Make No Small Plans

School's been out for a week and I haven't so much as touched this blog—but don't think I'm lying on a beach somewhere.

Nope, I've been working on a grant project; I'll be reporting on Chicago's 2016 Olympic Bid for the South Side and the University. I want to keep people up-to-date on what Mayor Daley and Chicago 2016 are up to, and do some original reporting on how community members, local organizations, and academics are responding to the prospect of this city getting the Games.

I'll eventually be collaborating with the Chicago Studies Program (In the vein of my coverage of the Obama Inauguration). Until then, you can follow my reporting at No Small Plans: Coverage of Chicago's 2016 Olympic Bid.

Bear with me please; I'm just getting started and not entirely confident how this will work out.



Bus stop at the corner of 57th and Cottage Grove in Washington Park, proposed site of the 2016 Olympic Stadium.

Brain Art

My boyfriend Ben and I went to see Art at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater a couple weeks ago. As per my last post, I am swamped with finals (8 pages down, 10 pages, 20 pages, and one take-home exam to go). But here are a couple highlights from the play, which is one part interrogation of the quality and value of contemporary art, and two parts a painful deconstruction of a friendship between three men, Marc, Serge and Yvan, built almost entirely on lies and self-absorption. Ben and I decided he is slightly more like Yvan and I am slightly more like Marc. Enjoy


Marc (to Serge): "If I am who I am because I am who I am and you are who you are because you are who you are then I am who I am and you are who you are, but if I am who I am because you are who you are and you are who you are because I am who I am then I am not who I am and you are not who you are."


Serge (after Marc comments on his latest acquisition, a white canvas with white stripes): "What do you mean 'this shit'? ... I don't care how fantastic you think it is, I don't care if you laugh, but I would like to know what you mean by 'this shit.'"



How much would you pay for a white painting?

Blogging Fail

I have finals!
Good luck everyone. Talk to you in a week.