Chicago by night

I am in Chicago for a few weeks. By the way, it just started raining -- today has been an incredibly nice day, unusually warm, nice enough that I went out for a walk. Unfortunately, while walking around, I passed a Borders store. In I went, I opened a book* and I was sucked in. Hours passed. The guy who announced on the PA that the store would close had picked the wrong career -- he should have been a sports announcer. He was clearly having a lot of fun telling us that we had thirty more minutes, then fifteen, then five, then "this Borders store is now clo-o-o-o-osed".

It stopped raining now.

Yesterday (another fine day) I took a few pictures from the balcony. I tried to use the Gorillapod flexible mini-tripod that I got for my birthday, which claims to have been designed for SLR cameras, but it wasn't strong enough: even a little wind would make the camera shake visibly. This being Chicago, there was more than a little wind, so I abandoned the (otherwise cool) mini-tripod and I put the camera on the floor (on a potholder, because I didn't want to scratch it). I accidentally pressed the shutter release while I was moving the camera around, so I moved it some more with the shutter open and I got this:


I think this might be more interesting than what I was after:


* The book I read, from the middle almost to the end: "Too Far From Home", by Chris Jones. Interesting facts and captivating story, mainly about the three guys who were on the International Space Station during and after the Columbia disaster. The style, however, is stilted and quite annoying. The author tries and fails to embellish the text with flourishes that feel artificial. What Amazon, quoting Booklist, describes as "an up-close and personal style" seems to me a forced attempt to show the "human side" of the characters. Jones alternates between what happens to the astronauts and what happens on the ground, with the occasional flashback, but at times it reads like a misguided attempt at increasing the suspense. On the other hand, the conversations and the author's opinions about what goes in the characters' heads drag on and on. The simple facts are captivating enough on their own, thank you. That said, take a look at the book next time you find yourself in a bookstore.