Bryn Mawr update

I took a walk around the Bryn Mawr Historic District today for the first time in quite a while. This past July I had heard, straight from the owner, that a new Sweet Occasions location was within weeks opening up at 1038 W. Bryn Mawr, Now, if by "weeks" he meant 30 weeks, then okay -- he still has a chance to make good on that. But as of today, it is still not open for business.

A bit farther west on the same block is the notorious Nookie's property. Still boarded up. I first heard about plans to open a Nookie's restaurant on this site more than five years ago. Because the previous occupant, a dry cleaner, had left behind toxic chemicals, years of environmental remediation ensued. Early this year I heard that the project was on the verge of moving forward, but there is still no visible sign of it.

I also thought I'd see if Habeebi's, of which I gave a lukewarm review at the beginning of this year, had managed to stay in business. It came as no surprise that they did not. Already, there is a new Japanese restaurant named Shinobu occupying that location. (It might be a good idea for them to take the old Habeebi's awning down.) Shinobu is not open for lunch; otherwise I would have taken a peek inside.

After finally getting a tuna sandwich at the reliable Flourish, I headed back east. I stopped to take a look at the bricolage mural at the Bryn Mawr underpass beneath Lake Shore Drive. The bricolage was completed this past summer by Edgewater community members and the Chicago Public Art Group. Composed of brightly colored fragments of tile, glass, and other materials, it is a striking work, well worth seeing. But there is no getting around the fact that it is in a highway underpass. Pedestrians will only see it if they are on their way to or from the lakefront via Bryn Mawr, though precious few will want to take a stroll along the lakefront this time of year. And I think the unadorned Berwyn pedestrian viaduct, three blocks south, is still more appealing, since there you don't have to contend with the on and off ramps.

Good-bye, temporary cat, my friend

After a year and a half with Grendel, the temporary cat, I had to face the fact that I'm not so good at placing homeless animals. So today, I drove him to a local no-kill shelter and left him in their care. In all likelihood, I will never see him again.

During his stay at my home, he never exhibited the misbehavior that compelled his previous owner to give him up. Lucky for Grendel that he kicked the habit -- it makes him much more adoptable. I hope he finds a good lap to sit in soon.

Old stuff

I'm going through my stuff and finding all kinds of things like my old paperback copy of George Orwell's 1984. It was in bad shape when I first acquired it; even then it was missing pages, and the spine was so brittle I could hardly open it. But the cover art was way better than what they put on the new copy I bought a few years ago: