2019 Table of Contents

Photo by Steve Owens.

With a good content management system like WordPress, doing a post like this is entirely not necessary. But the opportunity cost of messing around with templates was (temporarily) greater than the work in assembling this (cut and paste, mostly). I hope it’s useful and interesting.

An * indicates one of the top 13 requested posts. (There are only 12 as one was from 2018.)

Photo Wall

Alternate Reality — Glenwood & Lunt mirrored through a glass darkly.
Happy Winter — Rogers Park’s playful response to snow.
Landscape — an acrylic by Ann Roman.
Abstract — an unintentional watercolor.
Milkweed — a watercolor by Ann Roman. Check out the comments.
Flamingo Tales — Alexander Calder in Chicago’s Federal Plaza.
Two Wings and a Prayer — the purpose of life is to be eaten. Among other things…
Above — if you ask, I’ll tell you.
Postcard from Rogers Park — Summer wishes you were here.
Dunelands — the wonderful way photos can lie.
Digital — finger food?
Hand! — These fingers have spent far too much time in the bath of life.
Everyone’s a critic — a comment on a wall.
In the Winter Garden — at the Harold Washington Library.
It’s Not Spring Yet! — a foolish budding bush!
Camera Ice — the future of Illinois winters as seen on the web.
Would Double By-pass Surgery Do? — a possible answer to an exhortation.
Trippin’ on the Escalator — while remaining upright.
Illumination 1 — artifacts in orbit around Gliese 710.
Illumination 2 — sheds light on the subject.
Illumination 3 — it was an idea.
Old Navel — not a store, not a mammal.
A Chattering of Starlings — they were also cold.
Journey to the Center of a Tree — see for yourself.
Millennium Hooter — not a restaurant.
Lake View — I have a fantasy that “Time Team” is about to do a 3 day test excavation here…
Light Reflections — here comes the sun.
To the Argyle Station — nothing to do with Lenin, I think, but the artwork is pretty cool.
Puddle Wonderful — and mud-luscious.
Chirp No More — budgie makes a lovely corpse.
Scab — injured wood.
In the Hall of the Birchwood King — under the Touhy viaduct.
The Path — marked by light.
Wood in Winter — from Touhy’s old estate.
Above & Beyond — at the Harold Washington Library Center, plus a few choice comments.
Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? — .
Catbird Hairboll — plus a few memories coughed up.
Portrait of a Cottonwood in Winter — ’tis a noble weed.
Splash! — New developments at Leone Park Beach.
Deadwood — drift wood.
Fishing — birds.
Alien Lights — they sure do look strange.
Flower with Wake — more public art in Rogers Park.
The Answer Is Blowin’ in the Wind — Really. And it’s not some bloviating blatterskite.
Tracks — Careful! The camera is being untruthful.
More Tracks — more tracks.
April Post-Shower — it rained. Then it didn’t.
Crouse Hinds — I had no idea what else to call this clever graffito.
Emil Bach House — I’m not sure that I’d care to live in a FLW house, but it sure is pretty.
Quantum Dee — But for its location, this should be photo’d as much as the “Bean” in Millennium Park.
America’s Grate Again — Yep.
Reconstruction — and scaffolding.
Remains of the Last Year — could be; I hope not.
Springing — but not quite sprung.
What… — I don’t know what this is, but it seemed appropriate to the day.
The Bridge to Goose Island — and the Chicago Terminal Railway.
Car-cass — dark and bullet ridden.
Sunday in the Park with Fritz — the cat, who didn’t seem to mind a leash.
Up Periscope! — no snow, Captain!
Guardian Lions — or they may be flying dogs. Or dragons.
Wormhole Rogers Park — we’re all pod people, people.
Sunday in the Park — grass, trees and light.
May Day in the Haymarket — the annual ILHS commemoration at the Haymarket Square monument.
Do Porcupines Become Trees? — If one plants a porcupine, this is what grows?
Her Mistress’ Foot — Dogs can be such shameless suck-ups…
Crayon Skyline — GIMP image editor at work.
Protest! — or the influence of cosplay on politics in Rogers Park.
Before & After — The Heartland Cafe building bites the dust.
Bush Again — Imagine you are a small bird…
Into the Wind — The intrepid bourgeoisie face adversity, such as it is, in their native habitat…
Airshaft — dismal but interesting…
