Ilene and Pam Visit the Bucktown Arts Fest

It's day 2.5 of penicillin. Though I'm no longer contagious, being out and about in the community with a 'communicable' thing like strep is not the best idea.

So, I called in my mom, and her friend, Pam, to cover the 25th Anniversary Bucktown Arts Fest.

I told the cub reporters they can feel free to dictate their experiences to me post fest, but Pam took the reins with the steno notebook, and said that she will try to write something. I gave her one of my favorite pens, so I hope she goes to town with it. My mom is toting around my camera.

Their assignment is to just have fun, and to select a few artists that they enjoyed, and why. They are under instructions to not take portrait pictures without permission and to wait until an artist is free to chat and not while they could be in the process of selling something, which would be awesome because I hope that all of the artists sell a lot of art... speaking of which, in the background of this video is a mixed media photo painting by an artist named Ralph Jumbeck that I purchased at the Bucktown Arts Fest in 2006. (Also pictured behind them is a piece by Gary Marr, another local artist and founder of the Sapere Gallery in the Flat Iron Building)

Anyhoo, that's all the news for now, but I am looking forward to including Ilene and Pam's take on the Bucktown Arts fest in the next Pipeline. There will be lots of other local news too, like a new cooking school, a popular bodega that just changed ownership after a 30-year-run, some exciting times in the lagoon at Humboldt Park, a few new spaces, up close with a fashion designer who is on board with the event that doesn't totally exist yet, and a few off-the-beaten path places to catch some cool treats to beat the late summer heat. And oh yeah, a packed event listings calendar and links to other blogs and stories. Corrections will get its own section again this week.

The doctor asked if I had been 'run down.' After pulling an all-nighter to put out the Aug. 24 issue, only with the aid of Pat's editing to which I'm indebted, and then working at the caffe that night on no sleep (even the tarot regulars said I seemed off), and then covering stuff on Thursday before falling ill on Friday, I think the answer is "yes."

Thus, it's been a great few days of respite and I'm ready to hit the streets again soon, but not too soon. And this time I'll try to slow down too.