No Fixed Plans

In Evanston on Main Street This week I'm sharing a fading composite of European sites. If you'd like to see more murals, click here .  

This week sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share photos based on the cutie above who's on the phone. Rochester Photo Press, C. C. (ca. 1909)  Young Woman Talking Into a Telephone . , ca. 1909. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2013647226/. I found some quotations worth sharing too: We shall one day navigate the air as the sea—rain will be made to pour on the desert, and it will be cultivated and blossom as the rose—bread shall yet be made of stones in the street—the man of a hundred years shall yet be in his prime—men will yet take a little instrument from their waistcoat pocket and communicate with a friend a hundred miles away without wires, as if they spoke face to face. ~James Gillingham (1838–1924),  The Seat of the Soul Discovered or the World's Great Problem Solved, with Objections to the Same Answered , second edition, 1870. O misery, misery, mumble and moan! Someone invented the telephone, And interrupted a nation's ...

  Hello.  Sit down. Let's have some coffee or tea if you'd like and begin Weekend Coffee Share, a time to sit down and "chat" about the week. If we where having coffee, I'd remark on how chilly it's been this May. I think we had one week that I'd call warm. I'd tell you I had a good week subbing. Just one half day in 5th grade with an unruly class but the co-teacher was charged with handling them. The rest of the week I was with 1st and 2nd graders who were so adorable and really wanted to learn. I'm sold on these lower grade students.  On Tuesday since I just worked half the day I went with my mother to see the new Downton Abbey film. If you're already a fan, I'd say go. It'll be fun to see characters you loved. If you never saw the series, check that out first, it's meatier than the film.  Thursday one of my nephews graduated from high school and I watched that with my parents on YouTube.  I'm getting more information about ...

  If you're a Downton Abbey fan, you'll probably enjoy this chance to catch up with the Crawley's, but if you're new to the series and character's there isn't much for you here.  The film opens with the one-time chauffeur turned son-in-law marrying again after years of mourning his first wife's death. Everyone's throwing rice and smiling.  Soon dowager Crawley announces that she's inherited a villa in France. What? It turns out that a Frenchmen with whom she spent a week 60 or so years ago. She's rather sickly with a  nondescript illness so she won't go to France but she does want her son, his wife and various relatives and servants to look into the villa and to find out how this man's wife and son feel about this inheritance. Mary, the eldest daughter, who now runs the estate, will remain at Downton. She's accepted a film director's request to use the house for his next film. The large fee can pay off the cost of a roof repair an...

  For this week's (belated) Thursday Doors, I'm sharing a photo of someone in an Evanston neighborhood, who just doesn't want to be bothered.

  .In Evanston, Illinois at a Youth Center. I went mural hunting today for Monday Murals and here's one I found.

  These guys look like they're off on a trip. I'm inspired to find more travel related images.  Mayer, Henry, Artist.  Travel impressions / Hy Mayer ; by Hy Mayer . , 1914. New York: Published by Puck Publishing Corporation, 295-309 Lafayette Street. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2011649835/. Unspecified illustrator. (1950). Vintage Tichnor Comic/Flat Tire. Retrieved from  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/798122365185612490/. Bamforth & Co. (publisher, English, act. 1870-1990). ca. 1907-1914 (publication date). "Are you first class, sir?" "Now, do I look it!" Bamforth (Copyright); verso: Holmfirth. Bamforth & Co., Ltd. Publishers (England) and New York, Series No. 2193. https://library.artstor.org/asset/SS35428_35428_22849126. Poole, F.J. C. (n.d.) Lucky Dogs, Calisphere, Retrieved on May 21 2022, from https://calisphere.org/item/ff4474ec02fe09d97a288afdd7888e93/. To see more historic images, click here . 

If we were having coffee, I'd say I've vowed never to sub in an 8th grade class again. The classes I was assigned on Tuesday were mainly insolent and refused to do their work. They questioned all the directions their teacher gave me. It was a long day. Luckily Monday went well as did Wednesday and Thursday. I'd add that today I took the day off and had lunch with two friends at a Thai restaurant. I got lost and then ran into numerous one way streets with speed bumps, but in the end had a great time. I got a tip that the Art Institute's Cezanne exhibit is well worth seeing.  I'd say I'm watching the Kurosawa film The Bad Sleep Well, a tale of revenge against corrupt officials and businessmen, whose illicit acts led to a suicide.  I'm reading Stendhal's The Red and the Black and Stephen Moore's Govzilla . 

  Rivertown, Southern China Here's my entry for Monday Murals, which Sami of Colourful World kindly hosts.

  Our prompt for Sepia Saturday is this photo above of four people enjoying a park while perched on a bench. How appealing to spend a morning or afternoon on a bench with friends. Here's what I found wandering through the Library of Congress: N.Y. Parks - Bench Warmers, Union Sq . , 1908. [? May 22] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2003656212/. Culter, Richard, Artist.  Fashion notes / Richard Culter + AC/14 . , 1914. New York: Published by Puck Publishing Corporation, 295-309 Lafayette Street. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2011649771/. Harris & Ewing, photographer.  Child on Park Bench . United States, 1932. [or 1933] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016889956/. To see more inspired Sepia finds, click here . 

  If we were having coffee, I'd say spring is here! Actually, the weather's been more like summer as it's been in the 80s F. I watched For All Mankind , a gorgeous documentary of the Apollo space program. Al Reiker, producer and director, watched all the TV coverage of the various trips to the moon. He found it disappointing. Eventually, he started going to the NASA film archives and watching some of the hundreds of hours of video. He decided to compile them to show the human side of the lunar exploration.It's an amazing, serene film with lots of humanity and humor. I've taught three days this week, which seems enough. I'm starting to figure out which assignments fit me best.  I got a cough on Monday and took a COVID test to rule that out. The test was negative. I've been taking commercial cough syrup, but really hate it. I decided to look for homemade cough syrup recipes and found a few like this . Today I still had a tickle in my throat so I varied the rec...

  This week's contribution to Monday Murals was taken along the springs in Old Jinan, which is getting spruced up and more teahouses, shops and restaurants are popping up.

Empire of Dreams by Charles Simic, whose birthday is today On the first page of my dreambook It’s always evening In an occupied country. Hour before the curfew. A small provincial city. The houses all dark. The storefronts gutted. I am on a street corner Where I shouldn’t be. Alone and coatless I have gone out to look For a black dog who answers to my whistle. I have a kind of Halloween mask Which I am afraid to put on.

  If we were having coffee, I'd have to make it quick this week. It's been hectic. I'm just getting to this post late Sunday after cooking and cleaning up for Mother's Day dinner. My sister-in-law, her mother, and her son came as did my brother, his wife and son. Of course, my parents were here. All went well, but it kept me busy. Yesterday I went to my aunt and cousin's annual Kentucky Derby party. The weather wasn't as good here as last year, but we were inside this year anyway. (Last year their favorite tavern had shelter's outside on the closed off street due to COVID. It was actually quite festive. Now the city won't permit them. What a shame.) No one I knew won, but the man who did got $375! Lots of women wore hats or fascinators, which added to the fun. I started substitute teaching a week ago Friday. I filled in for the library in the junior high and that went well. Monday I worked half a day at the school for grades 3 - 5. Again I signed up to w...

  Clark Street, Chicago For this week's Monday Mural, I went with a mural that fits today's weather vibe - soft focus and a tad gloomy. If you'd like to see more murals, click here .