun days in Chicago recently. My eldest kiddo has lived half way across the country for the last six years – three years teaching in a high school in NYC and then three years going back to school for another degree once she realized she didn’t really want to teach for forty more years. And so now it’s time for job interviews. She just had several in Chicago.

Chicago is just a drive across the state line and then a few more miles from home. Sure beats traveling to and from New York. The last time we visited, we had a noon flight out of LaGuardia and finally flew out about ten the next morning. And no, the weather was fine. I won’t even try to rationalize why our trip took nearly 36 hours instead of six! There was no rational reason, though we heard a lot of excuses.

So I have my fingers crossed – my toes crossed, too – for a great job offer in Chicago.

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The Law Troll

August 27, 2008 by 5 Comments
The Law Troll

The Law Troll of Northwestern University © 2008

The older Law School building at Northwestern University’s downtown campus has an interior courtyard, full of benches, flowers, mother ducks and their ducklings in spring, and…the law troll. He’s a charming fellow who greets everyone as they enter the outdoor garden.  He has a stern look, but he seems to take a lot of ribbing without moving a  muscle. Rather a charming sort in an old fashioned way.

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Pink Train

August 13, 2008 by 2 Comments
The El in Chicagos Loop

The El in Chicago’s Loop © 2008 Bo Mackison

We took a trip down memory lane on Sunday, drove down to Chicago, and did the “tourist” bit – but from the view as students when we lived here 30+ years ago. We traipsed through the halls of the law school on Northwestern’s downtown campus, ate at Gino’s East, sampling the “authentic” Chicago-style pizza–the same pizza recipe, I swear, we ate several times a week as students in the mid 70’s. Then we walked around the downtown loop area, and I caught a snap of the “el” – the elevated trains that cruise above ground and also dip under Chicago on underground tracks.

Funny though, how I don’t remember ever differentiating between the two. I caught the “el” whether I had to climb up steps and wait on a windy platform or trudge deep within the bowels of Chicago and take what people from different cities would call the subway. I could get anywhere on public transportation when I was in my twenties – and did. I routinely visited hospitals and clinics for internships throughout the entire Chicago area and a few of the suburbs, too. Sometimes my travel would require two trains and two busses, and a two hour commute each way. I’m glad I don’t have to travel to such extremes now to get where I need to go.

Hey, and I sure don’t remember the trains being decorated in pink paint! iPod? What’s an iPod?

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Hanging Heart

August 11, 2008 by 3 Comments
Hanging Heart by contemporary artist Jeff Koons

Hanging Heart by contemporary artist Jeff Koons © 2008 Bo Mackison

We went to Chicago this weekend and visited the Museum of Contemporary Art which is running a Jeff Koons’ exhibit. It began May 31 and runs through September 21.

Hanging Heart, which is fabricated from stainless steel, has a transparent blue coating and a silver ribbon, and hangs in the entrance hallway of the museum. Unfortunately, it was the only photo I could take as there is a no photography restriction in the galleries themselves. But I loved the exhibit – it was bold and bright and sent a clear message on Koons’ take on society. The tour was certainly well worth the 45 minutes it took, and free so the cost was right.

The heart is made in 5 unique versions (red/gold, magenta/gold, silver/blue, violet/gold, gold/red). The sculptures were fabricated between the years 1994-2006 and each one measures 106 x 85 x 40 inches. It also weighs one and a half tons so I chose not to stand directly underneath it. Yep, cowardly. That’s me!

The blue heart recently sold for a cool 23 million dollars.

Billboard featuring Jeff Koons Baloon Dog

Billboard featuring Jeff Koon’s Balloon Dog

Sixty pieces fill two huge exhibit halls and include works from all of his major series.

Koons’ site features his work, biography and artist’s statement.

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