Tour de Farce, A weekend extravaganza in three parts: Part the Third

[muckefuck]

Part 3: Some great reward

It would be pretty lame were next weekend to arrive without that I had finished writing up last weekend, wouldn't it? Particularly when this is the only part that anyone even asked about. Sunday morning was a family brunch in Greektown to send off my parents. I piqued e. by mentioning that monshu had instructed me to show up at his house at 4 p.m. in slacks, but would reveal no more than that. Unfortunately, that's the hour at which I awoke from my nap, so it was more like 4:20 before I arrived. But no worries--our reservations were for 6 p.m.

Does he know me or what?

He showered me with lovely new knicknacks for my place--as he says himself, trust him to buy me the sorts of things no one else will--as we sipped champagne cocktails (yummy!). The we cabbed it to a seafood restaurant in "Andersonville Terrace". Now I could go on at length about the soft-toned marine theme carried out perhaps a little too consistently, our darling homo waiter who was alternately too chatty and too busy, the fine New Zealand white, the succulent shellfish in bouillebaisse broth just exploding with saffron, and so forth or I could just sum the whole experience up in a single poetic stanza:

Out to dine with my Chenu romantique,
I was reading the carte at Atlantique
And I couldn't igneurre
The misspelling of "beurre"
But what can I say? I'm pedantique!

In a tragedy of Cyclopean proportions, the indifferent fish at Greek Islands ("Oh, never get the seafood there," Nuphy told me afterwards; thanks so much!) left me too full to finish the truly superior entree at Atlantique. I so wanted to clasp that dish to my ruby-red lips and suck down every last drop of saffrony goodness, but I felt filled to bursting. But monshu's an understanding guy, who took no offence and mercifully didn't insist on dessert.

The next morning, I finally got to sleep in. And then more mesopygian loving! At my request, we tried a new position, and I was gratified to find it workable, if not quite a comfy as the lower-energy arrangements we tend to prefer. As a result, it was noonish before we finally got ourselves out of the house and down to the Field Museum.

I'm afraid I was almost guilty of making a scene at the Corner Bakery there. I really can't understand why they're not better organised. They had enough personnel behind the counter for two lines, but they weren't even very good about signalling availability to the people in the one line they had. Some offerings were kept in bins, but there was nothing telling you which, so I ended up standing in line only to be told (a) they didn't have the sandwich I wanted, even though it was clearly listed on a signboard and (b) then that they did have the sandwich, but it was in the bin I passed five minutes ago. But, as monshu said, it's better than McDonalds. Personally, I would've been fine with the hot dog vendor on the front steps. I bet he knows what his inventory is!

But, having successfully overcome all obstacles, we made our way to the Qianlong exhibit. Truly stunning. Oh, if anyone managed to catch the name of the Manchu fertility goddess whose icon was featured, please let me know. All I can remember is that it started with Keduo. Afterwards, we strolled across the Museum Campus, through the park, and exited by way of the Bean. I'm going to have to take back the bad things I said about Milennium Park. Yes, it's full of naming opportunities, but they're really subtle; I didn't know the bridge we walked over was sponsored by BP until a friend told me last night. Yes, it was terribly over budget, but we were there on a Monday afternoon and it was packed. No evidence of an upcoming show, yet the greensward of the Pritzer Pavillion was covered with people playing, reading, sunbathing, and just generally making good use of a sunny afternoon. The Bean and the fountains were ringed with people and the outdoor cafe was doing great business. Will it still be that way in a year? I don't know, but I don't see why not.

We got back home with just enough time for a cocktail before I had to head to my last Chinese class--but that's another story entirely. Maybe I'll get around to writing that up before classes start up again in the fall...

Comments

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

I love the poem so very much.