2011 Readling List Update

Currently reading:
Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069 by Neil Howe & William Strauss (re-read)
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

Read:
American Tabloid by James Ellroy (I think this was the most hard-boiled book I’ve ever read.)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Haçienda: How Not To Run A Club by Peter Hook
Libra by Don DeLillo (I liked this Kennedy assassination novel much better than American Tabloid.)
Walking Man by Tim W. Brown (I finished it, but I could hardly give a crap about any of these characters. If it was any longer I probably wouldn’t have bothered.)
The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker
Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martell
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (re-read)
My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs & Stand-Up by Russell Brand
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
South: The Endurance Expedition by Ernest Shackleton
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia, 1992-95 by Joe Sacco
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, The Birth of the “It” Girl and the Crime of the Century by Paula Uruburu (sheesh, so many books have a mile-long subtitle now, it’s getting out of hand.)
The Fucking Epic Twitter Quest of @MayorEmanuel by Dan Sinker
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace
Oscar Wilde by Richard Hellman
Role Models by John Waters
Talking to Girls About Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

Weather Superior

Whenever there’s an extreme weather situation, or some kind of natural disaster-type occurrence in a place where it doesn’t usually happen, you can guaranteed that the following conversation will happen thousands of times:

Person 1: Oh my God, that was crazy! I was scared!
Person 2: Big deal, that happens here all the time! You’re such a wimp!

Wherever you live, if you’ve lived there for more than a few years, you’re better equipped to handle certain weather situations more than others: northerners laugh when the south shuts down after they get an inch of snow. Southerners laugh when we in the north complain about it being 100 degrees once in awhile. People on the east coast mock the west coast for shivering in 50-degree weather. And the west coasters shrugged when everyone on the east coast flipped out about the recent earthquake. Some hurricane veterans scoffed at the eastern seaboard’s fear of the approaching Irene. “Oh, it’s only a category 1, that’s like a bad rainstorm.” Well, maybe not. Ask Vermont.

Is this a tribal thing — the need to believe that your group of people is superior because you’ve survived a certain kind of hardship more often than others? That you’re stronger because an earthquake/hurricane/flood/tornado doesn’t scare you? I guess it’s human nature to need to feel superior, but don’t get too cocky about it, because Mother Nature’s probably got something up her sleeve that will make YOU pee your pants one day.

2011 Reading List Update

Currently reading:
Oscar Wilde by Richard Hellman
American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, The Birth of the “It” Girl and the Crime of the Century by Paula Uruburu (sheesh, so many books have a mile-long subtitle now, it’s getting out of hand.)

Read:
American Tabloid by James Ellroy (I think this was the most hard-boiled book I’ve ever read.)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Haçienda: How Not To Run A Club by Peter Hook
Libra by Don DeLillo (I liked this Kennedy assassination novel much better than American Tabloid.)
Walking Man by Tim W. Brown (I finished it, but I could hardly give a crap about any of these characters. If it was any longer I probably wouldn’t have bothered.)
The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker
Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martell
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (re-read)
My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs & Stand-Up by Russell Brand
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
South: The Endurance Expedition by Ernest Shackleton
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia, 1992-95 by Joe Sacco
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

The Power of Baby Animals

90% of us would probably step over a homeless person on the street without a second thought. But when baby animals are in peril, no expense or inconvenience will be spared to keep them safe. On one hand, I’m very happy and charmed that we as a society agree that this is a noble task and collectively enjoy this kind of good deed. On the other hand, it would be nice if we could agree to extend this level of empathy to all creatures, even if they aren’t tiny and cute.

From the Chicago Tribune (bold emphasis mine):

Ducks rescued on Lake Shore Drive
June 29, 2011|Staff report

A daring rescue operation on Lake Shore Drive saved the lives of a mother duck and her five ducklings Tuesday night.

All it took was the coordinated efforts of some Good Samaritans, police and firefighters and Chicago Streets and Sanitation.

It all started about 7:30 p.m. when Jamie Holbrook was leaving work and was going to her car on the fifth floor of a Streeterville parking garage when she spotted the duck family there.

“It took three hours, (but) I led her out of the garage,” with her ducklings following in tow, Holbrook said. She left them to a small park area near East Pearson Street, where she thought they would be safe.

She returned to the garage, got her car but when she got onto Lake Shore Drive she saw the ducks trying to cross the roadway with Good Samaritan Joseph Daley stopping traffic and guiding cars around the ducks.

Holbrook stopped and scooped up some of the ducklings in a large plastic container.

But two of the ducklings couldn’t be caught before they fell through the grate of a storm drain.

“One got out,” Daley said, but the other had fallen too far into the basin.

