ChgoRed, Girl Editor

More Questions than Answers

The death certificate came back yesterday. And, well…

Hmmm.

Artwise

So I'm perusing a stationery company Website this morning and liking what I see. 

But...

If you scroll past the cards with the polka dots, you see one called the "Ellis." That design is clip art. Like, I have it in one of my clip art books at home. So why am I killing myself trying to draw flowers and whatnot with an outdated PhotoShop system (which isn't even designed for that), when I could just copy the stuff from my royalty-free clip art books right onto the cards?

Would that be wrong? Like cheating? Or just a brilliant way to finally save myself some effort?  Because it feels a little like cheating.  Just a little.

Thoughts?

The Wedding So Far: An Index

Number of possible invitation designs devised: 19

Number that we actually liked enough to maybe send out: 3

Invitation we both liked the most: #19

Dress meetings: 1

Dress freakouts: 1

Number of hip-hop songs that happen to feature the groom’s last name: 1

This fact noted by vendors: Once, so far.

Vendors we now own half of (thanks to deposits): Photo guy; DJ guy; cake guy; museum.

Vendors I should get deposits to before they desert us for cooler, more exciting and time-aware couples: 3

Number of people who have offered to run interference with my mom on the day of the wedding: 2

Number who have actually met her and know what they're in for: 1

New things my mother has found fault with or been disappointed in: 3. Cake colors, lack of bouquet/garter toss, and bride's potential shoe color.

Number of people involved in discussion over whether or not the bride could wear pale blue shoes: 5

Number of involved people who would actually be wearing said shoes: 1

Honeymoon location: Toronto.

Number of times this has resulted in extraneous "ehs" and butcherings of the Canadian national anthem: Oh, lots. Eh.

Number of registries: 2; Bloodbath & Beyond and Hate & Quarrel.

Incidents of bridal tinkering with online registries: A couple. Maybe twice. Or three times. Whatever.

Number of sit-down meetings insisted upon by groom, re: new and allegedly "useless" stuff mysteriously appearing on the registries: Once. So far. Eh.

Bridal Anxieties: Dress; invitations; DIY flowers; setting up and taking down of wedding decorations.

Groomal Anxieties: Finding a nice quiet rest home for his bride, preferably one with occasional visiting privileges and no sharp objects. Also, mother-in-law.

Did Somebody Say Cemetery?

Wow!  Am so pleased to see all the cemetery buffs who also happen to be my friends.  I had no idea.  In response…

—If I have a favorite, it’s Mount Carmel.  The stones are great.  Many Italian members means many stones in the Italian tradition—photographs, elaborate carvings, etc.  Example—I’ve seen this one and the detail is fabulous.  Plus, it’s aces for history buffs.  Many of Chicago’s gangsters are buried there.  They might have been all Italian-versus-Irish and Northside-versus-Southside while alive, but in death they’re all Catholics.  There aren’t many cemeteries where you can point and say, “This guy killed that guy.  And that one over there, he killed that one…”  In a charming irony, Mount Carmelis also the final resting place of Chicago’s archbishops.

—I have been curious about Waldheim for a while, mainly because Emma Goldman is buried there.  There is apparently a large section of Communists and Socialists buried near the Haymarket Memorial.  Some people jokingly refer to this section as “the Communist plot.”  Roseland sounds interesting, too.

—Also on my list to investigate: Wunders (across the street from Graceland), and the rundown Jewish Graceland cemetery right next to it. I would also like to get to Woodlawn someday and see the Showmen's Rest section.

—If she’s still teaching it, I highly, highly recommend Helen Sclair’s class on the history of Chicago cemeteries.  The classes are held at the Newberry Library, and Mrs. Sclair is a wealth of information.  She’s also a wonderful storyteller.

Once the weather gets nice, I think a cemetery walk is definitely in order.  Let me know if you’d be interested.

ChgoRed and the Mystery of the Old Gravestone

In which I hang out in cemeteries; investigate an old tragedy; and surprise the heck out of my family. Darned curiosity.

If you grow up in a family of history buffs and amateur genealogists like I did, your childhood will feature more than a few trips to cemeteries. Not necessarily to see your own ancestors, mind, but just to see what you can find. Because cemeteries = fun. (Unless you’re my sister, in which case cemetery = three hours of wishing you were back in the car already. Or unless you’re my fiancé, in which case cemeteries = lots of dead people. Can we go already?)