Sorry, Ken, I'm Spending Your Inheritance

I live on a rather tight budget.  I have my Social Security check and my retirement pension, but that’s it.  So when I recently decided to take an Adriatic cruise in August with my best friend Roger, there was nothing to be done but to withdraw some funds from my rather limited investment account.  This is the account that is designated to go to my brother Ken when I shuffle off this mortal coil—years and years in the future, of course.  The investment account isn’t busted, but it’s greatly reduced (I’m also paying off a credit card bill).  Fortunately, Ken is way better off than I am, so my paltry sum won’t be missed much.

And the photo above is totally misleading.  But I couldn’t resist using it.  Ken is actually the best-natured of brothers, and although the inheritance has been reduced somewhat, he won’t even miss it.  I hope.  I hope, in fact, that he’ll miss me!  I mean I keep him on his toes with cartoons that put Republicans in a bad light (it’s so easy to do) and constantly rag him about his inexplicable aversion to opera (he actually walked out of a performance of Porgy and Bess, a performance for which people were clamoring for tickets; truly, I don’t understand it).  He’s more likely to miss my wiseacre-ing (is that even a word?) than my money.

So, Brother-Mine, perhaps you should lower expectations about that even bigger sailboat you were going to get with my money; you might even consider downsizing to a canoe.

Here’s a much better photo of Ken.  This is he with a favorite cat of his, both snoozing away.  What’s not to love!

My Year in Review

A summing up seems to be in order for the end of the year.  Of course my summing is insignificant compared to the world at large, but you can read about the world at large elsewhere; this is my blog so it will be about my year.

Here are some of the significant events for me in 2013:

—I finished the four-year Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults through The University of Chicago’s Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professions Studies—what a mouthful, so we just call it the Basic Program.  This terrific program is centered around the Great Books (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_books), a collection of significant and enduring works of literature and philosophy.  During each of three terms each year, we studied four to six works.  The class is divided into two section; in one section one work is covered in depth through the ten weeks of the term; in the other section several works are covered in less depth.  During the four years we studied a total of 58 works; most of these were read entire, although with a few (like The Wealth of Nations and Marx’s Capital) we studied only excerpts.  The selections in literature ranged from novels (Middlemarch) to plays (Shakespeare and the Greeks) and poetry.  Philosophy included six works by Plato alone, as well as representative other philosophers.  Some of the works studied I had read or even taught before (the Iliad, The Prince, and Oedipus Rex) while others were new to me (Middlemarch).  Some of the new works I loved (Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War), some I did not care much for (Aquinas’s Treatise on Morals), and some I never really understood (Aristotle’s Ethics).  And my reward?  A certificate to hang on the wall.  But what a grand trip it has been through these wonderful works!
—It was a good year for theater.  I attended 12 plays, five of which were musicals.  There ranged from memorable (the unforgettable An Iliad at the Court Theater) to the tedious (a recent Merry Wives of Windsor at Chicago Shakespeare Theater).  Outstanding musicals included Book of Mormon and Priscilla.  The acting resources in Chicago are astonishing so it’s rare to have a less than sterling evening in the theater.
—13 operas!  Still not enough, if you ask me.  Highlights were another brilliant production from our newest opera company, The Haymarket Opera: Pimpinone by Telemann.  Lyric Opera is always good, although some are better than others.  A nicely sung Butterfly was marred by the rumble of a set piece moving ponderous in the midst of the beautiful “Humming Chorus,” although I could barely hear it.  I saw my first Parsifal this year, beautifully done, and yet another Traviata and another Rigoletto (I guess the “war horses” bring in the bucks).  Those overdone operas were balanced by a wonderful Streetcar.
—17 concerts, mostly excellent.  The musical talent in Chicago is amazing.  I’ve especially enjoyed the Lincoln Center Chamber Players and in particular their evening of Benjamin Britten works.
—Books: a mere 34.  Too much time reading magazines, which I don’t keep count of, and watching movies, which I also don’t keep count of, although I think I’ll start.  Still, 34 is 2.83 books a month.  It could be worse.

So, it’s been a good year.  I have never for an instant regretted my move to Chicago and looking over this list it’s easy to see why.  And as I look out the window now at the snow falling heavily, I love it here even more!