Here comes the sun

Woke up to a storm. Rain. Floaters, tents, umbrellas, beach balls flying in the wind. Thrashing ocean.

shrimp po boy from Tacky Jacks

Here comes the sun…

{Ren Reiske © All Rights Reserved}  instagram @groovininthesun

On Golden Pond

After a long work day, it’s difficult to want to do anything more than take a nap. But I’ve been trying to get back in the habit of working out or something active before night sets in. Lately, we’ve taken advantage of the nice walking trails nearby. I’m not sure how much of a cardio workout I’m actually achieving, since something will catch my eye and I have to pause and capture it. Tonight it was the sun setting by the lake.

{Ren Reiske © All Rights Reserved}

Norman: You want to know why I came back so fast? I got to the end of our lane. I couldn't remember where the old town road was. I went a little ways in the woods. There was nothing familiar. Not one damn tree. Scared me half to death. That's why I came running back here to you. So I could see your pretty face and I could feel safe and that I was still me. 

Ethel: You’re safe, you old poop and you're definitely still you picking on poor old Charlie. After lunch, after we've gobbled up all those silly strawberries we'll take ourselves to the old town road. We've been there a thousand times. A thousand. And you'll remember it all. Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armor. Don't you forget it. You're gonna get back up on that horse and I'm gonna be right behind you holding on tight and away we're gonna go, go, go. 

Norman: I don't like horses. You are a pretty old dame aren't you? What are you doing with a dotty old son of a bitch like me? 

Ethel: Well, I haven't the vaguest idea.

— On Golden Pond

Day 19. Orange

Orange sunset

{Ren Reiske © All Rights Reserved} aprilphotoaday instagram @groovininthesun

Tonight was heavy — dinner consisted of orange sweet potatoes, ribs, brisket and golden corn. I like my meat. Delicious.

Lollapalooza Day 2: Arctic Monkeys & Yeah Yeahs

Ren Reiske © August 2009

Boarding the Metra (Sign: Be Safe … lol)

I was still recovering from my KOL high and hangover, so we decided to just chill and check out various bands at the park. We took the Metra train to the downtown station, which was 11 blocks away from Grant Park. Fortunately, there was a free trolley to LOLLA and we hopped on board and received Rayban goodies (bags, sweatbands). Score! At the park, it was a sunfest — a warm, sunny, very crowded Saturday.

Welcome to LOLLApalooza!

Arctic Monkeys
Matt Reiske © 2009 All Rights Reserved

Our first stop was Arctic Monkeys at the Budweiser stage. The best thing about Lolla is the crisp sound system and the way every stage does not interfere with each other. We walked over to the South side to hear No Age and Glasvegas.
Glasvegas, Scottish indie rockers, were lively and very good. I was distracted by being on the front sidelines by the boys painted in purple.

The ominous elevators on the 5th floor

7 p.m. We decided to take a break from the overcrowded park and walked out to Michigan St. for dinner. We found an interesting restaurant, Artist’s Cafe, to cool off. Since I refuse to use the park’s porta-pottys, I asked about the restroom which turned out to be a little adventure. I was given a piece of paper (pass) which I had to take to the elevators on the first floor. It was an older building with an old-fashioned, wood-glass elevator. The door opens and there is an old man sitting on a stool to work the switches to the floors. The girl next to me says. “I bet you have the BEST job!” He just glared at her and mumbled, “Yeah” (or maybe it was @#%*). He takes our passes and we ride to the 5th floor. It’s starting to feel creepy. The door opens and I see glass cases that look like art studios and a hallway reminiscent of The Shining. The place looked like a mental ward. On the far end was the restroom — an open, tiled room with several white sinks on one side. The toilets were in another room. I had to go through a heavy, dead-bolt door to get to the stalls. This IS a psycho-ward! The bathroom excursion was worth the visit to this cafe. Their burgers are delicious too.

Buckingham Fountain

8:30 p.m. Back at LOLLA to see Tool. The crowd was so overwhelming (above) that we headed to the North side to see Ben Harper (handsome fellow with great vocals) and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. We stayed long enough to see the wild, feathered lead singer, Karen O.

McSparkly

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Our train ride was departing in 30 minutes (so we thought). We walked and ran with Amazing Race speed to the Metra Station. My feet were beginning to blister and hurt. With 6 minutes to spare, we discovered that our train was not arriving for another hour! I was spent.