And to think I believed the biggest change in my world in December 2008 would be the closing of Maurice Lenell Cookies in Norridge. This is still a big change, although one that I have been resigned to since the bankruptcy organization and subsequent sale of the bakery to an Ohio company earlier this year. Thankfully, the company store is still open for this year’s holiday season, and thus my annual trip to get cookies for the office and my husband’s firehouses went as planned. And the cookies still taste the same as I remember from every single holiday that I’ve lived in northern Illinois. No wonderful bakery smells when I drove up to the store though and that was truly sad for me.
But enough about the cookies.
Remember I wrote back here about corrupt sleazebag Illinois politicians? Well, this morning I wake up to the news that Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff have been arrested on federal charges, including alleged attempts to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder. The sad thing is that no one I’ve talked to about it is surprised. Or if they are surprised, it’s only at something like the timing, or at the specific charges being emphasized by the media.
One of my other earlier concerns, that of Obama bringing Illinois machine politics and corruption to Washinton, might not be so big now, though. Here is a quote from one of the news releases:
In a conversation with (chief of staff John) Harris on November 11, the charges state, Blagojevich said he knew that the President-elect wanted Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. [Expletive] them.”
Lots of stuff to read on the whole sorry mess at the Chicago Tribune site.
Speaking of the Trib, there’s another big change. They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday. Again, not a really huge surprise in light of trends in the newspaper industry all across the country for some years now. Sad to me as a former journalism student, even though working for the Tribune has not been part of my personal dream for decades now.
And one last change, another one that’s obviously been coming for a while, but something I didn’t really think would happen just so soon: no more Polaroid instant film. I’m not one of those “loyal and passionate” Polaroid followers described in the CNN article. I didn’t have a Polaroid camera as a child, although I remember whining for a Polaroid Swinger (and now the commercial jingle is stuck in my head, beware the YouTube link within the Wikipedia link!) and getting a Kodak Instamatic instead, and actually being okay with that.
I do have a Polaroid OneStep camera still in good working condition. I bought it a long time ago – early ’90s, maybe? – to take pictures of our few “nice things” for insurance purposes. I like to take pictures but I’m not a great, or even good, photographer. Hence, the Minolta Maxxum instead of a Nikon or Canon film camera, and on the digital side, old and new Nikon Coolpix point and shoot cameras instead of a digital SLR.
But as usual, I digress. Back to Polaroid in my life. Every so often I go back to take classes at DePaul University’s School for New Learning with the idea of eventually finishing the B.A. I started umm… a very, very, very long time ago and for which, in my defense, I have not yet had a need for. I had some arts requirements that needed to be fulfilled, and in Winter Quarter 2005-2006, one of the classes offered was “Artistic Issues in Instant Image Photography.” This was one of the most enjoyable classes I’ve ever taken, despite having to go out in the dead of winter to take pictures, and as anyone who has ever owned any vintage of Polaroid camera, cold and instant photography do not mix well.
The syllabus for the class is online in case you’d like to see:
http://www.snl.depaul.edu/WebMedia/People/AI_333.pdf
And so are my 10 photos for the final assignment, Landscapes (Urban/Rural):
http://www.flickr.com/gp/89937445@N00/D3Zk4c
I really should put those in Polaroid style frames, and maybe I will, but not just this moment.