Stairwell — a photographic cliché, but how could I resist?
And He Scores! — Or is he marking time?
There’s a Fungus Among Us — If you’re an old human, the title will provoke an earworm. But it really is fungus.
Shadow Tree — on grass…
At the End of a Tiny Universe — Infinity divided by mouse is still infinity.
A Study in Subway — more fun with GIMP and other stuff…
Woodpecker — “Human paparazzi scum,” it muttered.
Off with the Head! — a king on planet Terracotta…
Lift-Off — more fun with GIMP…
Orbital Dawn — SpaceY’s proposal for express rapid transit linking O’Hare and Midway: “Tunnels are boring.”
After the Storm — exploring puddles, I also please my inner child.
It Was an Accident — but Pollock would never have admitted as much.
Synaptic Tree — the nervous foliage is one thing. Someday I’ll capture the spacious canopy of this tree.
Dark Dandelion — it was either that or Angela Davis.
Farewell, Betegeuse — some cheezy wall art gives me the opportunity to riff about the star.
Tree Neurosis — there is absolutely nothing dirty about gazing at the crotch of a tree. Or looking up its trunk. Really.
See C’s Ride… errr… — one afternoon I encountered an heroically decorated automobile and its owner.
Lilacs — It’s June. It’s Chicago. We got lilacs. You got a problem with that or what?
The Last Thing the Tomato Saw — the horror… the horror….
Sandman — not really. But it could be.
Thistledown Tree — two takes on a detail.
Cascade of Light — more fun with GIMP photo editor.
It Came from the Lagoon — still more fun with GIMP photo editor.
The End is Nigh — yet more fun with GIMP photo editor.
Bad Moon Risen — …red sky at night means it went off all right.
High Summer — it’s the nutmeg in my diet…
Pinch and Whirl — experimental; your signed informed consent required.
Abstract Concrete — experimental; your signed informed consent required.
Abstract in Trees — experimental; your signed informed consent required.
Tacos! — they smelled wonderful!
Which Came First… — when ever it was, it was before swine.
Glowing Night Moss — experimental; your signed informed consent required.
Artists of the Wall 2019 — these highlights of this annual Rogers Park event are worth several minutes of your time.
Water Abstract — “It’s life, Jim… But not as we know it!”
Light and Steel — somehow the CTA manages to make brutalist architecture look light and airy.
It Came from Kentucky — and shows no sign of returning…
Flowers to Dust — there is beauty in decay.
Seeds — they glow!
At the Edge — experimental; your signed informed consent required.
Almost There — Up! Up! And away!
Window Bricks Abstracted — experimental; your signed informed consent required.
The Art of the Sidewalk — Jackson Pollock spat here.
Vertical — a meditation on terra cotta.
Salad for Lunch — maybe I was hungry when I saw this. I could have just as easily thought of shields and spears.
Feeling Groovy — a fine summer day along Lake Michigan.
Floral Cascade — a waterfall of light and blossoms.
UP 4014 Arrives — a magnificent beast of a machine, icymi.*
Scattered Showers — lovely, unless you’re a witch from Oz.
Anty Diluvian — almost as depressing as the pun.
Not Ikea — but some assembly was required…
Our Shadows Leaked on to the Tarmac — Hot! Hot!! Hot!!!
Your Brain in the Laundry — well… mine anyway.
Toe Flower in Bloom — my version of a Roman mosaic. Imagine this unearthed somewhere outside Londinium.
The Pearls of Heisenberg — as in the uncertainty principle, begging your pardon.
Plato’s Sidewalk — What can I say? I love light and shadow.
Canyon of Ruins — If you squint, it does resemble cliff dwellings…
The New Mound Builders — a visit to the Bailly homestead and cemetery.
Hello? — a curious dog.
Planetary Nebula — It’s amazing what one finds in a basement!
Ceiling — at the Harold Washington Library.
Unfurling — hibiscus, I’m told.
Basket — or it could be a crown… or a lamp shade?
Mother Earth Through the Window — at the Harold Washington Library.
And so, Boris, We Meet Again… — You’ll know what I’m talking about.
Looking Up — at the 95th Street Terminal.
A View from the Bridge — some things are just naturally surreal.
Spots — fun with GIMP.
Rainy Days and Mondays — a major downpour at this year’s Glenwood Arts Festival.
Dancing Shoes — a mystery.
