A Fantastic.....

....day yesterday.  Got to be an actor in Will Dunne's Scene Shop class at Chicago Dramatists.  It never ceases to amaze me what playwrights come up with.  Eight wildly different scenes and such a great workout for an actor to pick up a script cold and just GO.  So much fun.  

​I walked out of class into bright sunshine and warmth that embraced me like cashmere (my favorite fiber).  Unseasonably warm -- definitely in the 60s.  Couldn't beat it with a stick.  It was such a gorgeous day!  I took a looooooooooooooong walk, music from my little iPod Shuffle helping me keep a good pace.  Had no destination in mind, really, though my first thought was to head to the lake.  But then I got caught up in side streets and looking at houses I love and ended up in my old 'hood which has gotten decidedly and incredibly wealthy and yuppie (do people still use that word?) with way too expensive boutiques and restaurants.  And an out-of-the-blue new addition -- a J Crew!  Totally blew my mind.  When I lived in that 'hood, it was family businesses and old houses and a crappy, rundown Jewel.  Now it's...well, I don't really know who can afford to live there now in those McMansions on their postage-stamp sized lawns.  If I had that kind of money....well, I wouldn't live in what looks to me like a bank.  I bought an almond croissant at Starbucks -- blecch!  it was terrible!  almost gave it to the pigeons but I didn't want to insult them -- and sat and people-watched for a bit.  Do I miss that neighborhood?  Not one single bit.  It's aggressively Caucasian and boring and all the people are trying to look alike.  Why is that, I wonder....but it was interesting nonetheless, watching women totter around in stupid shoes and spoiled, bored-looking children being pushed in strollers that cost more than my car.  Biggest disappointment of the day:  The Dairy Queen is gone :-(  Where, oh, where shall I get my yearly Peanut Buster Parfait now?