And Continues...

Day 319

Still in Chicago which as it turns out is called the Windy City because of an old cartoon about its politicians being full of wind. Anyway, last night we saw a series of 30 plays in 60 minutes. Here are a few of the highlights:

A line of people eating applesauce.

Actors spraying audience members with squirt guns directly in the face.

Actors smelling audience members. This activity they did so close it was almost like I actually got some if only I could remember what that is like.

A doll with a lit cigarette in its mouth. This made me wonder if the doll's mouth was actually made to fit a cigarette-sized object or if the hole was made by a pen.

A woman with her shirt up over her head getting hit by ping pong balls in the chest.

And finally, my favorite of all: A voiceover reading something that sounded like very tame Willa Cather stories but was really about a rabbit spraying semen on a grandmother's neck as told by a child. If that wasn't enough, during the voiceover an actress was onstage taking bites off a banana all throughout the reading and if that wasn't enough she would take a bite and let the live rabbit on stage take a bite and then she would take another bite.

So, the big outing of today was the stop to one of Chicago's street fairs. This street fair featured burgers and a washed up band from the 1990s. We missed the concert but ate burgers and cheese curds while listening to the music that was playing before the washed up 1990s music. The local School of Rock kids were playing 80s songs and even snuck in a Smashing Pumpkins number (fitting seeing as we are in Chicago). The best part though was watching this 3 year old boy on one of those bicycles that don't have pedals that tiny kids ride today (back when we were young we would ride souped-up trikes). The kid was just tearing around wearing his little Cubs hat and trying to miss his brother who kept trying to hit him while he was on the bike.

We went to another play this evening and while we were waiting for it to begin the old guy next to me leaned toward me and said, "Is this it? Did it start?" I laughed and a little while later he said, "You know I could be at home watching a Cubs game right now." I asked, "Who are they playing?" "Dodgers," he said like a reflex. "Do you think they are going to win?" "No," he scoffed also on reflex. And this is one of the main things I love about Chicago, the fact that everyone in the North has an allegiance to the Cubs even though they never win. It's a similar concept to growing up Lutheran, you go to church even though it never turns out all that awesome but you always hope something great will happen and make all your dedication seem worthwhile.

There is so much more to tell like Skyping stories and what happened at the second play but I am literally writing this while lying down and typing sideways so I will save it for tomorrow.

Tip of the Day: There is a certain way to hail a cab that looks glorious if you do not possess the gift of being able to do it that way then hang out with people who do.

-Canadian Castaway