Derby Weekend: Installment Two - Friday

Friday 10:00 Walking

It is bitterly cold. We are wearing hoodies cinched up around our faces like infants and we don’t care what it looks like. We have walked a few miles and only managed to get lost once. But the detour did put us on the wrong side of a river requiring us to cross back over an alternative bridge to get back on track. Kelly and I pass a large “break in case of emergency” glass box that contains a woefully small, sun-bleached, cracked-with-age life preserver; the type that might be found hanging on a chain link fence by a Motor Inn pool.

Immediately, I feel compelled to jump in the river. I inform Kelly of my temptation and demand of her that she commit to memory the location of the glass case with the emergency float. She feels there is not enough lead rope on the preserver to haul it back to her for a second pass in the event of a missed throw. I try to impress on her the importance of accuracy and tell her it’s probably a one shot deal and she shouldn’t even be thinking of a second throw. In my heart I know I’m a goner. Between her lack of skill and my disinterest in treading water for an extended period in wet jeans, I really don’t think there is much chance I will survive.

Note to self: Must audition new traveling companion, challenges to include: eye-hand coordination, endurance events and quick wit scenarios.

Friday – NOON – Chicago Cultural Center (Free)

Good art exhibits, fantastic architecture. The most beautiful Tiffany stained glass dome. Ever. In the world. Great gift-shop. We tried on every hat in the gift shop and should have bought one, or more. Instead we each bought 2 coins ($5 apiece) for the Art-o-Mat machine. Which is an old cigarette machine that has been converted to dispense little packages of artwork. I got a print of a crane flying across some handmade paper and a merit badge that says “Bought Art” – which was delightfully self-fulfilling. Kelly got a black and white photo of some asparagus and an abstract painting that features the colors lime, tangerine and fuchsia. We are pleased.

Friday 2:00 – Portillo’s ($2.75 + $2 for fries)

Eating the best damn Chicago style hot-dog. Ever. In the world. If anyone ever asks you, “Just one Jumbo dog with everything?” – For the love of God, say “No, actually, make that 2”. Lesson learned.

Friday 4:00 – Nordstrom’s Rack

Scored two pair of hot pink tights that were 75% off clearance, aka $1.35 each. I am a genius.

Friday 6:30 – Museum of Contemporary Art, Bollywood First Friday ($13 tickets in advance by phone)

The museum is packed with pretty people, with freaky people, with many people. All ages. All types. We immediately buy drink tickets. The atmosphere is definitely more “Bollywood” than ethnic. A woman in a Sari applies sparkly bindi jewels to our third eyes – mine is turquoise, Kelly’s is pink. Knowing that there would be henna tats to be had – it is a top priority. We find the line. We are also told that it is free, which leaves me completely gobsmacked because mentally I had already upped my “budget” limit from $30 to $50 for something really big/ornate. While I had wanted something on my chest the artist recommended against it because they don’t tend to take well in that area. So I went with Plan B which was a branch of cherry blossoms on my right forearm. Kelly wanted something free-style and ended up with a blossom on the back of her left hand that had scrollwork climbing up her index finger and down across her wrist. Ornamented, we grab a second serving of beer and set out to explore. On the second floor we do absinth shots and then press our way through the huge crowd in the main hall enjoying a DJ’s pop/dance offerings. We emerge near the Museum gift shop – our target. Kelly has smeared a bit of her henna paste near her wrist in the struggle. I have been hyper-vigilant in protecting mine and emerge from the swarm with my blossoms intact. We begin to shop, which is even easier than usual as we are tipsy. Some of us more than others…. We consider a 12 month calendar of penises (penii?) - I was particularly interested in the January penis as I felt it was somehow cosmically intended for me by my Aquarius birth status. It would have made an excellent gift. Kelly found an awesome comic strip book about Little Angry Girls in Love. I selected a balsa wood puzzle of a carp jumping out of a wave – very Japanese – Penny loves to put together balsa wood puzzle sculptures and then paint them, so part of her Christmas is in the bag. I was also very enamored with postcards that feature animals to cut out and assemble. They had completed samples of each and it was very, very hard to make a selection of a few to give as gifts.

After shopping we took the elevator to the upper floor and finally began to look at some art. To be honest, the collection isn’t strong. I really can’t even remember anything mentioning. We returned to the main floor and found the appetizers – not very authentic Indian, but good enough to hold us over for a bit.

Friday 9:00 – Giordano’s (near the hostel)

We order too much food, even though we decided to do salads and an app sampler rather than make this our “deep dish” experience. It really wasn’t great.

Friday 10:30 – The Parthenon Hostel

We climb all those stairs up to our room and pant for a while on our respective beds. Once recovered we use the wireless to check Derby scores and I grade papers accordingly. There are a surprising number of people who got the first round perfect. I hate them a little. We are trying to stay awake till midnight so that we will have had a good number of hours under our belt on the henna tattoos before we clean up for bed. When I finally remove the henna from my arm I am completely dismayed. It looks as if a small child has scribbled on me with a weak orange marker. Kelly’s in contrast, looks pretty good. After all the care I took in protecting my arm from any harm…..after Kelly clearly was not a good guardian of the henna…. I may be cursed.