Behind the Curtain

Atlas Obscura & Letter Socials

Some awesome news - Letter Writers Alliance is participating in Atlas Obscura Day. What's Atlas Obscura Day, you ask? And what's Atlas Obscura? Well, Atlas Obscura is a "compendium of the world's wonders, curiosities and esoterica" and Atlas Obscura Day is when we all try to get out and explore them.

We will be hosting a social at the Read/Write Library from 2PM-5PM on April 28th. This social will be a bit different than usual. For starters, we're going to ask you to R.S.V.P. on the official Atlas Obscura Day site. A ticket will be $5; some of which will go to support Atlas Obscura and some of which will get you an Atlas Obscura Day L.W.A. membership which comes with a badge, limited edition membership card, and special artistamp. You can read more info on the event at the LWA blog and on the Letter Social page on the Atlas Obscura site.

We have two socials happening next month, one where we will be giving away a typewriter! This will take place in Champaign-Urbana's Mini-Maker Fair. For those of you who can't make it either, here is some info to sooth your soul. Many of our LWA members are located outside of Chicago. In fact, our members are so spread out Donovan & I have been working hard on the Community aspect of the Letter Writers Alliance. We know that members want to know who they share their badge with, so we have been creating a "Our Community" section in the member site.

Now, I already shared this infographic about the people who make-up the LWA community on the Letter Writers Alliance blog, but I thought you all would also be interested in this information. I'm also quite proud of my first ever infographic and I hope you like it too!
- Kathy

P.S. - For those of you who live in Illinois we're going to be giving away a typewriter in mid-April, so stay tuned!

Knit 1, Knit 2

Knit 1
I finally finished Donovan's holiday sweater, which means I am allowed to to a knit for myself. Actually, I cast off Donovan's Broadcast Sweater sometime in February, but I didn't get around to taking a photo of her in it until last week. She was kind enough to put on the sweater when it was 85 degrees out, so lets all thank Donovan for sweating for a few minutes so I can snap her in my handmade knit.

Things went much smoothly the second time around knitting Erica's Broadcast Sweater. Although, I think you can tell in the right photo that one arm is just a wee longer than the other. When telling my grandmother about this boo-boo, she responded "Well, that's how you know it was made with love!" Adorable, granny.

Knit 2
Of my very optimistic "to knit" list, I decided I really only had time to make myself the Plain & Simple Pullover. I decided to knit it up in Berroco's Ultra Alpaca Fine in the color Salt & Pepper, which is a nice medium gray. I was thinking of going with something a bit brighter, but since this is a vest, I wanted to maximize the outfit combinations I could wear with it and thought gray would be the most flexible.

I'm hoping to have this done before we leave for Scotland, as I'm thinking this would be a perfect layering item for the trip. (The average temp for while we are there is 65 degrees.) I'm a bit further along than the photo above shows and have decided to do some waist shaping. I'll let you know of all my mods after I complete the project.

Knit 3?
IF I have time before our trip, after I finish the above vest, I'm going to try to finish-up my colorwork mittens. I'm about 80% done with them, but last last 20% is always the hardest, is it not?

Island at War

In looking through Netflix to find something good to watch while I finished Donovan's sweater, I discovered a BBC mini-series called Island at War (2005). I was curious to what it was about and was surprised to find it had to do with German's occupying British soil. What now? Yes, from 1940-1945 Germans occupied the Channel Islands, and this mini-series deals with the first half of that occupation.

This was a very good, yet very hard to watch, series. You would like to think that something like this didn't happen and if it did, it would have been a passive occupation, since the islands had no military to speak of. But no. The German military considered this a "model occupation" and saw it as amazing propaganda, so it was full on occupation. They even changed the cities and streets on the Chanel Islands to German names.

The show follows three families of different classes and shows how the occupation is changing their lives. SF Chronicle criticized that while we see many bad Germans in this show, but that there are few bad British characters shown. I'm not sure I agree with this statement, as we see looting, black market profiteers, and countrymen turning against others over rumors. It gets quite awful between British characters if you pay attention to the undercurrents.

There are some shocking moments in this series, which in turn made me learn about tiny everyday facts from the homefront. For example, I had no idea that the hatred toward women who "fraternized" with Germans was expressed and acted against during occupation. I was aware of the violence against these women after liberation, but assumed that it was repressed (out of fear) during the war. And this, my friends, is where we get the colorful slang "Jerry bag," which is used quite often in the second half of the season. Ah, British folks are so much better at slang than Americans.

