Architecture

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I don't really know anything about architecture, but I have been struck by many of the buildings here in Chicago. Many times I am just going about my day and am struck by a cool building. One of my new faves is the Carson Pirie Scott Building on State Street. It has this totally awesome cast iron facade. The facade was all covered up for most of the time I've lived here, until recently. I had the strange experience of riding the bus on State St. not too long ago, something I do nearly every day, when I suddenly noticed this building. It was so amazing, I could not believe I had never noticed it before. Luckily I realized I was not crazy, but the place had been all covered up.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iconeon/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Musica!

Here are two artists I am newly obsessed with. I actually bought their albums off of iTunes, and I rarely buy new music.

This song is pretty much always in my head: Shark in the Water by V V Brown.

Second is the Wingdale Community Singers. Here is Blue Daisy. They say they write folk/country inspired song about where they live (New York City). This is actually not one of my favorite songs. If you can find "Rat on the Tracks" or "Bike Shop Boy" those are both awesome.

Books!

15. A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You by Amy Bloom
I read this collection of short stories for a book group I am in. I rate the whole collection so-so. A few of the stories really stuck with me, but overall they ran together and it was hard to differentiate them. Something about Amy Bloom just does not make an impression on me. I am sure I read here novel, "Away", but I have absolutely no memory of it aside from the cover.

16. The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters
More adventures of Amelia Peabody in Egypt. In this one she and her husband escape the boredom of having to live in England for their small son's sake and get involved with a crowd of eccentric characters in an excavation at the Valley of the Kings. Fun, like all these books are.

17. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
I debated between three and four stars (out of five)for this one. The premise of this book is that Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, is indeed a princess from the actual land of Wonderland. I did like its originality and re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland. My only problem was that I thought the pacing seemed kind of weird and that huge chunks of time were leapt over, which was a little jarring. But still, a nice, fun, re-working of Alice in Wonderland that makes Alice into a pretty awesome warrior queen.

Just a quick post from phone to announce that today I sent my dissertation to my committee. hopefully they will like it and I can move on to defense scheduling!

Like a fish

People! I do not think I have told you about my swimming lessons! If you look back into the past, a mere 2 months ago, you will see that one of my New Year's Resolutions was to take swimming lessons. I have been doing it! Only two weeks left and I only missed one. It has been super great. Swimming is such good all body exercise, and does not ever hurt my knees. I have also made awesome progress, and really mostly need to practice more. Yesterday I made it all the way across the pool without stopping once (we are in the shallow end, so I can stand up if I get too much water up my nose). Anyway, it is super exciting, and because of my swimming success I have decided to make a long term goal of doing a triathlon by the time I am 40. I will also need to get a bike.