Many of you know that I spend a lot of time at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Maybe you even swung by their Folk and Roots festival this past weekend. I think the school is one of the best things about the City of Chicago and I don't think there is any place in the world quite like it. (The school offers great 8 week sessions in every instrument, dance form, and genre imaginable. Note: This promotion for the school is largely for strategic karmic purposes that will make more sense at the end of the story. Register for a class here.)
Okay. Anyway...I have been taking an ongoing Irish Fiddle class off and on at Old Town School for quite a few years now.
All the while I've been fiddling, I have learned about one of the school's legends. His name is Ted Johnson. Some of my fellow classmates would mention him during a fiddle class and I would always wonder: "Who is this Ted, anyway!?" Although we have both taken Irish fiddle classes many times, we never managed to register for the same session for several years. I also soon pieced together that this 'Ted' character who I never saw in class was one of the guys pictured in the photographs lining the school's hallways.
The legend of Ted grew.I decided one day that it wasn't fair that I knew what Ted looked like but he never knew what I looked like.
The only sensible, natural thing to do was to plot out how to make a picture of myself visible for Ted to stumble upon in the hallway.
I made my own print out of myself fiddling at home, stuck it in a frame similar to the ones already on display, with the caption saying: "Here's Lookin' at you, Ted. c.2010."When I visited my next fiddle class, I had it all ready in my purse, and walked into class (probably 5 minutes late) only to find a man I had never met before sitting in class. IT WAS TED! IT WAS TED! Ted had decided to just drop by on the day I was supposed to unveil my big secret photo!
We hugged and I immediately proceeded to show the class the photo I had intended to install in the hallway. We found a place for it anyway (currently held up on the wall with those sticky tabs) and took photos of ourselves together in front of it.
Here is Ted (above) pointing out another photo with him in it. As of a few days ago, the picture STILL illegally graces the hallway alongside photos of-ahem-other folk legends.I'd like to think it is my own small participation in Culture Jamming. Although I'm definitely not trying to bring Old Town School down. They're hardly "the man." Sources around school tell me no one has mentioned anything. I heard this past weekend that the staff person in charge of installing the photographs (hey there! Are you reading this?) would maybe even like the democratic addition to the photography display anyway. Either way, I mean no harm. I love you Old Town School!
(FYI: We are standing on stairs. Ted is not that tall.)
