After taking a midterm downtown I walked over to Millennium Park to see the Museum of Modern Ice freezamadinugs that’s going to be there through February — a colored ice sculpture that has been nicknamed “The Popsicle.”

I didn’t love it at first. I guess I expected it to be more… something. It didn’t “echo the city’s renowned skyline” as I was told it would. I didn’t get much of a reaction at all. That it was sitting next to, in my opinion, the greatest piece of public art in the world, didn’t help either.

Luckily Shama showed up. She called to see how my midterm went and when I told her I was going to stop by Millennium Park she hopped on a train to meet me there faster than an Evan spilling soup on himself. She’s been wanting to go ice skating since, like, September. After some skating and falling we went up to take another look.

Shama loved it immediately, and the more she talked the more I started appreciating it. When you look up close you can see where pieces broke off, fell, melted, refroze, and melted again. I think I liked seeing it thrive on that zero degree night. The colder the weather, the stronger and more vibrant it gets — just like Chicago.

I was at a loss for what sort of artwork to put on the CD itself so I decided, as I often do, to let my friends do the work for me. I sent an e-mail to a select few asking them to draw a doodle a for me in exchange for a free CD. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough room to give credit to these fine artists in the CD packaging itself, but the Internet has no word limit so I will give credit here.

A. Joe Beshenkovsky says, “It’s a plant! In a pot! I tried some other things but my artistic skills have withered away like so much old skin.” Joe and I worked together at the TV station at Columbia University. I think it looks quite nice.

B. Gordon Wright is as classy as the top hats he draws. He’s also a heck of a singer. If all goes according to plan, you can see Gordon play at the upcoming CD release show for this bad boy. In the meantime, visit his website.

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It took me a second to decode Jason Pickleman’s public art in the new Montrose brown line station. I knew it was supposed to “reflect the street names of the community,” and at first glance the letters look recognizable, but when read left to right, they don’t actually make any sense.  Wolwarashloak?

A clue, however, is etched into the front windows.