6/21: A Retrospective

Chicago: Tim and I met up with Eric "Phipps" Phillips (Springstreeter '09) who took us on a tour around town.  Beautiful city.  Tim and I sang its praises while derisively comparing it to NYC.  Very spacious, clean.  The architecture gave it a lot of character.  Admired a public fountain/wading pool/art installation in Grant Park where we saw a be-underweared kid marching and triumphantly pumping his fists while screaming, “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”  Walked the perimeter of the lake before getting caught in a deluge.  Some tension at the suggestion that the storm had been avoidable.  Found cover in a parking complex where Phipps looked up and recited Lear’s “blow, winds” speech.  The storm did indeed blow and continued to do so for many minutes and finally we decided to make a run for the nearest bar.  We were drenched by the time we got there, but for the most part our cheeks remained un-cracked.  The rain stopped the moment we walked in.  Pub called “Pattie’s,” whose few patrons looked Boston expats.  Extras from THE DEPARTED.  Took a cab elsewhere.  Driver chatted with us about the Forbes list of billionaires.  Turns out Oprah has a net worth of $2.7 billion, which translates to a near-endless supply of Pattie’s whiskey.  Got fancy cocktails at a fancy cocktail place.  The hostess ID’d us and then asked cheerfully, “Won’t you join us at the bar?”  Why, yes.  Yes we would.   Actually there were two hostesses, who were physically identical.  Flagrant job creation.  Drank fancy cocktails surrounded by Chicago’s Future Leaders of America, who were very well dressed and polite and dry. Somehow they had managed to avoid the totally unavoidable rain.  Afterwards walked to dinner.  Thai place called “Butterfly Sushi.”  Met up with the inimitable Anna Silberstein (whom Tim does a GREAT impression of) and the incomparable Maddie Jacobs (who was like a vital fire in both character and fragrance).  Afterwards I (Greg) decided to go to bed.  Phipps’ cat kept cuddling up to me.  No, cat, go away.  Eventually I’d relent and pat its head at which point it would run away.  Slept really well.  Woke up at six because of the hour's time difference (Chicago is an hour off Eastern time, tres exotique!) and so had time to write this, dear readers.