Junk Drawer

The find this past week has been baskets, and more than just one. I was actually finding them for the past two weeks. I was on a mission of sorts. The mission was: find as many baskets in different varieties as possible. The whole plan came from the creative vision of Nell, who heads the Chicago Underground Library. She was doing decorations for the Printers’ Ball, which is the big annual literary gathering in Chicago. Her idea, as she conveyed it to me, was to have books hanging from baskets like plants. I wasn’t sure exactly how this was supposed to look, but I knew it would be something neat and original.

So, I set forth on basket quests, at garage sales, rummage sales, and thrift stores. I even found a few in an alley. This was the first time I’ve looked for baskets. Any baskets I’ve ever had were given to me by my mom. She is quite a collector of them. When she heard I was seeking baskets, she didn’t even need much of an explanation. She just wanted a reason to buy baskets, I suppose, so she went looking too.
One thing I noticed is that there seemed to be baskets everywhere I looked. The other thing is, people go crazy for baskets. Far more women than men appear to like baskets, and many just can’t resist a nice one, especially at a low price.
Baskets have something substantial about them, particularly when you notice all that weaving. And, they can go just about anywhere.

I never would have expected them to go in a display like at the Printers’ Ball, but they fit right in, all spray-painted gold, with books and bits of foliage. It was their big night, and they looked terrific.

There were plenty of people looking into the Junk Drawer this past Friday. This was the Junk Drawer display at “The Science of Obscurity,” a science fair presented by the Chicago Underground Library. There were actually two different drawers in the display. The top drawer contained several items from Junk Drawer zine #3, all very scientifically identified with numbers that matched up to those in the zine. The bottom drawer contained an assortment of random stuff, representing an unsorted junk drawer. There were more odds and ends on top of the desk, and people were invited guess what the objects were, and then lift up the question marks for the answers. It was pretty interactive, and that’s how a good junk drawer really is. It’s something you can dig through and then find interesting stuff. The rest of the science fair featured a variety of great displays, from a plan on how to defeat big corporations, to a taste test to determine the most tasty vegan chocolate chip cookie. Another one looked like it had junk drawer items, but they were actually things you could select to take with you if you were going on an expedition. There was also a book launch, whereby writers were able to literally “launch” their publications through the air on a trebuchant.
It was quite a science fair, and it was great to participate. Thanks to all who stopped by the junk drawers!

You would never know that fireworks are illegal in Illinois, particularly on Fourth of July weekend. Chicago residents usually go to the Indiana border to buy their fill of crazy exploding things, from witch whistles to M-80’s, and whatever’s available. The police generally look the other way, as long as people aren’t deliberately launching miniature missiles at other people. That’s what gun powder was originally meant for after all—for making cool explosive displays of lights in the sky, not for killing people.

I watched some good fireworks displays from a rooftop in Pilsen on Saturday. The next morning I took a walk by a local park in Lincoln Square and discovered there had been a show in my neighborhood as well. There were fireworks debris on the baseball fields, but park attendants, apparently, soon came to clean it up. I guess the Fourth is not too good environmentally, but at least it is only once a year. And places that do them all the time, like Navy Pier, probably should cut back.

Firework items in Chicago have kind of an exotic quality, because you know they weren’t purchased around the corner.
I remember being younger and finding remnants of them in the schoolyard, with their bright colors and dangerous sounding names. I saved some, but they’re kind of hard to collect, because they’re mostly blown apart, and unused ones you don’t want to leave sitting around.
By age 12, during a not uncommon pyro phase, I got some mild fireworks and sparky things and set them off.
Fireworks still hold a certain allure, even after seeing them plenty of times. I thought of this as I picked up a few in the park, partly to help clean up, and partly just to see some of those exciting pyrotechnic items up close again.

I recently caught a glimpse of the Chicago skyline in my rearview mirror, while driving past an alley near Western Avenue and Diversey. This was not the real skyline, but an imaginary view, painted on three cardboard panels. I quickly got out and took them from the side of the dumpster and put them into the back of the hatchback, where they just barely fit.
Each section is about 4 ½ feet tall and 3 feet wide. The scene is mostly airbrushed, and it looks like it might have been part of a set from a play. A friend thinks that it has a certain cheesy charm that would be fitting for a prom, or a school dance. It was most likely from some special event, but now that that event has passed, this skyline has no place to be.
If it had been a backdrop for a dance, there must be photographs of this skyline there in the background, with everyone all dressed up. If so, then at least there will be some record of it, for memories of that moment.

I’ve since discovered that one of the panels fits perfectly in the window next to my bed, which helps block the morning sunlight better than the blinds do.
Besides that, it also offers a nice imaginary view.