Orbit

I checked my P.O. box yesterday and now I have a total of 365 Chicago postcards! For those of you who aren’t familiar: In 2008 in New York and since 2012 in Chicago, I’ve been leaving thousands of handmade, pre-stamped, self-addressed postcards all over the city, each with the prompt “Tell me one thing you dream of doing before you die. Use this card as your canvas,” as well as a different code on the corner.

I record where I leave each one, so when a card returns to me, I match up the code with the location and am able to tell where each card was found. I created a map of Manhattan that way, almost 10 years ago, and am gradually piecing together one of my home city, Chicago.

It’s a labor of love and a love letter made of many love letters.

And since February (when a portion of these postcards were selected by the City to be exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center as part of their Year of Public Art initiative), I’ve been sharing 1 Chicago dream a day, every day, at @dreamsofacity on Instagram. So this means I’ll have been posting these dreams for at least a year once I’m done. Follow along! (And to those who have already been following, thank you so much!)

I love my city so much.
Wandered into an Art Deco building, snuck to a top floor,
went into a stairwell, and saw this, shhh.

(The most recent response to all this? “Keep making the world a more magical place!” Thank you, Destry!)

On Thursday I attended an event called The Makery Experience in a secret garden in Pilsen. It was a celebration of artisans and craftspeople and also confirmation that I’m a time traveler (see below). Thanks for inviting me, Prisoner Wine Co.!

Tintypes of me and Adrienne Glover (one of the artists in LEXICON)
by Jen Jansen Photography.

Local stuff for you to check out:

• My mentor and dear friend Robin Rios opened an Etsy shop!

• Apparently you can get free [Chicago style, of course] hot dogs this week at these locations. (I serendipitously scored a free one on National Hot Dog Day at one of my favorite carts by agreeing to add ketchup to mine. I actually hesitated because it felt so wrong.)

 

At Kim & Carlo's Hot Dog Stand, Museum Campus.

And as for my dreams? A couple weeks ago I got called a Renaissance Woman. One has now come true.