Summer 09 has begun

Jerry and Lane working on "Logic Puzzles"
over dinner. I must say Lane has a great deal of patience for these things.
Jerry is really good at them, I think it comes from "Cleaning-up" the messes I make at work.

Family on the 5th celebrating the 4th

Lane at the opening reception for Joe Ray's show

Joe and Chris were two old friends from my Art Major days back at ASU. Thanks to the "Magic" of Facebook, we have been back in touch; so when they told me of the opening of a collection of his work in Madison Wisc. - I tossed the family in the car. I must say it was well worth the trip.




After a very long and cold winter; I must admit have been a bit disappointed by the delay of summer.

Lane and his friend Taylor enjoying one of the few truly warm, sunny days.

While I happen to be a big fan of going to East Bank Club, Lane, and his friends prefer the beach.

I can absolutely see why, for me the major appeal of going to the club (Aside from knowing I'm spending $350/ month to belong) is that I just have to show up. I don't have to bring towels, or chairs or all of the other baggage that comes with a trip to the beach. I also like the idea of nice clean bathrooms and showers with granite walls. That said, I must say that the beach is fun, particularly when you are there with a group.

This Kid jumped in front of my iphone as I was taking a picture, I showed it to him and he asked me if I could email it to him.

Max And Lane two weeks earlier also at Oak Street Beach.

Lane and Sam sitting in a tree in Wrightwood Park.

Quick Trip to LA

Marla was a friend that I met through Heidi. Marla was also an old friend Of Ilene's back from the days they went to Camp Interlaken together.

About 18 years ago, Marla informed me that "I had to go out with her friend, Ilene that had recently moved to town. As they say the rest is history.

Over the years Marla and Jeff Garlin's son James, and Lane became close friends. The fact that Jeff's acting career requires them to live in LA, has done little to keep them from being close despite the long gaps between visits.

We do both spend Christmas break in Florida, and they come to Chicago each year for a part of the summer.

After they came in for Lane's Bar Mitzvah, it only seemed right that we should go to LA to celebrate James's.

The party was catered at their home. The food was great, the night was beautiful and having it at their home gave it a very warm feel.

Yes there were "Celebrities" and No I did not take their picture.

Yes while we were there we decided to do a bit of the tourist things,

We saw Lane's old sitter, if you can call someone a few years out of college "Old"

She had recently moved out there and met us down at Sunset and Vine to see the walk of the stars.

It was great to see Shauna Stannard

It was also nice to see that the city cleaned up some of the prostitutes.

While there we also took a tour of Warner Brother Studios

This is the set from Friends

The Sets were fun to see.

We had to see the "Tar Pits"

And I could not miss the opportunity to have a few Jack in The Box Tacos.

I will add some of the Medium Format Black and White pictures I took.

The Head of School Award - Lane Lubell

Dr. Michael B. Roberts
Head of School

Wilfred Peterson, author of the "Art of Living" series of books which sold millions of copies around the world advised his readers to "Champion the right to be yourself; dare to be different and to set your own pattern; live your own life and follow your own star." Lane Lubell has certainly taken Mr. Peterson's advice to heart and in the process has stolen the hearts of all who know him. One of Lane's teachers shared, "we are so proud of how far he has come in his years at Catherine Cook. We feel his story is a success story that we all can feel a part of. He is highly creative. He is liked by all students and teachers." Lane's greatest gift is in his ability to see the world from another's point of view and to honestly respect those viewpoints. Consequently, significant gains in his academic and personal success and positive contributions to the school have been remarkable.