Chicago Is My Kinda Town

CHICAGO!

Ma Peeps in Homotude! What it iz. I've just spent four days in Chicago, and I'm in love.
I had no idea what to expect prior to arrival. Chicago's portrayal in mass media is always focused on the detail, and not the whole. When you finally find yourself standing in Millenia Park, or along the Lake Michigan shoreline . . . you are amazed that no one ever effectively explained the skyline, the sense of space, the cleanliness and order of such a large city, the sounds of the El(evated Train Line), nor the flawless presentation of public art, museums, and superlative culinary standards. Chicago is the simply the most successful large city in the United States.
These amazing restaurants can be recommended without hesitation:

A+

Bistro Zinc (french) - Between Division and Chicago on State. A truly french design, with a super-efficient hispanic staff.

Topolobampo - Frontera Grill (Nouvelle Mexican) - Trendy haute cuisine crafted from native Mexican ingredients. Food as art is the aesthetic. Creative, original, winning. Best waitress in Chicago: Jessica.

Zealous - (American Fusion) Smidgeon pretentious, but with the wine list to back up the boasting. Very very good.

The Gage - (Rustic American) - American sports bar at the foot of Millenia Parks Cloud Gate. But the food is more thoughtful and crafted than the genre would require. Butternut squash soup was to die for, and the desserts were amazingly original.

The Bongo Room - (Dessert for Breakfast) - Forget a lite breakfast. Have a cake for breakfast - in the shape of a pancake. The best dish looked to be the vegetarian croissant sandwich. Mmmm.
The Feast - (Sports Bar) - Chicago

The Blue Line - (Damen Station Trendy Diner)

B+

Ginos' East Deep Dish Pizza. Wasn't worth the wait, but was okay.

Hancock Signature Lounge and Restaurant. The best view in the city, is overwhelmed with visitors, and so does not have to excel in service apparently. Don't be discouraged however, and bring your camera.

One other important note: Always buy a multi-day CTA Card from CVS or Walgreens before you head out. The El conveniently goes anywhere you need to go, for an unbeatable price. Mass transport is a hallmark of Chicago, and if you hide in a taxi, you will never understand the mind of the city.

Other hallmarks of Chicago:

• Great Art
• Great Architecture
• Truly Great Food
• Best urban planning and public space allocations in the United States.

Poetry Garden

Well, I see that the weekend of March 14, 2009 in Orlando, Florida, the Red Chair Project has offered three key sources of entertainment:
1) Young Frankenstein
2) Friday the 13th Torture Show at SAK
3) Poetry Garden at Leu Gardens
(featuring yours truly)
What do these three events have in common? Let's investigate:
Young Frankenstein is a comic retelling of the Frankenstein legend, where a mutilated monster is reassembled from the fruits of grave-robbing.
Friday the 13th Torture Show, pretty much speaks for itself.
And finally, there would be me . . . butchering the English language, just for its own gratuitous pleasure.
Yes, this weekend it's definitely murder and mayhem for the Orlando arts scene.
Hmm. What shall I tell you, my pretties, about the poetry garden?
The Poetry Garden exhibit is a prototype event. The idea is to situate poetry unexpectedly in the outdoors, to enhance the garden experience of Leu Garden patrons (especially at the end of winter when much of the garden is still dormant). Still the weather is wonderful now - cool and sunny, and there are only a few times a year that it is this pleasurable to wander in the out-of-doors in Orlando. If the Poetry Garden goes well, I will advocate the expansion of this program with Leu Gardens (perhaps having an open invitational poetry contest, or funding regular poetry retrospectives in the garden). Benefits are two-fold: the profile of local literature is raised in the community, and Leu Gardens burgeons its efforts to be a focal point for the arts in Orange County.
As for me, I hope that one or two people will learn of my efforts. Now I close with a sample from the garden:

Axiom

The standing droplets
on the velveteen petals
of rose hibiscus

wholly justify
the creation of morning.

Follow-up: During the event, some lovely person landscaped my poems with picked flowers! My heart rejoiced in the dialogue between my words and the garden. (Picture attached)