“Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues, you can tell by the way she smiles.” – Dylan
The Mona Lisa Street Scene series arose on the West Side of Chicago, along Madison Street.
Sketchy people were wafting about there and here, buses were pulling in and out of the hulking garages, the El tracks were shaking with trains, cars going by, seagulls soaring above all in from the lake looking for chicken bones in the gutters, grass blowing in the vacant lots, garbage rotting in the alleyways, food smells floating from nearby hot dog stands (Chicago has more hot dog stands than McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King combined, even though McDonald’s was invented here and has its world headquarters here), leaves fluttering on the trees, weeds coming up from the cracks in the sidewalks, cats climbing on stairways, buildings groaning with ghosts, rats baring their fangs and claws, doves cooing and gently moving their wings without flying, but dreaming of flying, which is, after all, only – another kind of flying.
Because I’m feeling silly and I like to celebrate my city, these are the names of eleven comedians who are from Chicagoland, i.e., Chicago and environs: John Belushi, Jim Belushi, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Betty White, Steve Allen, Jack Benny, Chris Farley, Robin Williams, Redd Foxx, Bob Newhart.
Saragun Springs 
Dr. DWB
Your celebration of the co-capital of Saragun Springs via the Lady who appears to be amused by her portrait maker (I wonder what she felt about the end work) is tremendous.
I’ve always believed that the “Second City” (a fine group of comics of the town) moniker is one that was taken with a sneer more than a willing “kneel” to the sometimes rotten apple. Media size is not everything. Chicago also produced Eddie Gadell (sp) the World’s Smallest Baseball Player.
Thank you for the tour (One vexation: when I worked at McDonalds our manager went to “Hamburger-U” and returned an asshole.They did something to him.)
Leila
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Dale
Mona Lisa’s reflection on the glass is very creative! Street photography is really intriguing. Great descriptions of the city. Strong concrete details. Sketchy characters, the smells of the hot dog vendors, the El shaking, Seagulls soaring, all of this and more engages the reader.
Plus: The Mona Lisa is involved in a new type of exhibition. Her ghostly image draws your eye, but so does the street and the blurred reflection of the photographer. There’s something great about her being on the street, like she is part of it, or looking over it with her famous smile. The quote by Dylan is so fitting.
The list of comedians from Chicago is pretty cool too!
Christopher
PS There is a really cool series on Abe Lincoln on Netflix. He wrote a 2000 word announcement for why he was running for a political office in the newspaper, when most of these notices were only a paragraph. Back to the great writer dealio.
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