Born In Chicago Documentary Movie Trailer

Saw this film last night. Another blast from the sixties past. I was too young to go in, but I remember well hanging out across from Big John's on Wells Street hoping to catch a glimpse of these musicians. See the movie if you can--it's a piece of music history that needed to be told. We really enjoyed it.

Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia by Robert Greenfield
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found it difficult to read about the self-destructive side of Jerry Garcia. I like to think of him only as a wildly talented Buddha, but of course he was human and flawed, as we all are. If you are interested in Jerry Garcia, the sixties and the Dead, I think you'll like adding this to what you know about all of them.

I had a similar reaction when I read the bio of the legendary Neal Cassady of the beat and Prankster eras.  Honored and loved for his brilliance and charm, Cassady's dark side was all too human and flawed. It is surprising that he bridged two eras of outlaw creative worlds without ever writing anything. 

Off the Road: My Years with Cassady, Kerouac, and Ginsberg by Carolyn Cassady
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you're interested in Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg as well as the Merry Pranksters who travelled with Ken Kesey, this book gives you insight into the personal life of Cassady through the eyes of his wife of many years. Although Cassady is a legendary figure, being married to him and having three children by him sounds like a total nightmare. I couldn't help wondering all through the book why Carolyn Cassady stayed with him. "I loved him" didn't seem possible as enough of a reason, but that's not for me to say. She tells her story well and I got a deeper understanding of him and to a certain extent, the people he ran with.

It's been hard reading about the sixties in these two books. They show the side of the sixties I never really got into, probably because I never had money or fame. Now I feel lucky for the way I went through those times. I may have broken lots of rules, but self-destructiveness didn't overwhelm my survival instincts. What a time--so much hope, light and dark ... I am sometimes amazed at all we dealt with.

View all my reviews

View all my reviews

Wow. This is incredible. It's well worth watching and I can see why it's gone viral. Please keep it moving if you can.

Reality check on who's got the cash in this country ...

Petition - Stop Dismantling Social Security and Medicare: Bernie Sanders - U.S. Senator for Vermont

Petition - Stop Dismantling Social Security and Medicare: Bernie Sanders - U.S. Senator for Vermont

Social Security has a $2.7 trillion surplus, can pay all benefits owed to all eligible Americans for the next 21 years and, because it is funded independently, has not contributed one penny to the deficit. Bernie Sanders agrees with AARP, the National Coalition to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and virtually all seniors’ organizations that Social Security should not be part of the deficit reduction negotiations.

Surrealism and Reality

Photo: Snow on the mountains in Palm Springs. 

Surreal: having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic.

 This is not the first time I've noticed the surreal quality of our life. 9/11 2001, that was the first time it hit me. We watched the horror going on in New York then we would take a break in the back yard. The serenity of our beautiful yard, our quiet sanctuary from the world, was in such sharp contrast to what was going on New York--it was surreal.

 The same thing has hit me several times since 9/11, but Friday was certainly one of those days. Wednesday we laughed through La Cage aux Folles, Thursday we went to Andy's to enjoy the Windy City Allstars playing their upbeat dixieland as only those pros can. Friday we were charmed by Hansel & Gretel at the Lyric. After the performance they came out and expressed sympathy for all the people affected by the tragedy that had happened that day, the very day we were enjoying the opera. A woman sitting in front of us told us that 20 children in grammar school had been shot along with six of their teachers.

 And suddenly there we were, caught in one of those surreal moments.

 We enjoyed our dinner at the Lyric's Bistro, avoiding the subject for the most part. We knew we'd deal with it when we got home. We watched for hours, cried, tried to figure out why anyone would do such a horrendous thing. And marveled at how surreal it was that we were in this lovely world while this horror was taking place in so many people's lives.

 The truth is that neither is surreal, they are both real. The world of nightmarish horror lives side-by-side with the serenity of lives lived quietly under the radar. It is all real. That is what makes it so hard to understand. How can it be that the world is both horrific and beautiful? I have no answers.

 Enjoy every day--that's the only thing I've managed to come up with that gets me through. It doesn't contain any answers or comfort, but it is the best advice I can give myself. We never know what will happen in the next moment of our lives, so we should enjoy everything we can and savor it. It is all we have.