Olivia is Ferosch

Domestic

A week or two ago, I posted an ad on CL looking for someone to teach me how to sew. In case I haven’t said it recently, the internet is a pretty awesome place. A lot of people responded, and today a very nice woman came, and for $10 an hour, taught me how to use my sewing machine and make drapes. The windows in my place are ENORMOUS and plentiful, neccessitating about 16 13-foot drapery panels, which hardly anyone makes, and if they do make them, are absurdly expensive (estimates were at least $1500 to do all of them).

I have always been confused as to why drapes are so expensive. “It is just a long piece of material!” I say. Today, however, made me completely understand. Drapes are unbelievably tedious. It took us about 3.5 hours today to just do one! One drape! I did another this afternoon and got it down to about 2 hours (certainly an improvement), but it is truly amazing how much time it takes to just make one.

That said, they (or at least the one that is 100% done) look pretty fabulous. It is fully lined, blind stitched hems all the way around, rod pocket. She certainly taught me well. And I feel really good just looking at the stupid stitches. I have been wanting to know how to sew for years and finally have some sort of knowledge. 

What we do when we say goodbye:

britticisms:

At one point last night, I stood in the middle of a dance floor covered in flour, hips swerving to Soul so good, that I was sure I was experiencing some sort of out-of-body dream. The setting, the emotions, the euphoria were so uncharacteristic of the past few weeks - my pessimism, my countless moments of worrying - that I began to cry out of catharsis. It was, I’m sure, my last time at Sonotheque - a club I didn’t frequent but loved whenever I went. The tiny room was packed, understandably, with fans of Windy City Soul Club and the club itself: the pitch-perfect sound system, the unusually strong drinks, the makeshift dance floor, the music selection. No Top 40, no nonsense, no needless repetition of popular trends. Everyone was young and hip and dressed the part in skin-tight jeans or pixie-perfect dresses but they danced as if transported to another decade less complicated but not necessarily more loving. It was the combination of the best of both worlds: the music, unparalleled and foundational, and the apparent freedom of contemporary society, the integration of bodies and minds and souls. I will miss you so much Sonotheque it hurts.

Willie and I contemplated stopping by here last night but instead just stayed and had drinks at c-view (which I will say is such a nice little spot that I always forget about) before I had to jet. and I will say I am a bit sad I didn’t. There are so few places in Chicago to go to dance where it is not awful and terrible. I like Danny’s and Le Passage, but those are such opposite ends of the spectrum and Sonotheque was really such the happy medium and as Willie and I were discussing yesterday, really did often have a nice mix of people so often.

So angry they are turning into a Beauty Bar (just what Chicago Ave doesn’t need). So sad!