I suddenly have had loads of things to write about. And today was no exception. I guess creativity will be a little harder to come by when work resumes tomorrow. This was certainly a different Sunday than normal. No Come Thirsty, No suburban church, no food and football at Rookie's, no volleyball, and no Ecclesia. Although the latter hasn't be in my schedule in two months.
I hung out in downtown Chicago for most of the day. Mom and I started by attending Moody Church, a real old school city church. I'm not the biggest fan of the pastor, but he gave a great message on giving thanks. Most Christians have heard sermons on being thankful in all circumstances numerous times, but Pastor Lutzer gave specific examples on what to do and it made sense. Too often in the tough times, I could give thanks in my mind or try to convince myself that I was ok, but inside, I'd really still be upset. And I can't change my heart by just trying to change my thinking habits that way. Also, with the contemporary churches that I've gone to so much over the last decade, a good traditional service once in a while really refreshes my mind.
From there, we drove to the corner of Sheffield and North Ave to the NYC bagel deli and got a dozen kettle-boiled bagels. Thank God for this place. In the darkness of Einstein Brothers, Thomas', and the utter calamity that is Big Apple Bagel, shines a bright light of how a bagel is supposed to be. Throw in the Boars Head meat, and it's all good.
Then it was lunch time and we headed north toward the Magnificent mile. We parked and went to the original Pizzeria Uno. No the Chicago Grill national food chain, but the one right in the heart of downtown with practically no space to walk between tables. We had a table right by the window, and we were able to look out at the street. Just above our eye level, people were walking around town. It was a cool view of a main street in Chicago. The salad bowl was decent, but nothing too special. Then came the Numero Uno pizza, with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, peppers, and onions. Very good quality. I still give Gino's East the edge, but this was a very well balanced pizza. The sauce was flavorful, the veggies were nicely cooked, not soggy or burned, and there was a nice proportion of meat to vegetable to cheese. My only real complaint was there was so much moisture from the sauce and cheese that the crust became soggy.
Finally, came one of the more bizarre experiences of my life. Mom really wanted to go the Museum of Contemporary Art. Now I'm not an overly artsy guy, but I've taken some design classes and I can certainly admire and appreciate it. We go in and the main exhibit is "Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll since 1967." Now I like classic rock and roll, but I wished they had named it after a different song! It took up two of the three floors. I barely saw anything I recognized from an artist or any song, although there was one cool visual of 15 different genres of rock and the artists associated with it and how they all flow in and out of one another. There were a lot of works with nudity and profanity to go around, which I sort of expected, but I didn't expect it to be so prevalent. With all the colors and wild designs, it was like stepping into San Francisco in 1967. On a side note, there was even a wrestling connection with the inclusion of legend George "The Animal" Steele in one mural!
My problems with the exhibit (and the museum in general) was that too often it was I felt the artists were trying to push this nihilistic worldview on the observers, since they talked about being autonomous and self-righteous in so many of the works. I felt I couldn't really interpret the art for myself because I had someone else's opinion constantly getting shoved in my face. The MCA is just a very postmodern place to go whether you are in the galleries or in the gift shop. In a bigger picture, I guess, it's a postmodern era in America right now. So if I had to describe the bulk of the art I saw, I would use words like complex and confusing. It was just hard to relate to and Mom agreed with me that she was disappointed with the place. Probably the best exhibit I saw was "Mapping the Self" which included a lot of geography and history and how they relate to their views on race, politics, economy, other people, etc.
There is one other "exhibit" I must highlight. It's from a guy named Tino Sehgal. According to the museum's website, Sehgal's art "reflects upon the cultural and political relevance of artistic modes of production while actively engaging the viewer in its reception." I don't know what the first part of that means, but I'm focusing on the second part.
So I'm walking on the top floor of the museum and feeling a little weird about all the crazy stuff I've been seeing for the last 45 minutes. I'm about to enter a room that had a lot of sunlight shining in and I as I look into the room, I see a crowd of about 15 people gathered around in a circle all looking toward the window. I walk through the passageway and look to my right. I see a guy and a girl completely staring at each other, and they started to embrace in slow motion. Then they start kissing. And I mean kissing. My mouth just drops, I can't believe this is going on right in front of me. I feel a little weird watching this, so I start to walk out. Eventually. I may have been a little curious, so I came back two minutes later and now he's starting to lay down on top of her on the floor! (They were still clothed). I was amazed, amused, surprised, a little disturbed; not knowing what to do, I just started walking away again. As I got into the next room, I just said out loud to nobody in particular, "How much does this job pay an hour?"
