So when the charity gala invitation says “black tie”… do you HAVE to go with a “black” tie?
How literal do you think the dress code really is?!… at least the coat & pants are black.

Finally… done!!!
Another year… another headache… another chance to put it off until the very end!
But look at me… done one whole day early!!! Yeah me!!!

What better way to celebrate than with another bike ride up to the Chicago Botanical Garden?!
Beautiful weather, spring flowers emerging, deer grazing, stunning sunset…
and did I mention my taxes are done?!!!

It’s coming soon… one of the biggest pottery events of the year!
So mark your calendar, convince your Mom to spend Mother’s Day Weekend
in Minnesota, and make a trip up towards the Twin Cities for a weekend of clay!!!

18th Annual Pottery Studio Tour & Sale
by the Minnesota Potters of the Upper St. Croix River.

Not only are there seven potter’s studios on the big tour… but each resident potter
invites other “equally famous” to share the weekend and their wares. All together,
there will be 44 “famous” potters on the tour. These are the names you see in all
of the clay magazines, galleries & workshops around the country. The resident potters
inviting you into their working studios are Linda Christianson, Richard Vincent,
Robert Briscoe, Will Severson, Jeff Oestreich, Connee Mayeron and Guillermo Cuellar.
We usually start our day at Bob Briscoe’s studio – as I think he has the “best” group
of invited potters in the tour… including my favorite Matt Metz. Here are just a few of the
ones I’m looking forward to seeing… to do a little shopping, get a little inspiration and quite
possibly add to my ever-growing-and-have-already-run-out-of-space mug collection!!!

Including my friend Steven Hill, maker of the beautiful pitcher in the bottom right corner!
When you see Steven at Richard Vincent’s place, be sure to say hello for me!

18th Annual Pottery Studio Tour & Sale
Friday, May 7th – noon-7:00pm
Saturday, May 8th – 10:00am-6:00pm
Sunday, May 9th – 11:00am-5:00pm
Check out their website for full details, maps, and a list of all the great potters!
www.MinnesotaPotters.com

Once again this year, Lillstreet is holding a special benefit to help fight hunger.
“Empty Bowls” benefits are held across the country with potters of all levels donating
their work to raise money for local hunger-fighting organizations. At our benefit,
people will be able to choose form hundreds of handmade ceramic bowls for a suggested
donation of $20. Not only do you get to keep the bowl, but it will also be filled with soup
and a piece of bread courtesy of First Slice Cafe. One hundred percent of the proceeds
will be given to First Slice Cafe so they may continue to create healthy meals for local
organizations whose mission includes helping those who are hungry and/or homeless.
Last year’s event raised over $19,000 for First Slice Cafe. We’re hoping to top that this year…
and several of my handmade bowls will be in the mix!

Empty Bowls Fundraiser
Friday, March 5th   -  5:00pm-8:00pm

Lillstreet Art Center
4401 North Ravenswood at Montrose, Chicago, Illinois 60640

Last night was the kick-off of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics… and I loved it.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of watching sports… that is until the Olympics roll around.
The human drama. The competition. The one-shot-at-making-your-dreams-come-true!
Much better than those professional athletes making millions of dollars for just showing up!
Every time, my favorite part is the Opening Ceremonies. And last night was great.
The excitement. The colors. The pageantry. The emotion. The visual creativity.

It started out a little slow, with four “frozen” totem poles and introductions of the local tribes
of Canada… ho hum… and then they introduced the official Olympic people… again, boring.
I was getting a little concerned. But then it kicked in… and the pageantry began. With a much
smaller budget than Beijing, I think they did a wonderful job. With a lot of lighting, a lot of
dancing, and a lot of projections on white fabric… they created a masterpiece of imagery
as they “toured” the Canadian countryside. From the mountains & prairies… from sea
to shining see. Trees sprouted out of nowhere. Mountains rose from the arena floor.
Prairie grasses waving. Snowboarders skiing from the ceiling. Snow. Leaves. A polar bear.
And a school of whales seemingly “swimming” across the floor spouting water as they
“crested” the ocean’s surface… which was actually the floor?… but appeared to be water?…
but wasn’t?… thanks to the magic of huge floor-covering LED lighting panels. Not to mention
the rockin’ violinists & cloggers who danced with sparks shooting out of their heels!!!

Everything was magical, the excitement and spirit of the Olympics was definitely there to get
the party started. Until the “technical difficulty”… at the climactic moment when all eyes are
upon the four Canadian sports legends holding the Olympic Flames… waiting… and waiting…
for the four supports for the Olympic Flame to rise from the floor… and waiting… as only
three of them came up – and after waiting anxiously, they went ahead with just the three!
The flames were finally lit, and then Wayne Gretsky went out to light the outdoor version
of the Olympic Cauldron… without hesitation, without drama, without technical difficulties!

