Tea Party History and Ettiquette

From Teavana:

At an afternoon tea, the tea table is usually set around a lovely centerpiece. For formal full tea services, menus and even guest place cards can accompany each place setting.

Follow THIS LINK to see the full article.

About That Day - The Atlantic

About That Day - The Atlantic

Hey Gals (and Michael)-

This is the Rhett Miller diary about being in New York on 9/11 that I once talked about in rehearsal a while back.

I read this is my paper magazine, but online there are some more interactive bit. The writing is quite visceral. His account is very specific (and pretty intense) but I find it interesting how it ques some of my own memories of that day.

A play in a REAL House!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/garden/elective-affinities-a-play-that-unfolds-in-a-real-town-house.html

Look at this article Lizzie found about a play happening in New York that's in a real house. There is a link to the review as well....very interesting!

my quilt

My mother made this quilt for me when I graduated from high school. She said it was to hang in my very first apartment and would serve as a reminder to always "shoot for the stars." But this quilt, which has been with me through many crazy parties in my college apartment, seen the dysfunctional side of a very bad living situation in my first home in Chicago, and now in the apartment I very nearly shared with my ex-girlfriend, has served more of a reminder that I am loved. In this quilt are my mother's hopes, dreams and love for me; all hanging in my kitchen.

distance

Numbers have never really spoken to me. Math eluded me throughout my youth. I could never see how math fit into my life. Of course, the basics were there. The math we cannot live without day to day. But why all the word problems and graphs and geometry and trigonometry and calculus?

Although, this past year numbers have defined time and place and distance. My car - my gold 4-door Saturn that my family bought new in 1997 and has been the ONLY car I have driven as my own - hit 100,000 miles on a drive home to see my mother just a few weeks before she died. And since then, I have been hyper aware of each number as it rolls back and the miles pile up. Each number is one more mile I drive away from her and that time and that place. Each number is one more mile I drive into a future that is rapidly changing and not what I expected. These numbers have become my life, an almost obsession. They never stop adding up. You can't reverse them. Life and time go on.

But 111, 000. This marked a significant moment for me. While many of numbers have marked particular lows for me, this number marks a different turn. A turn of acceptance. Things are looking up. I am 11,000 miles into my future and I am starting to feel like me again. Like I am back to living my own life. And actually ready for those numbers to keep adding up and moving forward. I have finally gained the distance that I need.

Number One City Data

As I'm winding down this evening on PBS there is Chicago's Loop: A Chicago Tour on PBS WTTW.

It is fascinating!

There is a point (with a plaque!) on a building at LaSalle and Monroe, which is the zero point where all cartographers and surverys measure by in the city. A zero point: I thought I also heard it called number 1 city data.

I'm going to try to find it on my lunch break tomorrow.

You'll love the pictures.

Click the link to find the WSJ article:

In My Home Office: Maira Kalman