Alien Sentinel — well, that’s what it looked like at the time.
Trunk — there’s something about tree trunks…
Lurking — the Shadow knows… it’s actually a radiator.
Lazy Susan — found on the sidewalk along Glenwood Avenue.
Splat Face — other people might see the Virgin Mary, I see one of the Three Stooges.
Crazy Light — I’m a sucker for light and shadow and reflection. It’s what I saw on the way to a medical appointment.
Nobody Leaves This Song Alive — my attitude toward the health care industry.*
Kryptonite? — because…
Light & Green — more light and shadow, this time on my way to the pharmacy.
Mothra, I Presume? — for a fact, I can’t tell a butterfly from a moth.
Future Ghost — magical thinking for September.
Beef — at Urbanspace, just so you know.
Bwah-hah-hah-haaaah — Miró’s Chicago.*
At the Jackson Red Line Station — there’s a lot to meet the eye.
World Apart — Because I like it. That’s why.
Neck Less — which way do you read this?
What I Saw of the Chicago Climate Strike — including dogs.*
An Ear Grows in Rogers Park — after taking root….
Living on the Edge — in Touhy Park.
Sunset in the Trees — one of those quick shots that ended up needing a GIMP filter.
Spider Glide Path — fly Arachnid Air!
Plastic! — left-over party debris, but psychedelic.
September Bouquet with Lipstick — a flowering September in Rogers Park.
I Need to Get Out More… — says it all.
Stone Sky — it’s a bench, actually.
Floral Incandescence — get the angle right and the flower explodes into light.
Low Blood Pressure — it’s the meds…
Night Shots — these reminded me of Captain Beefheart, but Google steers me wrong. (Joni Mitchell???)
Chips — with the filter, it reminds one of images from a lander on the planet one in from Mars.
Wait! Wait! Don’t tell me… — wherein Duchess ponders a weighty question.
Chicago Teachers Strike Rally — signs and faces.
Uptown — a few curiosities from along Broadway.
Chicago Sewer Poster — how I was once almost a poster child.
Tuesday Is Laundry Day — a celebration.
Demon Machines — at least, that’s what it looks like to me.
Loop Station Chicago — as an oil painting.*
Morning Sunlight — reflections on the street.
Painted Leaves — Fall in Rogers Park.
Fall Prairie — and how I learned the prairie has Fall colors, too.
Trick or Treat! — a truly carved pumpkin.
Day of the Dead — makes sense to me.*
Pilgrimage in Landscape — my annual visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Prairie Flower — an amazing thistle.
The View from Outside — you didn’t expect the inside scoop, did you? Get ye back to Doggerland, then.
Stone Dunes — I have no idea what they are, really.
Jump! — the eternal problem to urban life.
October Bouquet — a selection just for you…
Whither Wither Weather — plus some music appropriate thereto.
Mercator Man — projection as applied to a human.
Fall Waters — wherein I once again indulge my appetite for reflections.
Weary — and, if anything else, I don’t need to know, and neither do you.
115 Lbs per Yard — in case you were wondering.
Tigers on Parade — some how brought Frank Zappa to mind, but they ain’t peaches.
Tree Lightning — they have in common spectacular branches. It is a reach, begging your pardon.
Leone Beach Park Rocks! — many of them and look what can be done!
Long Gone Silver — but not forgotten.
The Ghost of Sam Leone — Auld life guards nae die but fade away.
Don’t Look Up — as if she could.
Still Life on Tree Root — title says it all.
Id — My id, as mediated by my ego, presented to you by my super-ego.
Tree of Light — not the Tree of Life nor the Tree of Knowledge.
First Things — can’t wait to get up in the morning to have some nice coffee!
Emergent — this could be about any number of things.
You Lookin’ at Me? — derived from a photo of a panel from the 2002 Artists of the Wall.
Success! — it’s overflowing!
Is That You, Bobbi? — turtles are nothing if not practical.
A Fog of Light — given enough photons, it becomes hard to see…
Existential — uh, yeah.
Light Ears — and crustacean eyes.
Clouds Over Lake — turbulence without weather.
Hives of Steel and Glass — What? You don’t like brutalist towers?
Corpse Light — dead tree standing.
Fossils of Summer — no, No, NO! I do not see a face in this. Do you?
Sunrise Y2K — the summer of bugs?

