Chicago dreams on...

So, today, I got to a new section of Preludes and Nocturnes. Morpheus is finally gaining some strength in his dreamworld and now needs to seek his tools to keep his dream land working. In order to find out where his helm, amulet and pouch of sand are, he needs to consult three witches which are basically the Fates and a little bit of the witches from Macbeth (Double, double toil and trouble...you get the deal). They are three sisters bound together like Cerberus (three headed gigantic dog that guards the gates to Hades in Greek mythology) except they are women. One is young, the other is elderly and the other is a crone. Morpheus utilizes their premonitions in order to find the whereabouts of his tools. Unfortunately, they can only get him so far. Each one answers questions regarding the whereabouts of each tool. After they answer he keeps wanting to ask more questions, but the rule is one question, one answer from each of them. Although their answers do not get him directly to the source of his needs and problems, they do get him on the right path (they are kind of like the temp agency of the dream world).

As to the location of his sand...John Constantine was the first to end up with it. He tells Morpheus that he has no idea where it has landed and that he never even tried to touch it before. He is pretty innocent because it ended up in his hands unknowingly. He said even if he wanted to get into the pouch he couldn't because it was sealed so tightly. Prior to Morpheus showing up at his house, every time John would touch the radio or hear a song it would be a song about dreams like Mr. Sandman, Bring me a Dream. I think this was an excellent idea for Gaiman. I think it drove the story and foretold the presence of Morpheus.

Today was a busy, busy day and here I am still wired so late. I am driving to Toledo tomorrow at 8AM. I need sleep, but I have been so busy. Today, I had to wrap up loose ends before work. Rent, errands, etc. I had a good workout and a great run on the lake again. The city is truly turning beautiful again. I am even starting to get color on my skin. I am a little red, but it does not look bad. I think since I gained so much color last summer, I will be able to easily get it again since it has not been that long since I last had it.

I realized how fortunate I am to live in Chicago tonight. I realized how amazing this city is and how amazing its history is. I don't think anywhere in the United States has quite seen what Chicago has seen. I know New York is the first city, but we are the Second City. From Capone, to the 1893 Columbian Exposition World's Fair to the 2016 Summer Olympic bid to slaughterhouses to railroads to architecture to Native Americans to Jews to Polish people to lake to diversity to the Magnificent Mile to Oprah to everything, no one can lay a finger on this scandalous city. So much has occurred and so much is to happen. Politics are crazy, Broadway is big, the third opera company in the world to the nation's best symphony...everything is so amazing. Plus, the food. So much food. And then, there are 75 neighborhoods and 300 sub-neighborhoods. There is so much to see and there is so much offered.

So, to get to the point, I was looking at a book of the Chicago World's Fair. I don't know if anyone has paid attention to any pictures of it, but Chicago was probably the grandest city in the United States, if not the world during the 1893 World's Fair. It got the name the White City from the World's Fair. I cannot even describe it, so I want to show a couple of pictures. We have a book at work that I want to buy when I have money again that shows the city during this time. I think for my L book, I am going to read Larson's Devil in the White City. It is about the World's Fair and murder. Oh...and the first Ferris Wheel came out of Chicago's World's Fair.

I think these all represent what dreams were made of during this time. I think it would even be overwhelming to see now in this time. Only a couple of buildings still remain...the Museum of Science and Industry, The Art Institute of Chicago and the statue in Jackson Park...that is in the lake in one of these pictures.

Well, that is it for me. Time for bed and time for a road trip. Night. :)