As police were protecting the rescuers from traffic, firefighters attempted to pry the grate off with metal stakes. When that effort proved unsuccessful, a Streets and San truck attached a chain to the grate and pulled it off.

Another Good Samaritan reached down and scooped out the trapped duckling in his hat.

Through it all, the mother duck was waiting patiently by, said Holbrook, who was trying to contact a bird rescue organization to take care of the family.

2011 Reading List Update

Currently reading:
Oscar Wilde by Richard Hellman
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

Read:
American Tabloid by James Ellroy (I think this was the most hard-boiled book I’ve ever read.)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Haçienda: How Not To Run A Club by Peter Hook
Libra by Don DeLillo (I liked this Kennedy assassination novel much better than American Tabloid.)
Walking Man by Tim W. Brown (I finished it, but I could hardly give a crap about any of these characters. If it was any longer I probably wouldn’t have bothered.)
The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker
Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martell
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (re-read)
My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs & Stand-Up by Russell Brand
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
South: The Endurance Expedition by Ernest Shackleton
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia, 1992-95 by Joe Sacco

We have rules for a reason. You are not special.

Last week, the Chicago police ran a one-intersection sting, attempting to make bicyclists aware that they need to follow the rules of the road, just like car drivers do. (I pass through this intersection on my way to work every day, and it can be pretty scary sometimes.)

This is always one of those hot button issues that gets everyone pointing fingers at each other as the cause of the trouble — bikers blame drivers, drivers blame bikers, pedestrians blame everyone. But honestly, there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Pedestrians cross against the light, and in the middle of the block, and while texting or talking on the phone. Someone decides it’s worth risking their life to run across a busy street, so they can get to the other side about a minute sooner than if they’d just waited for the light to change. I don’t get it. Of course I’ve done it myself in the past, but it’s rare that I do it anymore. There’s nowhere I need to be THAT quickly. I’m not a superhero, the world will go on just fine without me taking any unecessary risks.

Naturally I’ve had my run-ins with drivers, my “I’m walking here!” moments, when someone behind the wheel of a car decides that it’s more important for them to make a right turn on red, and think they can just barrel through those of us trying to walk across the street. One of my biggest peeves are drivers who pull all the way into the crosswalk while they’re sitting at the red light, forcing pedestrians into the intersection in order to get across. Depending on the intersection and the time of day, this is something I’d prefer to avoid doing.

But what I really wanted to talk about was bikes and bicyclists.

In my perfect world, bikes and cars and pedestrians would co-exist in peace and harmony, and the city would be an easy and safe place for someone to ride their bike as an alternative to driving or taking public transportation. I’ve ridden a bike twice on city streets, and I found it too scary for my nervous constitution, so I doubt I would do it again. But I want to support bike culture. I LOVE Critical Mass, even when I’m stuck on a bus in the middle of it. But bicyclists don’t help themselves or their cause when they don’t obey the traffic laws and the rules of the road in their everyday travels.

There’s a quote in the Tribune article that blew my mind: “a lot of the bikers we stopped simply said they didn’t know you cannot blow through a red light.”

Really? Are you kidding me? Just because you’re on a bike, that red light doesn’t apply to you? What about the drivers coming the other way that have a green light while you’re supposed to be stopped at that red? You think you’re going to be able to skate through because you’re smaller than a car? Because you’re only on two wheels and you’re fast? I don’t understand that. Why shouldn’t you have to obey the same rules? There are a lot of intersections that have red light cameras now, and if you’re driving a car and run the light, you’re going to get a ticket. But if you’re on a bike, no worries. Maybe if we required bikers to have license plates they could be ticketed, and then think twice about it. And bicyclists don’t need driver’s licenses. Anyone with a bike can get on the road. Granted, there are plenty of people who drive with suspended licenses or no license at all, but if they get pulled over by a cop, they’ll get a ticket or get arrested. What if the same applied to bikes? (I know the bureaucracy would be insane, but isn’t it already?)

In my 25+ years living in Chicago, I’ve had a few close calls where I was almost hit by a car. The only time I’ve actually BEEN hit was by a man on a bike. He made a right turn in front of a bus stopped at a red light and knocked me over as I was beginning to cross the street. He stopped for about 15 seconds, said, “Sorry” and continued on his way. Some other pedestrians were nice enough to help me up and collect my things (my bag had been knocked out of my hands), and luckily I was unhurt, if shaken up. If he’d been behind the wheel of a car, and I’d been hurt, his “hit and run” would be a Class 2 Felony in Illinois. That can get you a fine of up to $25,000 and/or a few years in the state pen. But on a bike? No worries, enjoy your day.