Video Wall

Street Musique — psychedelic animation from 1972: no CGI, but charming street buskers.
Bug Love — introducing Aaron Rodriques, the Bug Whisperer.
Nighthawk — animation that’s a bit too real; you’ll never drive again.
Going Down in Flames — we can only hope. Matt Farmer sings him out.
The World Below — time-lapse photography from the International Space Station.
Seaweed Sisters: Water Fountain — the Three Stooges of dance…
Rabbit and Deer — Abbott’s “Flatland” revisited as a very sweet animated relationship story.
Save Our Trolls — love ’em to death!
Max Headroom — the original British pilot… sort of a punk “Dr. Who”.
Trickster — Are you afraid of clowns? No? You will be.
The Centrifuge Brain Project — Perfect for Chicago’s Navy Pier…
The Emperor of Time — the strange and sordid tale of the man who accidentally invented movies.
Hinterland — A crow steals a bear’s iPod, which becomes a MacGuffin…
Union — about a one-legged man and a three-legged dog.
Wrong Path — so you’re tired of civilization, are you?
If You Can — a simple question. Saying more would be a spoiler.
Ace and the Desert Dog — can’t quite imagine a cat doing this…
The Artists — a mockumentary that rings a bit too true…
Bone Mother — it’s not nice to mess with Baba Yaga!
Revolver — a must see, but it’s not clear why.
Progress Bar — dating in the age of “artificial intelligence”.
If You Never Answered X — crime in the time of connectivity…
Franklin’s Brain — two losers, one meat and one silicon, confront their limitations.
Tornados of 2018 — Pecos Hank is one of my favorite storm videographers.
Savel — Somnia — a ritual dance to the laundry gods?
Out of a Forest — tragedy with a twist, but now you know where they come from.
TV Shreddin’ — aliens on skateboards.
Umbra — a short animation that is truly the stuff of “Twilight Zone”.
Hum — Remember vacuum tubes?
Fukushima Revisited — “National Geographic” provides a brief, smiley update eight years after.
Bed Wettin’ — a tribute to Ub Iwerks: 1930s style vaudeville animation.
The Trial — the trial goes on forever as a sort of drip torture: Kafka Lives!
Norilsk, Russia — Russians are batshit crazy… We have a lot in common.
Screwface — a look at London inner city culture that is every bit a part of Chicago culture, too.
Fishing with Spinoza — an uncle’s toe and the hunt for the great white sunfish.
The Echo of Time — don’t ask. Have an apple.
Future Echo — very nice drug paraphernalia.
A Brief History of Fat — and why I need to lose some; your fat, if any, is yours to own.
April Fools — gone full kitty cat.
Mars Habitat — Imagineering, with a few comments from me.
Mice in Space! — Really: on board the International Space Station. They seem to dig it.
Albatross Soup — This is rather like listening to This American Life or Radio Lab while on acid.
Until They Berry Me — a bad pun and restorative justice…
N’Djekoh — for Mothers’ Day…
My Home — for all those single moms out there whose children question their taste in men…
Solipsist — I guess… but it’s odd and pretty.
One Breath Around the World — Guillaume Nery dreams of swimming.
Tom Jones? — Pseudo-hippie mindless polyester blatherskite music, but I was charmed.
Sprites — for real…
Barnaby Dixon’s Bug Puppet — If you’re not hip to Dixon, this is a fun introduction. Puppet, dance and dog!
“For Hemma” — for me, this video had something of a mean girl vibe, but I like the dance.
Mask Off Presidents — I’m not wild about skate boarding videos nor about music videos, but…
Chroma Galaxies — colors and flows… great drug paraphernalia…
King Killian — A children’s tale with a mortal twist.
Rock & Roll — “This Is Spinal Tap” in less than a minute. (Hello Mick Jagger.)
Moth — Full screen and headphones recommended.
Omerta — froggy went a’courtin’ in this mash up of “Chicago”, Damon Runyon, Gene Kelly and more.
Plastic — a mannequin hopelessly in love with her shopkeeper… I think the Jefferson Airplane had a song about this.
