It's a fact of life that a day and games of Trivial Pursuit often have themes. While I did not play any board games today, my day did turn out to have this theme: Chicago's Prairie Avenue Bookshop. (If you're not familiar with the shop, it happens to bill itself as the world's largest architectural bookshop and is a treasure trove of fantastic architecture and design related stuff.)
My day started with a trip to the wonderful store in the morning to see their Louis Sullivan 150th Anniversary Exhibit. It was a remarkable collection of photographs, books, and original building artifacts from some of the most famous Louis Sullivan sites that are or were. Pieces included a vast array of doorknobs, stair stringers, decorative plaster and wood pieces, and much more. All the pieces are from Wilbert Hasbrouck's and Tim Samuelson's collection. It's a great opportunity to see some really great Sullivan stuff up close in a casual atmosphere. Plus, when you're done looking at the Sullivan stuff, you can check out all the other cool books, furniture, art, etc!
After my Chicago journey, I prepared for my other journey...my trip to L.A. for the week. Not looking forward to the long flight time, I settled back and put the headphones on to watch the in-flight movie. It turned out to be "The Lake House" with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. To my surprise, a scene with Keanu and Christopher Plummer took place at...you guessed it the Prairie Avenue Bookshop (made over in the movie to look like Plummer's condo loft.) I was amused to see my day's theme of Chicago and the Prairie Avenue Bookshop come full circle and present itself in such a fashion.
So, if you want a similar themed experience, check out the movie...or better yet, go and check out the actual bookshop in person--there's nothing trivial about it!
Images courtesy of Prairie Avenue Bookshop and Warner Bros. Films
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