I hung out in downtown Chicago for most of the day. Mom and I started by attending Moody Church, a real old school city church. I'm not the biggest fan of the pastor, but he gave a great message on giving thanks. Most Christians have heard sermons on being thankful in all circumstances numerous times, but Pastor Lutzer gave specific examples on what to do and it made sense. Too often in the tough times, I could give thanks in my mind or try to convince myself that I was ok, but inside, I'd really still be upset. And I can't change my heart by just trying to change my thinking habits that way. Also, with the contemporary churches that I've gone to so much over the last decade, a good traditional service once in a while really refreshes my mind.
From there, we drove to the corner of Sheffield and North Ave to the NYC bagel deli and got a dozen kettle-boiled bagels. Thank God for this place. In the darkness of Einstein Brothers, Thomas', and the utter calamity that is Big Apple Bagel, shines a bright light of how a bagel is supposed to be. Throw in the Boars Head meat, and it's all good.
Then it was lunch time and we headed north toward the Magnificent mile. We parked and went to the original Pizzeria Uno. No the Chicago Grill national food chain, but the one right in the heart of downtown with practically no space to walk between tables. We had a table right by the window, and we were able to look out at the street. Just above our eye level, people were walking around town. It was a cool view of a main street in Chicago. The salad bowl was decent, but nothing too special. Then came the Numero Uno pizza, with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, peppers, and onions. Very good quality. I still give Gino's East the edge, but this was a very well balanced pizza. The sauce was flavorful, the veggies were nicely cooked, not soggy or burned, and there was a nice proportion of meat to vegetable to cheese. My only real complaint was there was so much moisture from the sauce and cheese that the crust became soggy.
Finally, came one of the more bizarre experiences of my life. Mom really wanted to go the Museum of Contemporary Art. Now I'm not an overly artsy guy, but I've taken some design classes and I can certainly admire and appreciate it. We go in and the main exhibit is "Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll since 1967." Now I like classic rock and roll, but I wished they had named it after a different song! It took up two of the three floors. I barely saw anything I recognized from an artist or any song, although there was one cool visual of 15 different genres of rock and the artists associated with it and how they all flow in and out of one another. There were a lot of works with nudity and profanity to go around, which I sort of expected, but I didn't expect it to be so prevalent. With all the colors and wild designs, it was like stepping into San Francisco in 1967. On a side note, there was even a wrestling connection with the inclusion of legend George "The Animal" Steele in one mural!
My problems with the exhibit (and the museum in general) was that too often it was I felt the artists were trying to push this nihilistic worldview on the observers, since they talked about being autonomous and self-righteous in so many of the works. I felt I couldn't really interpret the art for myself because I had someone else's opinion constantly getting shoved in my face. The MCA is just a very postmodern place to go whether you are in the galleries or in the gift shop. In a bigger picture, I guess, it's a postmodern era in America right now. So if I had to describe the bulk of the art I saw, I would use words like complex and confusing. It was just hard to relate to and Mom agreed with me that she was disappointed with the place. Probably the best exhibit I saw was "Mapping the Self" which included a lot of geography and history and how they relate to their views on race, politics, economy, other people, etc.
There is one other "exhibit" I must highlight. It's from a guy named Tino Sehgal. According to the museum's website, Sehgal's art "reflects upon the cultural and political relevance of artistic modes of production while actively engaging the viewer in its reception." I don't know what the first part of that means, but I'm focusing on the second part.
So I'm walking on the top floor of the museum and feeling a little weird about all the crazy stuff I've been seeing for the last 45 minutes. I'm about to enter a room that had a lot of sunlight shining in and I as I look into the room, I see a crowd of about 15 people gathered around in a circle all looking toward the window. I walk through the passageway and look to my right. I see a guy and a girl completely staring at each other, and they started to embrace in slow motion. Then they start kissing. And I mean kissing. My mouth just drops, I can't believe this is going on right in front of me. I feel a little weird watching this, so I start to walk out. Eventually. I may have been a little curious, so I came back two minutes later and now he's starting to lay down on top of her on the floor! (They were still clothed). I was amazed, amused, surprised, a little disturbed; not knowing what to do, I just started walking away again. As I got into the next room, I just said out loud to nobody in particular, "How much does this job pay an hour?"
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