Unfortunately, this show terminated after the first season, so it ends quite abruptly. There are only 6 shows, but I highly suggest watching them. There is some very good television here and there are many actors you will recognized from shows like Life on Mars, Downton Abbey, and Midsomer Murders. So, just watch it already!

Chicago & Collaboration

This image and all other included in this post are by Carolee.

My friend Carolee came from San Francisco to visit for the weekend and it was just lovely. Carolee, Donovan, and I happen to be collaborating on a project together, so much of our time was spent over drinks and notebooks. It was so much fun to finally be in the same spot and bounce ideas off of each other.

Carolee only had a few days here before she had to drive off to another Midwest destination, but was able to see a few good things in the area. For those of you planning a trip to Chicago anytime soon, here was her list of seen items:
- Quimby's Bookstore (Wicker Park)
- Greer Chicago (Old Town)
- Nelson Algren's house (Wicker Park)
- LWA HQ (aka, Donovan's studio where we make Letter Writers Alliance stuff!)

And here are the places she feasted at:
- Hoosier Mama Pies (West Town)
- Owen & Engine (Logan Square)
- Bongo Room (Wicker Park)
- Bite Cafe (Ukrainian Village)
- Blind Robin (bar, Ukrainian Village)
- Small Bar (Wicker Park)

I always intend to write-up a little guide to Chicago to help people out in doing non-touristy things, but I never get around to it. Hopefully this mini-guide to what Carolee did in three days will fill the gap until I get around to writing a full blown "What to see & eat" post for Chicago.

Drink & Draw: The Original Billy Goat Tavern

Saturday Bonus Post because Donovan and I had an impromptu Drink & Draw on Wednesday. You can read why we ended up escaping to the Billy Goat on her blog. In this post though, we'll talk about the tavern itself.

Drawing by Donovan Beeson. Click to view larger.

Drink & Draw#2: The Original Billy Goat Tavern
Near Tribune Towers and Wrigley Building
430 N. Michigan Ave at Lower Level

I don't know how other Chicagoans feel, but if someone would ever invite me to the Billy Goat Tavern, I'd refuse, saying it was a tourist trap. Maybe it is, but not on a Wednesday night and not at this location.* We only saw locals, sports fans, and tired newspaper men. And that brings me to the history of the Tavern!

The original owner, Billy Goat Sianis, pouring a bottle of Blatz into the mouth of Murphy the goat. Image from the Billy Goat Tavern website.

What you see in Donovan's drawing (at the top of this post) is the head of a goat surrounded by newspaper bylines. The goat, you see, is important to Chicago history, for the original owner of this tavern is who brought the curse of the Goat upon the Cubs. Yup. You can read all about it on the Billy Goat Tavern site right here.

The bylines, well, the Tavern is located on Lower Michigan Ave. Let me repeat this, LOWER Michigan. Not where all the fancy shops and such are, but in the underbelly of the raised streets. What is located above this Tavern? The Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times buildings, making this a frequent after-work watering hole for Chicago newspaper columnists back in the day (as well as today). The bylines on the wall are the names of those columnists who were regulars. Names are still being added to the wall, as our bartender Bouchaib told us, he just added a writer last week who is from The Reader.

Finding the actual tavern is a bit of an adventure. If walking up Grand street, you should find it quite easily, but if you are already on Miracle Mile, you'll have to find the stairs down to Lower Michigan. The Chicago Bar Project has good directions on finding your way.

We weren't very adventurous with what we drank while here, but we had a great time talking to our bartender and chatting with each other.

Round 1
K) Rye whiskey on the rocks
D) The Horny Goat
Citrus rum, lemon-lime soda, and cranberry juice.

Round 2
K) Bloody Mary with a beer chaser
The bartender asked me what I wanted in the Bloody Mary, making a nicely tailored drink. I wasn't expecting the beer chaser or the bottle of Tabasco, but it was a welcomed surprise.
D) The Horny Goat, again.

Tips:
• While they have a full bar with many whiskies, don't expect to be able to order any cocktail you want. I tried to get an Old Fashioned, but they were out of bitters.
• If you like rum, try their Signature drink, The Horny Goat.
• The Tavern is more of a sports bar, but without all the noise. It is very bright in there, so if you are looking for a dark place to hide, move along to another bar.