8 Bits — for proper appreciation, maybe you’d best be hip to gaming culture. I’m not hip, but this was still fun.
Thought of You — a sad and beautiful mix of dance, animation, music and lyrics.
Ephemere — praxis makes perfect? Evolution as paint on the wall? If at first…
Cómo Te Quiero — I hate music videos, but…
The Cathedral — I vaguely remember the short story. This video seems a better telling of the tale.
Breakfast — cyriak’s surrealism is the breakfast of champions.
Bless You — because when you sneeze, you expel your soul… so it’s said.
Negative Space — father-son bonding through… luggage.
Vorticity 2 — truly amazing storm photography from Mike Olbinski.
Singin’ in the Pond — a really nice animated musical number. With frogs. And newts. And true love.
Perk — the simple pleasures of an unemployed mine goblin.
Anonyme — the semiotics of clothing by an anarchist terrorist. Pretty cool. (The semiotics, that is.) Best viewed in full screen.
Server Room — remember Richard Brautigan?
Hugh the Hunter — How to describe this without being po-mo? Nah. Just watch it instead.
The Absence of Eddy Table — an animated romantic horror story.
Lazy Susan — I can relate to this…
Martha the Monster — if only it were this easy. Well done, though.
Freedom Is a Verb — thanks to Hugh Iglarsh for sharing.*
The Sea — an existential love story.
Greg — If this ever happens to you in the subway, call the station attendant first.
The Stained Club — inclusion, exclusion, identity…
Climate Strike 2019 — a brief commercial.
Slowly Rising — some animation that old Walt Disney could only have dreamed of. He probably did.
Mocean — video of the ocean as “never seen before.”
Movie Memories — a video collage of noir and thrillers.
The Weight — I mislike music videos, but one can always find exceptions, it seems.
Martinese — for eccentricity, they outdo any Brit.
Transient — amazing lightning, slo-mo.
Strictly Land-line, Myself — “Damn I Love This Friday Night” enriches my appreciation of being a geezer.
Playgrounds — suburban childhood at the dawn of the digital age.
The Art of the Storm — time-lapse of a stationary supercell… cool…
Chichi — “My dog has dreams and tells me about them. I make movies about those dreams.”
Gun Shop — making statements about guns without saying anything at all.
Lord Tahpot’s Comedy Minute — music by Danny Elfman!
Strike as Performance Art — who says picket lines can’t be fun?
And Now for an Artistic Interlude — plus some great stop-motion animation.
How About Some Nice, Fresh Epistemology? — Are you living in a simulation?
Kaiju Bunraku — the first “Mothra” film to make it to Sundance.
Maestro — So… you think you know the music of the forest? Just the right dosage of cute, IMHO.
Timelapse Tourism — featuring many of the places a tourist in Chicago might go.
The Lot — does for grocery stores what the movie “Office Space” did for tech start-ups.
Women & Power — Mary Beard gets the 2019 Getty Medal and reflects on the Classics and patriarchy.
Aliens — President Trump’s mouthing-off alienates some truly alien illegals, and then…
And, We Disappear — Afterlife? Circle of Life? It’s so pretty to think so…
The Tale of Hillbelly — … you are what you eat?
Sideshow — A story of love, clowns, dance and the Big Top.
A Bad Fall — with a twist.
Teeter See Totter Saw — alternating animators.
Home — and your answer to her question is… ?
Fraktaal — fantasy sci-fi without a story.
Culture Vulture? — a clever tale of a burglar who becomes what he eats.
Places in Time Chicago — timelapse video of downtown Chicago.
High Rider — going to work can be an adventure.
Beer — as performed by David Wayne Callahan.
A Night at the Garden — a bit of history we’d like to forget.
Piece of Chicago — a video collage.
The Shutdown — growing up next to a petrochemical plant.
Shaun Has Some Real Problems! — until he faces them.
Why Does Santa Like Rudolph? — get your mind out of the gutter; it’s not that!
Real Soon Now… — the latest dose of surrealism from Cyriak.

