Some week, huh?

Well, luckily, defying logic, life goes on. Here’s how life has been going on in the Finke-Knezovich worlds of late:

• Beth and Whitney have been on a roll since their staph-infected first few days at the Vermont Studio Center. Beth says she’s getting a lot done, that Whitney seems to be mellowing in accordance with the more pastoral pace and setting. And Beth says the food at VSC is terrific.
  
• While in Urbana this week, I had a great lunch of Thai food with Jean Thompson. Beth has written here at the blog about Jean, our dear, one-of-a-kind friend. Jean was a mentor to Beth while Beth worked at writing and publishing “Long Time, No See.” Jean’s a spookily talented writer who gets into characters’ heads and lays them open to readers like no one else. During her teaching career at the University of Illinois, Jean produced a highly regarded body of short-story collections and novels. One of the collections, Who Do You Love, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Well, since retiring from the academic world, she’s been producing more great work than ever. Her latest — The Humanity Project — just received a thoughtful and glowing review at the New York Times. If you’re a reader, go out and get it, or anything by Jean.
• Roger Ebert is dead. Long Live Ebertfest. My friend Brand Fortner, whose daughter contributed a guest post here about her father’s adoration for Ebert, is at this year’s Ebertfest in Champaign in the newly, grandly renovated historic Virginia Theater. Another Urbana friend—Steven Bentz, of Steven and Nancy—who adopted Hanni, is director of the Virginia, and has been working heroically  to ensure the theater was ready after months of work.
• There are some nice things about being a bachelor for a few weeks. Utter spontaneity is one. A week or two ago, on a Sunday night, I was restless. I’d heard that pianist Eric Reed and his trio was putting on a great Thelonious Monk-themed show at Jazz Showcase. I looked up at the clock, which read 7:30. I closed my computer, I put on my coat, and walked the two blocks to the Showcase. Walked in, bought a ticket, sat down, and enjoyed a sublime set. Sometimes, life is just good.
• I just learned that thanks to the good people who care for our son Gus up at Bethesda Lutheran Communities in Watertown, Wis., Gus will be getting an hour-long joy ride this summer — in either an open-top vintage car or…a sidecar on a motorcycle! (I love motorcycles, and based on how much he enjoyed riding in our bicycle trailer, I think Gus would love either the sidecar or the antique auto).

Happy birthday Flo.

Best of all: Tomorrow, April 20, Flo — Beth’s evergreen mother — turns 97 years old. She’s still living in her own place, and her face lights up about any number of simple pleasures.

Happy 97^th Flo.

Beth and Whit have settled into a routine up at the Vermont Studio Center.

Hi all — it’s still Mike here. Beth’s taking this work retreat seriously, staying offline as much as she can — but the short of it is, all is well. That staph infection that put a scare into us has passed, thanks to some attentive and caring folks up in Johnson, Vt. at the Vermont Studio Center, and to the the good people at Copley Hospital.Beth spent two nights at Copley, and so did Whitney — which presented a little bit of a logistical challenge when it came to taking Whitney out for “park time.” Well, the hospital staff rose to the occasion. They took Whitney out and played with her while Beth stayed attached to IV pole. And Beth and her publisher — Francine Poppo-Rich at Blue Marlin Publications — thanked them by shipping copies of “Hanni & Beth, Safe and Sound” to all the caring people who helped Beth and Whitney.

One of them — Penny Hester — took care of Whitney for an hour and a half while Beth was in the MRI tube (they were checking to be sure the infection had not spread to muscle and joint tissue). Penny is a speech/language pathologist. After she received her copy of the book, she wrote Beth a very thoughtful note — turns out Penny has a therapy dog that helps with some of her patients:

Dear Beth,

You have no idea how much it meant to me to receive your book. I used it with a patient the next day who had no idea of what being “blind” meant. With limited words he would close his eyes and point to the book-“no see Beau.” Beau is my pet therapy dog and Hanni looks very much like my Beau, in the beautifully illustrated pictures of  your book. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to open his world to a new concept.

That Hanni. Even in retirement, she’s winning friends. So is Whitney — though she’s doing it a little differently…Penny sums up Whitney’s goofball personality pretty well:

I found your sweet, clowning companion an absolute joy. She was hysterical playing with Beau’s squeaky toys. She would push her nose against the toy until it would squeak and then jump back a bit and yip.  I loved spending time with her and I was honored to be entrusted with her. When you instructed me about not letting her off her leash — it brought chills up my spine to imagine you having to worry about that when others provide her with “park time.”

Well, Beth says that thanks to Penny and all the good folks out there, she didn’t have to worry at all.