 

*I did walk by the Billy Goat located at Navy Pier and it was a mad house. Please note that this location is totally geared toward tourists, while the original location...not so much.

Make Your Place

I have a house guest coming over tomorrow, which means I'm in mad clean mode. A few years ago I switched from using typical cleaning agents to "green" cleaning products. I wasn't really satisfied with the results, so I started looking about for a solution. I found the book Make Your Place, which has recipes for house cleaners. (There are also recipes for bath products, home remedies, and much more. This book has been quite indispensable to me over the years.)

She has a recipe for an all purpose cleaning spray for just pennies that is also natural. The main powerhouse in her recipe is distilled white vinegar, but she has a few additions to give it a little more omph with some nice smells. Unfortunately, I am allergic to liquid castile soap, which is a main part of her mix, so I have altered her recipe for my own use. Here is my version:

Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner
Fill a spray bottle halfway with white vinegar

Add the following:
1/4 teaspoon lavender oil
1/4 teaspoon tea tree oil
1 teaspoon Bon Ami or Barkeepers Friend*

Fill the rest of the bottle with hot water. Spray away all your dirt and grime.

*DO NOT use Comet in this mix. Comet and white vinegar do not mix well at all.

Drink & Draw: The Matchbox

Donovan, Dillon, and I have decided to embark on a drinking adventure. Twice a month we will visit a new-to-us bar and drink and draw.

Well, Donovan and Dillon will draw. I will chat-up the bartender to find out the wonders of the drink, record what we drink, and then write our findings. Sometimes our friends join us for a round or two; their drink choices are expressed next to their initials.

Our first bar to kick off this adventure is...

Drawing by Donovan Beeson

The Matchbox 770 North Milwaukee Avenue Chicago, IL 60642
Details: The smallest bar in Chicago. There are only 18 stools to park your butt and the bar space is a 460 sq ft triangle. The bathrooms are positioned in the narrowest point of said triangle, so if all the seats are taken, you may have to ask the person in the last stool to get up in order to get to the restrooms. This only adds to its charm.

Why go here then? The Matchbox only has one of the best stocked cocktail bars and home to some amazing signature drinks.

First round
DB) Rum & Coke
DY) Daiquiri
KZ) Old Raj Gin & Tonic
JC) Manhattan

Thoughts: I don't know why we went for these lame/safe drinks in our first round. We were obviously out of our minds, but thankfully were set straight when I asked for the best drinks of the bar. Old Raj is a gin that has saffron in it. I was told to order this by a saleslady at LUSH. While I wasn't disappointed, there are certainly better drinks to be had at this bar.

Second Round
DB) Sidecar
Brandy, Cointreau, lemon juice, powdered sugar rim
DY) Gin & Jam
Fresh lemon, gin, dollop of black raspberry jam, and a splash of soda water
KZ) Maple Leaf
Rye whiskey, lemon juice, and maple syrup

Thoughts: All of us agreed that the Sidecar is hands down one of the best Sidecars we've ever tasted. Absolutely amazing. The Maple Leaf is also very good and is a drink I will return to this bar for. Dillon complained it was too sweet, but Donovan and I agreed that the lemon juice cuts the sweetness to a softer flavor.

Bonus with both me and Dillon's drinks was that the bartender left us the shakers with the leftover mix. This gave us two full drinks for the price of one. Well, thankyouverymuch!

Third Round
DB) Pineapple Gimlet
We were too caught up in conversation to write what was in this one.
DY) Sidecar
Dillon was jealous enough of Donovan's sidecar that he got it for this round.
KZ) Gin Blossom
I unfortunately was too excited about this drink to write down what exactly went into it. The searches I did online brings up conflicting recipes.

Thoughts: The bartender was telling us that the various Gimlets they offer is one of the biggest draws to the bar. While we agreed that this Gimlet was good, it paled in comparison to the Sidecar. Donovan suggested that next time she would get the Pineapple Gimlet first, then get the sidecar to finish the night with.

