We have become people that frequently are in an audience watching theater. While Ilene and I have always loved seeing live performances, and have done so with above average consistency, yet over the past few years it appears we have been on an escalating cycle of the more we consume, the greater our hunger. The above three were all seen in a single weekend.

How we got to this point is a product of several intertwined factors, each increasing the likelihood that we would wind-up viewing a couple dozen plays per year. First, I have the brain of a 5 year-old  that needs constant entertainment. Be it plays, movies, concerts or museums, I like to watch, and to lose myself in stories, and or, marvel at some new scientific discovery. I insisted on taking Lane to his first play at six months, and he was hooked. He fell in love with the theatre, and in high school and college was both on stage as well as working as a lighting designer. He was involved in show-so we saw those, and his passion resulted with us adding him to our season tickets.

           

   We also have a circle of friends that are very culturally aware; this increases both our desire and opportunities to partake in the artistic life of our city, and any other city we visit. As many plays we see, we have friends that seem to see even more. Not that I'm implying it's a competition, just that it reinforces the notion that we aren't crazy

                           

I don't always remember to take a picture, but these seem to be those where I remembered in the past year. I understand that we are privileged to have the opportunity to see so many works, Tickets aren't cheap, add to this the events at museums, concerts, clubs, and fundraisers and the total is more than I believe it is wise for me to tally. In short it is a great luxury.
       

Ilene Sings

Ilene joined the DePaul University Community Chorus about a year ago. In that time she has sung with them in several performances, the most recent of which was last week.

I shot a few clips and compiled them into this short video.




(Look hard, she is in the first row, on the left.)

I'm very proud of her, I know she worked hard to learn the material.

Thanks Lane for helping me get this uploaded. 

Some Pictures as 2010 comes to close

2010 was been a difficult year, involving loss, and change, neither one are favorites of mine. Clearly I can not understate how hard these past months have been on Ilene. The loss of her mom Shirley has been a tragic, traumatic, and has left a deep scar. I have to say that she, Steven and Ed; have all shown a level of strength that I'm SURE I don't possess.

Lane's move to Latin for high school has been a challenge; but one that he is handling quite well. He has just finished his first semester, and by all objective measures, it went quite well.

I have explained to him that if I have "My expectations Too High" it's his own fault for getting straight "A"s for the past few years. 

So I will take break from looking at some less-than-stellar business results, and post some recent fun pictures.

 

Yes that's the Stanley Cup (not an empty keg of beer)

Friends Taylor, Nick &Donna

This was an amazing costume.

He wanted his hair black; so I found some "Temporary" spray to put in his hair.

By the start of the night he was the Fonz, but as the night wore on, his hair started getting a bit lighter, while his face started getting much darker; by the end of the night he looked more like

Al Jolson.

Sam and Alan were nice enough to travel to Detroit,
along with several other of our close friends;
I know it was a great support for Ilene.

"It was the best of times

It was the worst of times;
it ws the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way."

Charles Dickens


Looking through this Blog, it's hard for one not conclude that ours is a family for whom only sunshine falls. That each week brings new awards, days on a beach, and the joy of time spent with family and friends. And truth be told, we do have at-least our share of Happy Moments, but as there is light, there is also darkness.

Last week, after some simple blood work looking to see if he still had a skin infection, the doctor sent us off to Children's hospital to find the source of the problem.

The test showed he was loosing protein in his urine and that is the result of some kidney problem.

His kidneys are functioning fine except that one problem.

He spent three days in the hospital, he got to come home Saturday and Sunday, but had to return at 1:00 on Monday.

There are a number of possible causes. They range from something "Serious" to something as serious as getting the flu.

It seems as if the "Bad" possibilities are exotic and not likely the cause.

The doctors seem to be talking about a 90% chance that it is one of two things, either of which would require he take some pills for a few weeks. The next couple of possible causes would add a week to the meds (Slightly different meds) and a bit more observation to make sure he does not get this again.

Forgive me but I'm not going to address the idea of the more serious, far less likely causes.We will find out what this is all about when we get the results back from the biopsy he took today (08/24)

On the positive side; Lane did make it to Orientation today. He was 20 minutes late, as he came right from spending the night at the hospital. But HE MADE IT.

_______________________________________________________

Ilene's Mom is not doing well at all. She is fighting valiantly, has has been to Hell and back. There is nothing that she ever did in her life to warrant such pain and suffering.

Ed and Steven have been great, and have worked diligently to be there for her, and to keep her spirits up- clearly it is a challenging task.

Ilene has been performing the most difficult of balancing acts. Taking care of Lane, and myself, starting up a business with a close friend, while bouncing back and forth between Chicago, and Detroit. by comparison, Juggling chainsaws while standing one foot on a tennis ball, is child's play.  

Every moment she spends here she feels guilty she is not "There;" yet when "There" she feels bad she is not "Here". It is a non-stop ride of questioning. of placing needs over wants. and second-guessing each decision.

Today we find out Ed crashed his car, flipping over ending upside-down in the car.

Luck was shinning; since he escaped with a few scratches.

So there is a lot of "waiting with fingers crossed" here in our home.

Question- does it make any sense for Jews to "CROSS" fingers?

Maybe I'll file that under, "I guess it can't hurt"

October

Lane and his friend Dante out at the movies.

This is why we have to "Over see" Lane when he goes clothes shopping.

I still find it so strange to watch Lane fence in an "Open".

He has to fence NCAA fencers. These kids are in college.

Clearly he was not going to win or come in the top 8, but I was really proud that he gave each opponent a run for their money. He scored touches on each person he fenced, and even won some matches.

Catherine Cook Girls SoftBall
They won the season.... Undefeated.

With all of my Medium Format SLR Film Cameras, I ended up taking this with my iPhone. In fact I take almost every picture up here with the iphone. One I always have it with me. Two the Bronica cameras weigh about 15 lbs in the case. Three, I can't afford the $35,000 Hasselblad digital camera system I want.

50 Years and Still happily Married

The year was 1957.
Elvis Presley was All Shook Up.
President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon were sworn in for their second terms, and
Chances Are you were listening to Johnny Mathis.

People were talking about how Charles Van Doren, After 14 weeks on the game show "Twenty-One was finally out of correct answers. Senator Strom Thurmond filibustered for over 24 hours
In an attempt to stall the Civil Rights Act of 1957 from passing, But the real new people were talking about was the Marriage of Judith Leavitt to Greald Lubell.

In the year 2007, Fifty year marriages are still pretty big news, In order to commemorate the big event Judy and Jerry planed a long weekend at the Abbey in Lake Geneva





In addition, this was also Jerry's 75 birthday: so there were no shortage of reasons to celebrate.

Judy and Jerry arived at the Resort at about 2:00pm, Ilene Lane and Myself arrived a few hours later. We all piled into the Cayenne, and took off for Downtown Lake Geneva. After doing a bit of shopping and consuming fudge, we walked down to the water-front for dinner to a popular Sea Food place called Popeye's.





Sunday started rather early, with a work-out at the Spa, followed by breakfast at a restaurant across the street.
The weather started looking up; so we decided to wait for Heidi, Jimmy and the kids by the pool.



That afternoon we to Downtown Lake Geneva, We looked at what ever stores were open. We The took a long walk around the lake looking at the homes.

We went out to dinner at a nice Italian Place.

The next Morning we Rented a Speedboat. Lane, Mallory, and Teddy went Water Tubing.