an urban thanksgiving…
 

Rarely do you see Ashland Ave looking like this…

Empty. Open. Quiet…

Where is everybody? It’s Thanksgiving morning. Has the neighborhood settled down for a long winter’s nap?

I’m on my way to work via the Blue Line subway station (upper right plaza) and it is just a little strange. That road just seems to go on forever.

Chicago is so flat you can look down most main streets and get a multi-mile eyeful. Ashland must run at least 20 mi. N-to-S in an uninterrupted span…

The wind, the shuffling flying paper and moi seem to be the only things going anywhere. Until…

You get here!

THAT’s where everybody went! The Thanksgiving Day parade on State Street!

And I was right there under the humongous balloons with my camera a-rolling and I must say that when Garfield went over and I zoomed to his paws I almost keeled when I saw how truly LARGE they were…

The cold weather, crowds and cheer made us all so hungry, we had to run over to the Christkindlmarket and have a Bratwurst & Sauerkraut sandwich under the Picasso…

That’s City Hall in the upper left and Mies Van Der Rohe’s Daley Building upper right and lots of cheer in the plaza below.

Who needs pie when you have gingerbread, sugar almonds, strudel of every flavor and more under such a friendly eye? But whose eye is it?

At 50 feet tall and 162 tons, it’s quite a large structure, and on warm summer days unruly tourist kids run up and slide down its base, much to the chagrin of locals and art lovers.

Over the decades, millions of tourists, hundreds of artists, and dozens of movies have captured the image of this sculpture, but none unlocked its secret. Perhaps the most plausible explanation comes from a November, 2004 article in the Chicago Sun-Times. The newspaper claims it is likely a sculpture of Lydia Corbett. Born in 1934 in England, by the time she was 19, she was living in France and posing regularly for Picasso. According to the artist’s grandson in his book “Picasso: The Real Family Story,” the girl posed dozens of times and Picasso was fascinated by her long neck and ponytail. Later, art historians would mistake her for Brigitte Bardot in many of his works.”

OH! The yumminess of the Cormo/Cross! This yarn was from a prize-winning fleece at the first Michigan Fiber Fest that I went to. The natural color of chocolatey brown made me want to see the sheep (AUTHOR! Author!). The soft hand and squooshiness of the yarn makes it a real pleasure to knit. (FLY BABY! Fly!)

I am now as far as the upper waist area in the sweater. Since I’m not sure if I have enough yarn to go the distance, I decided to add the buttonband later just in case I have to use a different yarn to get me through (black ribbon?)

Fingers are very crossed though, that my *experiment* in weighing will prevail and get me to the finish line. (GO YARN! Go!)

This project is the result of a Double-Dog Dare with DeannaC in the Chic Knits group on the Rav. First I dared her to make her collar longer (she ended up making an 8″ ribbed version — gorgeous!) than I got dared to make another whole sweater!!! Thanks Deanna! I needed a nudge to get going :)

That yarn was smiling at me in the stash for way too long now…

  Monday Morning Mirth  

While we sleep, the Vocabulary Elves work overtime, making and inserting brave new words into our daily language…

For your pleasure and edification, we present the:

SLANGUAGE GLOSSARY
DUDESPEAK
· BROHAM: Since “bro” is passe, dudes in the know use this term when referring to a closest guy pal.
· BROMANCE: A relationship between brohams who are inseparable but not lovers.
· BRODEO: Major hangout place among brohams.
· BROHEMIAN: A flip-flop-wearing, carbon-print-shrinking, die-hard liberal. Might say, “Race is a four-letter word, dude.” A brohemian who frequently smokes marijuana and lives off a trust fund may be known as a “trustafarian.”

CHICKTALK
· DECIBELLE: A woman who, after a couple of drinks, suddenly cannot control the volume of her voice.
· HAITRESS: The crotchety waitress who clearly doesn’t care about getting a good tip.
· ICKYYAKI: Scary-looking sushi.
· MANBIGUOUS: Formerly known as a “metrosexual,” this dude is sexy yet so pristine that a gal can’t be sure whether he is gay or straight – or both.
· MARGARITHIM: (Pronounced: Margareet-him) The act of drinking a margarita to loosen up before meeting a guy. As in, “Chloe, John’s over there. If you’re interested, you’re going to have to margarithim.”

MORE SLANG
· CRAPPUCCINO: A $4-plus coffee concoction that tastes like the bottom of your shoe.
· MEXICANT: (Pronounced: Mexi-can’t) The inability to stuff yourself with one more morsel of Tex Mex.
· BROJAK: A broham without a hair on his shiny head.
· MALLTERNATIVE: One of the neo-punk, goth or otherwise anti-establishment wannabes who shop at Hot Topic.
· BRO YO: Yogurt infused with a flavor that dudes can appreciate, such as apple turnover.

While all these lovely and lively phrases will most likely evaporate into the ether as quickly as they came, my favorite to-be-shelved is currently yo, dog, a phrase still going strong amongst yupsters in the Midwest. What’s yours?