And there are plenty of bicyclists that get hit by cars, too. The number of “ghost bikes” around the city is proof of that. “Dooring” accidents are finally being counted as traffic accidents by the Illinois Department of Transportation. I’ve seen it happen a couple times and it’s not pretty. It’s one of the things that scared me too much about riding in the city. Drivers are finally starting to be more aware of the presence of bikes in traffic, but there’s still a long way to go.

Take a look at this video, called “3-Way Street”, showing an aerial view of a busy intersection in New York. Countless potential accidents, all because someone (driver, pedestrian, cyclist) doesn’t want to follow the rules.

In summary: you are not the only person on the road or the sidewalk. Look out for others as well as yourself, and live to see another day.

Duran Duran at the House of Blues, 4/23/11

I started writing this the week after the show (a month ago!) and then I got sidetracked. I suspect packing up my entire apartment had something to do with it. Anyway, better late than never, here it is.

****

I have to admit, when they announced the concert was going to be at the House of Blues, I was disappointed. General Admission shows usually leave me annoyed and feeling old. They tend to bring out bad behavior in certain people, and the hours of standing around are a lot more tiring when you’re in your 40s than when you’re 18. But if I love a band enough, I’ll still do it. And I certainly love Duran Duran enough for that.

I went with my friends Amy, Rachel and Clare, and we paid the extra $$ for early-entry tickets, so we’d have a shot at being somewhere in the front. We ended up in the front row, right at the feet of Mr. John Taylor. You can’t ask for better than that. (Well you could ask for better, but it would probably result in restraining orders.) They let us into the theater around 7:30-ish I think, but the band did not appear until after 9:30. We’d been in line since 5:00, so that’s already a lot of standing around, but once the show starts you forget all about that and it’s just plain awesome.

They’ve been on the road for a little over a month, doing small shows, festivals & lots of media promoting the new album (All You Need Is Now) to generally rave reviews (The Coachella crowd completely fell in love with them) so they seemed very energized and in fine form. With 30 years of songs to choose from, it’s always interesting to see what they will play. Naturally they’ll want to spotlight some of the new songs, but they also need to pull out a few of the obvious hits for more casual fans. Personally, I could live without hearing “Hungry Like the Wolf” in concert ever again, but they’re going to play it, so I might as well enjoy it. And I was overjoyed to hear two songs from their very first album (“Careless Memories” and “Friends of Mine”) live for the first time! They’re both really high-energy songs and the crowd loved it. Though I have to admit from my front-row vantage point it would be hard to know the reaction in the back of the room.

I’ve never been in the very front row at a show like this before. It’s quite an experience when the musicians are playing directly to you, and even making occasional eye contact with you. Which on the face of it seems so fangirly and stupid but fill in the blank with your favorite musician and I defy you to not be thrilled by it.

A woman down at the end of the front row had a stuffed frog and a card that she wanted to give to Roger (his birthday was 3 days after the show). She got it up onstage and John made sure that Roger got it at the end of the show and the look on Roger’s face was like, “Oh . . . a frog. Of course.” (Back in the 80s he had the nickname of “Froggie.” Where this came from varies depending on who’s telling the story.) But he accepted it graciously and then gave her his drumsticks.

After the show I ran into an old friend who I hadn’t seen in many years (and who I’d parted on less-than-good terms with). But thanks to the miracle of Facebook we’d had a chance to reconcile and I knew that she was coming to the show. We chatted for a few minutes before she had to make the long drive back home. Then Amy, Rachel, Clare and I tiredly trudged our way to the nearest non-expensive restaurant (which happened to be Subway) for a drink & a snack before heading our separate ways.

All in all, it was a surprisingly good GA experience. People weren’t too pushy-shovey around us, and I didn’t have the much-feared claustrophobic panic attack I’d been dreading. And I remembered to be thankful that I was healthy enough to go. Two years ago there’s no way I would’ve been able to stand that long. Life is good.

Here are some of my photos:

the boots! we were close enough, he could’ve kicked me in the face if he wanted to.

blurry but cool.

I couldn’t get too many good pictures of Nick, Simon was always getting in the way, or he was hidden behind the laptop.

Musicgasm!

I didn’t get a lot of great pictures of Simon either, he didn’t look our way too often.

Oh yeah.

Flying fingers of fury!

Yes, I have an unhealthy obsession with John’s boots.

Love this pic of Dom!

Reaching up for the Sunrise, or something.

Loving the prayer scarf he’s been wearing.

Taking a picture of Amy taking a picture. (also note the strapless bra someone flung onto the stage.)

This was the most I saw of Roger all night, until the end of the show.

One of my favorites. I sent it to John’s wife (Gela Nash-Taylor of Juicy Couture) on Twitter and she said, “That’s an amazing shot!”, and she asked me what kind of camera I use. I use the camera of love. (Kodak Z812, actually.)

More photos at Flickr.