Friday Odds and Ends

'da city

Okay, so a little more about my trip to Chicago. (Perhaps, pictures to come.)

The class we observed at Northwestern was actually a masterclass/discussion with Anne Bogart. I really like that woman. She looks you directly in the eye when she is listening to you and always finishes her sentences (a skill I am yet to master.) She is warm and funny and interesting and inspiring.

She and Tina Landeau (who joined the discussion at lunch) have a new book on the viewpoints that is coming out soon, like, next month.

I have no certain feelings about grad school, just thought I'd check out the options. Northwestern is not easy to get into, but it is fully funded, so it would not mean sinking way down into debt land, which terrifies me. But it also may mean ending up in the exact same position I find myself in now - feeling like I have hit something of a career ceiling. The good thing about having an MFA is that it would open up the possibility of teaching in a higher ed setting, which is something that I think I would like. Although - those jobs may also be few and far between.

Sigh.

Anyone out there with advice - let her rip.

I have started looking at practice GRE's. I feel kind of dorky for saying this, but it has reminded me that I actually kind of like taking standardized tests, the verbal portion at least. We'll see how I feel about the math.

I had no idea that you had to write essays for the GRE. That's weird. I feel like in the years I have been out of college (and even in college) I developed a writing style that might not fit GRE standards.

I also worry that I have gotten stupider in general. I suspect that I have.

Other Chicago highlights:

• Gino's East Pizza (thanks JEMP)
• Wandering around the Lincoln Park neighborhood (very yuppie, lot's of chi-chi beauty product stores)
• Wandering around Wicker Park (great coffee shops and used book stores)
• A show at Steppenwolf (beautiful and well produced, though a bit cold when all was said and done)

Obviously, time was short. But I do like Chicago. It strikes me as very loud (the El is loud, the wind is loud, people are loud) but it is a city, with really tall buildings, which is something that I miss.

Warms my Heart

Loved this story. A great foil to anyone who claims that the arts are disposable or unnecessary.

Makes me Laugh

A friend weighs in on the horrors of Jewish assimilation. It's a funny and very readable piece.

I will always remember being in Jerusalem, at one of the museums (not Yad Vashem, something about the history of the diaspora...) and going to see this movie (really, propaganda) all about the horrors of assimilation. Every time they said the word the narrator's voice grew dark and ominous, and you could practically hear the chord progression in the background "Da, dah, dum". Clearly, assimilation was a very, very bad thing.

It made me feel kind of shitty considering I was a living, breathing result of assimilation. I mean, really, If you prick me do I not bleed?! Geesh.

'Da weekend

Should be wonderfully low-key. Tonight I see You Are Here at Theater Alliance. Tomorrow night I hang with MB. And Sunday, work to catch up on all the hours I missed while traipsing about Chicago.