Poetry

Dreamland — in the night the dead arise…
Union — about a one-legged man and a three-legged dog, by Tim Turner.
Rapture — all love considered, except for happily ever after, by Judy Henske, Queen of the Beatniks.
Doggerel in Memory of Winter 2019 — should you live, you’ll be nostalgic for this season.*
Morning Descending — that’s what it does. Every day. Sorry, Hemingway.
The Junebugs — a poem by Steve Scafidi. If you watch it, be sure to check out the Tobias Wolff short story.*
The Mysterious Arrival of an Unusual Letter — video by Scott Wenner based on a poem by Mark Strand…
9 — it’s about cats.
Server Room — “all watched over by machines of loving grace”
Dancing Shoes — No one knows why…
Nobody Leaves This Song Alive — one cheer for Atorvastatin.*
September Bouquet with Lipstick — it’s the lipstick.
Strictly Land-line, Myself — and glad of it!
Grease Moon — an ode to sloppy eaters.
Home — and your answer to her question is… ?
Beer — by Charles Bukowski.
The Shutdown — I don’t know that this item performed by Alan Bissett was intended as poetry, but it is.
Existential — layers of pointless hues.

Politics

Going Down in Flames — Matt Farmer and the Blue State Cowboys.
End the Shut-Down — Federal employees demonstrate… er, press conference… with photos.
It Ain’t Over ‘Til the Fat Dude Sings — a rant by Bob Roman.
The Third Way Surrenders? — a recent interview with economist Brad DeLong inspires another rant.*
The Chicago DSA Office — a minor bit of history about DSA’s stay in the Northwest Tower Building.*
Freedom Is a Verb — use it or lose it.*
Mothra, I Presume? — the next Republican nominee for the Presidency?
Listen Up! — love it or leave it, snowflake!
Beef — the Carpenters Union wants you to know about Level Construction, Inc.
Climate Strike 2019 — a brief commercial.
What I Saw of the Chicago Climate Strike — “everything needs to change. it has to start today.”*
Chicago Teachers Strike Rally — I don’t get out to demos like I once did.
Gun Shop — makes several statements but the viewer fills in the blanks.
Lord Tahpot’s Comedy Minute — humor at your expense.
Strike as Performance Art — not quite as bizarre as performing “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” at a wedding.
Women & Power — why the “alt-right” loves the Classics.
Home — and your answer to her question is… ?
A Night at the Garden — a bit of history we’d like to forget.
The Virginian — the politics of Owen Wister’s ur-western novel with more history we’d like to forget.

Prose

Nighthawk — just why this short video by Spela Cadez is so scary.
Max Headroom — the original was a sort of punk “Dr. Who”; if you have an hour, here it is.
Courtship Politics — ladies… it’s a male view, okay?
Screwface — a look at London inner city culture that is every bit a part of Chicago culture, too.
I Am Not Now, nor Have I Ever Been… — a Trotskyist Surrealist poet. Really.
Kitchen Psychopharmacology — nutmeg is not a friendly drug. Seems to be a pretty popular post, though.*
Let Go — not always the best parenting advice, but…
Nobody Leaves This Song Alive — including Yip.*
The Broken Window Theory — I still don’t know what it all meant.
Geezer! — c’est moi!
Sufficient unto the day is the hemorrhoid therein — Uh-oh. Suits.
The More Things Change — some thoughts about Richard Henry Dana’s “Two Years Before the Mast”.

Reviews

Occupy Me — a sci-fi thriller by Tricia Sullivan with some truly lovely writing.
The Boogeyman’s Intern — an engaging comic fantasy and mediation on pop culture by Matt Betts.
Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals — I watched it. That doesn’t mean you should, but if you do, I recommend whiskey.
Etch A Sketch — through March 2nd at the Harold Washington Library. But if you miss it, sample it here.
Outpost — the first book in W. Michael Gear’s “Donovan” series. Very good for what it is.
The Triplets of Belleville — A post by Roy Edroso reminded me of this film. You should see it.
The Wormwood Trilogy — or two thirds of it, anyway. Good Nigerian science fiction by Tade Thompson.
The History of SOUL 2065 — a delightful collection of short stories impersonating a novel.

Author: rmichaelroman

... whatever ... View all posts by rmichaelroman