Drawings by Dillon Yothers

Bartender's current favorite drink:
The Last Word
Equal parts Gin, Maraschino liquor, Green Chartreuse, and lime juice
(Recipe from the Chartreuse website)

Tips:
• Due to the size of this bar, go early on the weekend or choose a weekday. During the summer they have outdoor seating, but all other seasons it is just the 18 stools and then standing room only afterward.
• Ask to see the specialty drinks list
• Get the freakin' Sidecar
• Don't try chatting up the bartender until your second or third round. She is super busy and tends to be more friendly after she's seen what your liver can do.

Our next Drink & Draw will be in two weeks, but we havne't decided where yet. We will report back our findings.

Silence Enraptured

Still from Beyond the Rocks (1922)

I will start off this post with a confession: I have not seen The Artist yet. I know. It's horrible, but I just haven't had any time to go and see it.

With all that out in the open I think it absolutely awesome that The Artist won an Oscar and I am enjoying the writings and analyzing that is happening due to the popularity of the film. One of the best articles about silent cinema and its importance that I have read recently is from the New Yorker.

Intertitle from Miss Lulu Bett (1921)

David Denby does an amazing job talking about nuances of silent film and how one appreciates it today in his article "The Artists: Notes on a lost style of acting." I feel silly not knowing that most silent films are not shown in the right speed when you see them on TV or through dvd. I always try to watch silents in the theater to save myself the pain of crappy music that weren't meant to be with the images before my eyes. The speeding up of the film makes the nuanced movements of the actors campy and quick, argues Denby, and loses the delicacy of the silent movie's magic.

Still from Ménilmontant (1925)

Another aspect of the article that really got to me is the impact of the larger than life actor/actress:

Seen properly, the best early movies were a revelation, particularly the sight of actors in closeup—filling a screen fifty feet or more across the diagonal, they presented a new landscape of flesh that astonished viewers. Faces that large might have appeared on billboards, but they didn’t move—they didn’t tremble like a field of grain or surge like the sea.   - Denby, page 2

I've experience this awe-effect first hand when I saw Beyond the Rocks (1922) in a theater. I never saw the big deal about Valentino until this movie. As I sat and watched him act I realized why he was important, but I didn't get why he was a sex symbol, until his close-up. I think I actually gasped out loud when his entire face was projected on the screen. His pooled eyes, quivering lips...it was all emotion and it was all directed at me. It was amazing and is something I've never experienced in modern movies. Read Denby's article and get ready to reignite your love for silents.

It is because of Denby's article I was reminded how much I enjoy the theatrical quality that silent movies retain and I have made a date to go see Wings (1927) this Saturday at the Music Box Theatre. If you are in Chicago, I highly suggest you go too. There will be live organ accompaniment and it will be magical.

William - An Englishman

Vogue cover, unknown artist (May 13, 1931)

A young couple go away on their honeymoon in the countryside of Belgium. Halfway through their vacation, the Great War begins.

This short summary alone attracted me to the book William - An Englishman. Whatever I was expecting from the story, it was something completely different. I don't want to say much, because stepping into this book with little knowledge on the plot is the best way to start reading. What I will say is that this book is a must read for anyone who is interested in history, WWI, Britain, and politics.

WWI Sweeheart Hankie

There are many messages to take away from this book: the creation and maintenance of relationships, the concept of home and patriotism, the truth of war. Beyond all these elements, I was struck most with the brutally honest way Hamilton describes war and the situations the characters are forced into.

There is no apology, no shrinking back, no glossy coating. It is just life, and for that, I find this book amazing. This book placed me into the mind's eye of those who lived through WWI and I will never see it the same way again.

After finishing this book, I tried to find others like it. A Farewell to Arms, and other obvious ones came up in my searches (including ones I've already read), but I was hoping for more forgotten titles. Can anyone recommend good WWI books that focus on everyday people rather than tactical elements?

Favorites & Changes

As the Letter Writer Alliance grows and my day job gets more and more busy, I'm finding it hard to keep up my posting schedule on here. In order to maintain the blog I'm going to start posting twice a week, rather than my normal three times a week.

I've been debating reducing the frequency of my posts for months now and it has finally come to a point of just not being able to keep up with my responsibilities, so it became a must rather than a possibility.

I'm sorry for the changes, but I do hope you all continue to come by twice a week to read my little musings, as I do enjoy having you all visit.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

As for the awesome images above, here are their original sources:
1. Untitled, 2. Ogden's Midnight Flake Tobacco, 3. Vesper, 4. At the lake, 5. mail from Fred One Litch, 6. Portrait of Admiral Abelmeyer