Hava Hegenbarth is no stranger to this space. Her first appearance was a poignant post about her assignment at the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda. Her second was about her experiences raising a puppy named Spinner for Leader Dogs in Rochester, Michigan. Hava also helps out with the Seeing Eye’s annual online auction — here she is again to tell you about it.

One of Hava’s harnessed pups. You know you want one.

It’s quickly approaching!  My favorite event of the year – the Seeing Eye’s annual on-line auction. Why you may ask, do I get such a charge out of this?

It was at their first annual that I won an item listed as “Spend a day with Seeing Eye instructors.” That day we loaded up some dogs and headed to New York City. There I watched the instructors train the dogs. It was fascinating. After an hour or so, they announced it was my turn. They blindfolded me and handed me a harness. They led me to a dog. That patient dog stood while I clumsily attempted to put his harness on him. I finally got it right and stood up.  I was then told to command the dog forward.

I was terrified! Being blind felt so claustrophobic. The instructors understood. They were kind and encouraging but insistent.

“Just follow your dog.” They told me.

I took a step forward. It was alright.  Nothing bad happened to me. Another step and then another.  Soon I was confidently walking around New York as if had all my life.  What a thrilling experience!

Grateful, I have since then, tried to contribute items to the auction because I really believe in and support what the Seeing Eye does. What I mainly contribute are plush toy dogs which I’ve fit with hand-made leather guide harnesses. These have proved to be immensely popular with bidders.

At first I knew nothing of working with leather and my first harness attempts were somewhat crude.  I studied the craft and acquired some proper tools. Last year I went out to Massachusetts to work with the people who make harnesses for the Seeing Eye. They put me to work making real harnesses. I learned a great deal from them. My latest works are considerably improved. They do look authentic, but I always make them too small to fit a real dog as I do not want to make a harness that could be misused. In any case the harness handles are only leather-covered wire which would never stand up to actual use.

If you think you’d like to own one of these plush harnessed dogs or any of hundreds of other exciting items (including dinner for 4 with Betty White, or Spend a Day with Seeing Eye Instructors) check out the Seeing Eye’s 5th annual on-line auction.  The auction begins April 22 this year and you can find a link to it as well as instructions for registering to bid at the Seeing Eye’s website: www.seeingeye.org. They are also still accepting donations for their auction if you feel inclined to give.

Happy bidding and hope that you win!

Hi folks–FYI, Beth’s recovered nicely from her little ordeal, though Whitney’s testing her a little bit. Thanks for all the good wishes, I’ve passed them along to Beth, who seems to

Beth and Whitney outside our hotel — Lhotel — in Montreal.

be taking full advantage of the solitude and unplugging herself.

Now, let’s see. Before Roger Ebert died last week and before Beth was diagnosed with that staph infection we were in…Montreal!

Our three nights/two days in Montreal were magnificent — starting with our cab ride from the airport. You know Beth’s not shy about talking to everyone, especially cab drivers, and we got a cabbie who was articulate, extremely well-educated, well-informed, and talkative. Ethiopian by descent, he and his family immigrated to Montreal from Israel more than 20 years ago. During our half-hour or so drive, we got a taste of Canadian history and the politics surrounding the Quebecois separatist movement, of the state of Montreal’s economy…and pointers on where to walk, what to see, where to eat — and why fast food doesn’t fly in Montreal, only good food does.

He dropped us in Old Montreal — the oldest part of the city — at our hotel, called Lhotel, housed in a hundreds-year-old former bank building. It was formerly known as Hotel Xixe Siecle (Hotel 19th Century) — and some friends who had stayed there years ago recommended it to us. About three years ago, though, it was bought by Georges Marciano — a cofounder of Guess Jeans and art collector. He moved into the hotel — with his collection — which hangs in the lobby, hallways and rooms. We were in the Chagall room (and yes, there were Chagall prints). From an article about him in Macleans:

Guests wandering the halls of the five-floor hotel are treated to approximately 250 original works by A-list artists like Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Jim Dine, Ed Ruscha, Christo, Claes Oldenburg, Willem de Kooning, and Robert Motherwell. Most are prints with their Sotheby’s or Christie’s stickers still on the bottom right corner, but some are paintings, like After by Jasper Johns and Night Clouds by Michael Gallagher. A portrait of Marciano created by Andy Warhol hangs over the sortie sign at reception.

Out front is one of the LOVE sculptures that Robert Indiana originally created for the Museum of Modern art in 1964. If you go back far enough, you know that sculpture — and variations on it — became ubiquitous during the late 60s and into the 70s.

