Life Near the Park
 
 
 
a recent graduate of ISU where he earned a masters degree in choral conducting. Besides music, Jonathan is interested in politics, history, current events, technology and talk radio. He also enjoys the Franklin Park neighborhood where he lives with his wife and their dog and cat. Lauren is.... currently a member of the ISU music faculty. Her musical focus is anything non-traditional - jazz, pop, and Broadway. When she’s not wrapped up in music, she loves baking and making cool crochet projects.  Jordan is....  the dog that consumes most of Jonathan’s free time. Jordan has a rough life as she must bear the pressure of being the world’s cutest dog. In addition to chasing birds, rabbits and squirrels, she also enjoys all forms of running water. Her favorite games are keep away and run around the dining room table.   Bean is....  the cat that wakes everyone up when he feels he needs to eat breakfast. While he may look pretty tough he is not the bravest cat in the world. However, as you can see in the picture above, he is pretty darn smart.  Places I frequent Decrepit Old Fool Chicagoland Radio & Media Chicago Carless Milt’s File Pantagraph Chicago Tribune Suntimes Daily Herald Herald & Review Nealz Nuze The Saegers Cinema Treasures Choral Net Iconeon Yo Chicago Cinema Treasures Gapers Block http://www.decrepitoldfool.com/http://www.chicagolandradioandmedia.com/http://www.chicagocarless.com/http://wgnradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=48&Itemid=240http://www.pantagraph.com/http://www.chicagotribune.com/http://www.suntimes.com/index.htmlhttp://www.dailyherald.com/http://www.herald-review.com/http://boortz.com/nuze/index.htmlhttp://www.thesaegers.com/http://cinematreasures.org/http://www.choralnet.org/index.phtmlhttp://iconeon.net/blog/http://yochicago.com/today/http://cinematreasures.org/http://www.gapersblock.com/shapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16
 
Sunday, July 22, 2007
How to Circumvent Landmark Status.
 
So let’s say you own a building that is a registered historic landmark. However, the property that your building sits on will be very valuable to a developer in the near future. The problem is your land cannot be fully developed due to your historic building. You are not allowed to knock it so what to do?
 
Well apparently the owner of the Duncan Manor in McClean County outside of Bloomington / Normal near Towanda has found the solution. He is going to let the building sit and rot to death.
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Thursday, June 28, 2007
Bloomington or Miami?
 
This past weekend I took our dog Jordan for a walk and came across these 3 houses. They are pretty much identical with the exception of a few minor details. They are located on East Taylor Street in Bloomington.
 
I always enjoy discovering new things when I am out and about. I don’t know what was the most intriguing aspect of these houses. The shades of color seem to be more appropriate for South Florida - not central Illinois. These 3 houses also seem to have a stucco finish, again, not
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Saturday, June 9, 2007
Lake Bloomington with the dog.
 
Yesterday we took a trip with our dog Jordan to Lake Bloomington. Lake Bloomington is one of the two “lakes” that supply water for the residents of Bloomington. It is about 650 acres or so. The houses around the lake are VERY nice. Most of them are around half a million dollars or more. There are a couple parks on the lake. The park that we went to has an old boat launch ramp that is fairly secluded. We let her off her leash so she can swim in the lake.
 
Lake Bloomington is about 10 miles
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Saturday, June 2, 2007
A High Rise Park?
 
So I came across this a couple weeks ago and I just thought it was REALLY cool. Imagine a 3 mile long park 30 feet in the air. Well that is what Chicago might have in the near future. The Bloomingdale Trail is an (almost) abandoned elevated track that spans 3 miles through some of the great neighborhoods in Chicago. The track is still owned by a railroad but no trains have used the track since the early 1990’s. The city of Chicago has plans to purchase the line.
 
New York City has a similar
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Wednesday, May 30, 2007
The 1st Annual Great Chicago Escape
 
This past Memorial Day weekend, Lauren and I met our friends Victoria, Michael and Kelly from Nashville in Chicago.
 
We stayed at Bed & Breakfast at Monastery on the  South Side. A GREAT place to stay. The breakfast was phenomenal each morning. Brother Edward was very helpful. We were within walking distance of the Orange Line ‘L” as well as many great places in Bridgeport and U.S. Cellular Field. Michael and I discovered a great local tavern our first night called Bernices.
 
Saturday we hit
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Jonathan is.....