The Saints

Speaking of theater, one of the top items on my someday to-do list is to join the Saints. I was reminded of them when I noticed that the two ushers at the play mentioned in my last post were wearing Saints name badges.

This is just such an excellent idea - my hat is off to the person that made it happen! For fifty bucks a year, you can sign up and get a training session to become a volunteer at performing arts events around Chicago. You look online to see what events, dates, and locations suit you, then sign up to do whatever they need - mainly ushering. Then you take a seat and enjoy the play, circus, concert, ballet, etc. you get back many times the amount you invested in your year's worth of volunteering!

The Saints say they may be the "first and only" organization serving the performing arts in a major city. Is this true? Hard to believe that no other city has any people wanting to find an easy way to enjoy the arts without having to pay much for it. Living in Chicago, one of the great theater cities of the world, means I have to take advantage of it!

Living Green

Last weekend, a group of us from around the city who have been meeting and talking about race relations went to see the last (and sold out) performance of "Living Green" by Gloria Bond Clunie.

The play was at the refurbished Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue, now the home of the Victory Gardens Theater. The Biograph is known to everyone in my family as the place where John Dillinger was killed in a police shootout in the alley. Over the years, my husband saw many movies there as it was a neighborhood theater. By the time I came along, it was reduced to sticky floors and regular midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Now, it's really beautiful and a great venue for plays. Good seats everywhere!

I've read and seen many versions of the play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, so seeing the "sequel" was really interesting. Our house is in a very safe neighborhood, but I've often wondered if I was doing the right thing by choosing to live there. This play asks the question: where should you live to do the most good for yourself and everyone else? No easy answers.

Using Blueberries from 1993

Last week we had major snow melting and rain. This means the cracks in our basement foundation reveal themselves. A particularly big one was discovered in the closet under the stairs where my aged mother-in-law and I have stored canning equipment for years. As we cleared out the jars and shelves, we found an undated jar of carrots and a jar of blueberries from 1993! The carrots were dumped, but we decided to see what we could do with the blueberries. The picture shows the resulting Blueberry Upsidedown Cake.

I wouldn't say it was terrifically good, but it was certainly edible - especially with the last of the Tom & Jerry's on it. The fruit filling was not very thick, so I decided not to turn it upside down, but it worked like a cobbler just as well.

Tomorrow, we will take some to my mother-in-law to give her a taste of berries she canned 16 years ago - amazing!

Lackluster Veteran??

Today I took a survey on my use of new Internet technology and found out I'm classified as a "Lackluster Veteran" - part of the group of older faithful Internet users who find themselves overwhelmed with new forms of communication and not so willing to try them all out. What a creepy label!

Try it yourself at the Pew Internet Project's Internet Typology Test and tell me what they call you!

Mary is 109 today!

Today is a great day - Mary is 109 years old and she knows it! I congratulated her this morning on reaching 109 and told her that she will have visitors today. On anyone's birthday, she has always asked the person how they feel about being that old, so today I asked her. She said she doesn't know how she feels about being 109, then she thanked me for coming to see her.

Her spirit is still strong on her good days, and today is one of them. It is a blessing to know her.

Celebrating Lincoln's 200th Birthday

Last night we began the birthday festivities early by going to a Lincoln as Leader lecture at Loyola U by Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. I'm leery of authors who have glitzy websites, but she turned out to be a down-to-earth and fascinating speaker - maybe just like Lincoln. She had all my attention for the 45 minutes she spoke - everyone else's in two auditoriums, too. (I was too late to get free tickets to the main hall where she spoke, but we were able to get in to the "satellite" auditorium where we saw her on videotron.)

Since I have been reading selected Lincoln biographies in chronological order, the early authors have all referred to Lincoln's "homespun" humor without ever giving anything but very tame examples. But Goodwin does not have to be as circumspect, so she told a hilarious example of bathroom humor that was attributed to Lincoln. To me, that was worth the talk by itself - to find out just what "homespun" really meant. Maybe Lyndon Johnson was closest to Lincoln in that respect - earthy humor from the President!

The evening's MC seemed delighted to announce the dignitaries in the audience, particularly "The governor of the State of Illinois, the Honorable Pat Quinn!"

All in all, a wonderful way to observe the occasion - especially with a post-game dinner at Bakers Square, where it turned out to be "Wild Wednesday" - free piece of pie with every order!

The Alexander Technique

Everyone pretty much knows that I have severe scoliosis (untreated), and I've had my share of back problems - although not more or worse than most people who don't have scoliosis. In my attempts to stay away from the orthopedic surgeon, I faithfully exercise on weight machines, try to keep my weight down, and keep my eye out for good practices for back strength and safety.

I've been aware of the Alexander Technique for some time, but thought it was only something that actors and other performers used. Last week I watched an old video, The Alexander Technique: Solutions for Back Trouble, that I found at a library (natch!).

This has lots of excellent suggestions! I'll pass along just one: when you are standing at a sink - brushing your teeth or peeling potatoes - open the cabinet door under the sink so you can rest your foot on the bottom shelf. If you've got a low drawer nearby, you can use that, too - pull it out and put your foot on it. Raising one knee when you rest your foot on something low changes the position of your back for the better when you're standing. Great idea for everyone.