Mention that you’re visiting a Renaissance Faire and you’ll be met with a couple of different reactions. One of them is a raised eyebrow and a slightly alarmed look. That usually comes from someone who thinks of a Ren Faire as a weird Star Trek-ish convention for 16th century fanatics. (No offense to the lovely @dearbadkitty, who is a Trekkie.) The other reaction is a wide-eyed, “I’m so excited for you” expression of happiness. That one comes from someone who has been to a Ren Faire. I took my trusty sidekick Michelle with me to do a “Cruzing Chicagoland” video shoot at the Bristol Renaissance Faire, which is located on…
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Cruzing Chicagoland: Chicago Elevated
One of the many things I’ve been working on recently is a video series in conjunction with the great folks (and cars!) at General Motors. GM is my major sponsor for my book launch event in a couple of weeks, and, well, check this out. (P.S. The guitar intro and ending is courtesy of my son, J.)
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It Was As Epic As I Had Heard It Was.
I have heard for a while now that Threadless, a fabulous Chicago-based t-shirt company, has headquarters that must be “experienced”. I did that today. It was amazing. I left there wishing that I could work there (I even asked if they were hiring), and I could picture my sister as well as D working there, too. I hate to be a tease, but… I’ll have video and more pictures up on Friday.
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The Rookery: A Chicago Trifecta
If you enjoyed my pictures of the Chicago Cultural Center, hang on to your hat. (But only if you’re wearing a hat.) The Rookery, a beyond-gorgeous building (inside and out) that is located in the financial district, has had the hands of not one, not two, but THREE masters of American architecture all over it. It was designed by the famous team of Daniel Burnham (yes, that Daniel Burnham: the one who wrote the Plan of Chicago.*) and his partner John Root, who moved their offices into the Rookery in 1888. There they began designing the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition’s White City. (Seriously, this topic makes me all giddy. I…
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Getting Cultured At The Chicago Cultural Center
A while back I wrote and posted pictures of one of my all-time favorite things in the world, which is the Tiffany ceiling (the world’s largest unbroken example of Favrile glass) high above the cosmetics department in Marshall Field’s (ahem, Macy’s to those of you who like to be current and official: *I* still call it Marshall Field’s) on State Street. I take all of my out-of-town visitors there and everyone’s reaction is the same: their jaw drops practically to the floor and they can’t stop staring at it. The city of Chicago is full of precious architectural treasures like that gorgeous ceiling that would be considered “must-sees”. Another one…