Golden Week Ending

We are headed towards the end of Carolyn's Golden Week, which began with Valentine's Day, usually has Lunar New Year in the middle (but not this time 'round -- Year of the Rabbit began on 3 Feb 2011), as well as a few personal time markers and ends with Presidents' Day.

For the older of us, February always had two presidents' birthdays as holidays: Abraham Lincoln was born on 12 February and George Washington was born on 22 February.  I guess Americans wanted to celebrate more presidents without actually having more separate holidays, and thus, the third Monday of February became Presidents' Day (oh, how we love our three-day weekends, those of us who actually get a paid holiday on the third Monday of February, the percentage of employers offering it being only 33%).  Our display of Presidents' Day titles was dominated by those on or by Ronald Reagan, this being his Centennial Birthday (if he were alive to mark a 100th birthday anniversary), but there are many other wonderful books that we have for both young and old, those just a little curious and those very interested in our American presidency.

This year, we celebrated some of Golden Week in Chicago, taking in a world premier play at the Victory Gardens Theater, "The Boys Room" by Dixon native Joel Drake Johnson.  Today, Sunday, 20 February, was unfortunately the last day of its run, but Johnson, now the Playwright Ensemble Member of VG, has had many  plays directed by Sandy Shinner and there is promise of more.  "The Boys Room" has such a contemporary yet universal feel to it that I hope other theaters will consider including it in their season lineups soon.  For locals, there is the delight of a mention of the Peoria Avenue Bridge and Rock River, albeit briefly and in context of a good place to contemplate suicide.