Is Not Chicago

Here is a selection of the lastest updates from my friends who are also out galavanting around the world.

• Julienne Wanders

  • The Kili Chronicle: Days 5-6 (summit day!) August 4, 2010
    Day Five (July 10): 5pm:I’m supposed to be napping right now but it’s not working. It’s really hot in the tent, the camp is really loud, and of course, I’m super anxious. We’ll have dinner in a little bit, “nap” again, and be woken up at 10:30pm to get dressed, eat, and start the final summit ascent around midnight. It actually shouldn’t be too hard to wake […]
  • The Kili Chronicle: Day 4 July 22, 2010
    Day Four (July 9): 8.5km, less than 100m altitude gain8:30pm:    My book promised that the hardest part of the day would be the beginning - “a near-vertical scramble up the Great Barranco Wall or Breach Wall (more commonly called the Breakfast Wall now, as it is usually tackled after breakfast)” — we decided the name was actually because the wall eats climbe […]
  • The Kili Chronicle: Day 3 July 22, 2010
    Day Three (July 8): 10.75km, 788m up + 641m down = 147m altitude gain 6:20pm: My book said yesterday was the easiest day, but that’s total BS. Today was long (almost 7 hours) but not too bad, except my knee feels pretty awful. I probably didn’t do it any favors by taking a jumping picture with the rest of my group at Lava Tower, which is the highest point we […]

• Earth Was Flat

  • Chiang Mai May 25, 2010
    I spent ten days in Chiang Mai. The old city is the heart of Chiang Mai and is about two miles square looped by a road. It’s surrounded by an incomplete moat and there remains some of the old wall between the moat and the left lane of traffic (they drive on the left side). […]
  • Ayutthaya & Sukhothai March 31, 2010
    The bus ride from Bangkok to Ayutthaya meanders North through endless Thai suburbs. Suburbs may be too generous; the homes are roughly permanent, but they are jammed together and sometimes seem squalid.  I work up a moderate sweat while trying to read. The AC of the old bus being no match for […]
  • Bangkok March 10, 2010
    Bangkok is the largest city in Thailand and has about 9 million people. The city sprawls and merges with suburbs for what seems to be a fifty kilometers in every direction. Bangkok is more dirty, crowded, and busy than any American city. With the blacktop and tropical climate, the city is sweltering during summer (overlaps […]

• AMak Color

  • Can I have your vote, please? + unique event on July 27th! July 21, 2010
    Check this out: Anastasia Mak Art has been selected for the 2010 North American MySoiree.net Art Tour – a touring U.S. art contest coming to Chicago on July 27th at... […]
  • "Our Tree" commissioned painting June 4, 2010
    A customer of mine approached me about this commissioned painting, and I was excited about the subject matter. I love creating occasional pieces involving just nature. She works at a... […]
  • June's Art Festivals June 3, 2010
    Summer is here! And as usual, I am busier than ever working here at the studio on paintings and commissions. And trying to enjoy all that Chicago has to offer... […]

• Bossche Blog

  • Where have you gone, Zommer? August 29, 2010
    Yet another wildly successful Google image search!It seems like June, July and August have just been a blur. And a short one at that. It doesn't help that summers in the Netherlands never rise much above 80F - this year was no different - so though we had about a week of "heat", in that way it's almost as if the season never happened at a […]
  • Profilific July 6, 2010
    A delicious not-Dutch beer My 'Profile Writing' assignment for class: He was already seated by himself in a quiet bar, in the striking inverse shadow of a lit-up St. Jan’s Cathedral. ‘The Rode Pimpernel’ is not a premiere night spot in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. But like his home town of Kerkrade, Limburg, the faces here are familiar and the not-Dutch beer […]
  • Gaga Redux, WP-style July 5, 2010
    My mother just sent me this article from the Washington Post about our dear highness, Lady Gaga. I really like the article, mostly because I think Robin and I are pretty much in agreement. An outfit describer after my own heart, Robin really gets after the costume concept and makes a mountain out of the obvious comparison between Gaga and Madonna. All well a […]