In all, it was like living in a museum — one night after Beth went to sleep I just wandered the halls to take my time taking in the work. But the artwork was equalled by the staff — in particular a young woman with the absolutely appropriate name of Summer. The evening we arrived we were zonked and only wanted to eat and retire. Summer gave us what proved to be a perfect recommendation for a Bistro-ish place called Holder, only a few blocks away.

It was packed and bustling but not so noisy that we couldn’t have a nice conversation and Beth, as is her wont, got some good eavesdropping in, testing what was left of her French at times. (And there was no TV to be found, even behind the copper-clad bar!) Every person we encountered — in stores, restaurants, wherever — spoke French and English, and many so well that I swear I wasn’t sure what their first language was. I think because in some cases, there was no “first.” If there is tension about the language, we didn’t see it. There had been no succession, but French — language and culture — lives, and in my view, that’s for the better. The people we encountered were very attentive, but not in that corporate “I had to take human being lessons and introduce myself as your server” way. They were playful and charming.

By day we walked. And walked and walked. Whitney did quite well on Old Montreal’s streets, where she masterfully threaded Beth through crowded and very narrow sidewalks. I just lagged behind an marveled. We headed up St. Laurent, which years ago marked a separation between French and English-speaking Montreal. We walked miles passing through distinctive neighborhoods — Chinatown, through a Portuguese section, then a more gentrified section filled with high end kitchen and furniture shops.

Whitney did a good job.

And we landed at a little bakery recommended by Summer  — croissant, coffee, and Rioppelle cheese, a Quebec specialty. (Get some if you can–imagine a soft cheese, like Brie, but with a full, nutty flavor). Beth and I ate slowly — comparing the offering to our morning’s croissants at the hotel breakfast. Ahhh. I felt like Joni Mitchell’s Free Man in Paris. Unfettered and alive. But in Montreal, not Paris.

There were two places recommended to us that we did not make it to — Schwartz’s deli, for its signature smoked meat (that’s what they call it–just smoked meat) that is apparently like pastrami on steroids. We walked by but the line was more than we wanted — the weather was beautiful and we were enjoying our walk too much. Plus, we had to burn off the morning croissant to make room for the afternoon’s.

We also intended to go to Au Pied du Cohcn for what sounds like a pork fest, but we failed to land a reservation. Summer came to the rescue. She put it this way: “We have lots and lots of places that will make you feel like you’ve been transported to Paris, but if you were thinking Au Pied Du Cohon, I’d recommend L’Original. It’s very Quebeccoisehttp://restaurantholder.com/en.”

L’Original it was. I had boar shoulder that had been braised and then coated in some sort of divine demi glace. Think pork with more flavor and succulence. Beth had Halibut. Beyond that, we had too much good food to catalog, but I will say that the mussels and frites, yes, they transported me.

On our last night, a Brazilian jazz trio played in our hotel lobby bar. And they were good! Think Gilberto, but they also did some regional styles that we’d never heard before but fully enjoyed.

I can’t really do it justice — I will say that if you get a chance, go! It has much of the kinds of appeal that New Orleans has — it has the energy and texture and variety that only a cultural and historical crossroads can create. In fact, I’d say it’s earned a repeat visit for us.

P.S. — Summer and some friends made a short documentary about their trip across Canada. Which is really big. So check it out: www.vimeo.com/smyc or email showmeyourcanada@gmail.com

The show will go on at this year’s 15th Annual Ebertfest. Tilda Swinton, Shailene Woodley and Jack Black are among those expected to attend this year’s festival.

Hey, it’s Mike again–I promise I’ll fill you in on Montreal eventually, but the sad event  of yesterday — the death of Roger Ebert — changed my plans. My longtime and dear friend, Brand Fortner, was without question Roger Ebert’s biggest fan. FYI: I met Brand  back in 1990. He was a co-founder of Spyglass, a then tiny startup software company in Champaign, Ill., that was spun off from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois. And he hired me. It remains the best and most fulfilling job I’ve ever had — it led to an unforgettable ride during the dot.com days, and the success of Spyglass changed my, Beth’s and our son Gus’s life for the better. Best of all,  Brand and I have remained friends.

I’m like a lot of people — I fully enjoyed Roger Ebert, even when I didn’t agree with him. But no one loved or respected Ebert more than Brand, who has also always attended and supported Ebertfest, a terrific film festival held in Champaign’s historic Virginia Theater each year.

After yesterday’s news, Brand was good enough to share a little essay his daughter Paula had written in college about what it was like to grow up with someone who worshipped at the altar of Roger. Paula—-now an accomplished adult (yikes) in her own right — was good enough to let me share it here on Beth’s blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.