Typically the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics are a little less than impressive.
Compared to what they pull out for the Summer version, Winter pales by comparison.
Even without the fresh memories of the spectacular opening in Beijing last summer.
Possibly, the most incredible thing I have EVER seen on television!!! All in all, I think
Vancouver made a valiant effort in the painful “Beijing Follow-up” position. And now…
let the games begin!!!

Just when you thought you “knew” what was going on…

Looks like some of our favorites might be making a return from the dead?!
Claire. Charlie. Shannon. Michael. Ana Lucia. Mr. Eko. John. Libby. Boone.
And what about “blown-to-smitherines” Arzt???… will he be “put back together” again?
(Sadly, I don’t see my favorite, and presumably also exploded, Juliet in the picture?!)
But does that also mean that all of “The Others” who died might be back too?!
Mikhail. Goodwin. Ethan. Mr. Friendly. Ms. Klugh… and ultimately, Jacob???

Another great (and sadly final) season of “LOST” begins tonight with three hours of fun!
Here’s to hoping we get a few answers this season.. and that some of my “predictions”
turn out to be correct… and that we might FINALLY get see more about Libby’s backstory!
Just when she was getting interesting… she’s killed & off the show!!!
But now she might be back?!

They’re back… and I can’t wait.

Last night is was lucky enough to see Eddie Izzard in Concert at The United Center.
It was the first night of the kick-off to his American Tour. And what a kick-off it was!

I must admit that I had heard of Eddie Izzard, but didn’t really know all that much
about him or his comedy. I had seen a few clips. I had seen him on a few talk shows.
Okay… here’s a visual for you… picture him as the Kenneth Branagh of comedy.
I had seen him on “The Riches” with Minnie Driver. So when the opportunity presented
itself to go see him in concert… main floor, 5th row… I was in!!!

He was incredible! Very smart. Very intellectual. With a few punny groaners along the way!
His concert is basically “his take” on the History Of The World. Hysterical. Starting millions
of years ago, explaining the Stone Age, the invention of language, Greeks, Romans, Noah’s
Ark… and God’s presumed “participation” in events. Plus his fascination with Wikipedia
and how it has the answer for EVERYTHING!!! I loved his energy, his style and the way
he tells his stories with characters, voices, movement & sound effects. He’s quite animated!
If you ever have a chance to see Eddie in concert… by all means, go!

And oh, but wait there’s more… as if he weren’t already impressive enough…
At the end of the show, as most people were fleeing the United Center to race to their cars
to wait in the long lines to get out of the parking lot… a video popped up on the screens.
Apparently, over this past summer, Eddie Izzard participated in  charity event and ran
an impressive 43 marathons in 51 days!!! Can you even imagine?…. The video showed
pictures from the event as he ran all over Britain’s countryside in an impressive
1,105-mile journey to raise money for Sports Relief.

And for those who still can’t quite picture Eddie Izzard…
maybe seeing him as Mr. Kite in my favorite “Across The Universe” will help?!

Sadly, he would have been 75 years old today.

So what’s your favorite Elvis song?…     mine?… “A Little Less Conversation.”
And how fitting that the new Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas opens this month
at the new ARIA Resort & Casino. Time to start planning my next Vegas trip…

So Christmas is officially over, and my gifts have been given with proper surprise.
So now I can share my good news with the rest of you. I didn’t want to share too soon
and ruin the surprise for those who were getting a copy of the book for Christmas!!!
If you run into my friends Gerry & Rosene, don’t tell them… they haven’t gotten their gift yet.
Shhh… keep it quiet… but only from them!

So it’s official – the Chicago photography book published by CBS2 Chicago
has finally been published and distribution has begun. And I made the cut… twice!
Two of my photos were chosen to be published in the book.
I’m very excited!!!

For those who may not remember, sometime last Fall, CBS2 Chicago announced this special
project on their news broadcasts. My dad turned me on to it and I started submitting photos.
The deal was that they were accepting photographs that depicted life in the City.
Photographers from all over submitted images to the website – which were then put up to an
online popularity poll. The more votes your images received, the more likely your image was
to be published in the book. So I submitted several photos, many from my morning biking
sunrise series, and hoped for the best. It wasn’t until early December that we found out
if we had been chosen by the book’s editors for the publication. And I was excited to
make it into the book twice – against a LOT of stiff competition!!!

2,480 photographers

28,144 photos submitted

2,388,443 votes cast

So… after all of that, one of my images found a place on Page 68 in the “Scapes Of All Sorts”
section of the book. It was one of my favorite biking moments of the summer. A surreal
biking moment when the morning fog was literally “illuminated” by the rising sun.

“Misty Morning Glow”

My second image chosen was used on Page 24 in the title page montage (top row, fourth
from the left) for the “Arts, Culture & Food” section of the book. Again, it’s of of my favorites –
this time, it’s my favorite “hidden gem” inside the Chicago Cultural Center…
a beautiful Tiffany stained glass dome in the rotunda.

So that’s it… another great experience… and another great chance to be published!
I hope you all get a chance to find a copy of the book and enjoy the many beautiful images
that capture the essence of Chicago…  and have you heard?… two of them are mine!!!