Igor’s Photos From The April 5 Protest
Category: events
And More From the Hands Off Rally
I don’t know what it tells about Annd and me, but we thought going to the protest after the Children’s concert in the CSO was a great idea, and so we did. And there were a lot of other parents who brought their children of all ages to the rally, so at least in this part of our plan, we were not an exception.
While we were at the rally, Igor mentioned that the number of participants was estimated to be about 30 K. This is not as massive as the anti-Trump rallies eight years ago, but it is still a good step in the right direction.
Today’s Rally
I will post my pics shortly – most of mine are different!
Two Operas
This week, I attended two operas in Lyric, and that’s it for this season. The first one was La Boheme. It was the first time that I listened to it live, and I loved every moment of it! Everything was perfect, the acting, the set and the costumes, and all the voices were out of this world! I am reposting the photos from the Lyric Opera website, because I know they will be gone soon!
Two days later, I went to the Listeners. My neighbor read the reviews and said she did not want to go, but I was intrigued and went alone. I have nothing against modern operas, and was open to hearing something new. When I read that this opera is about “a cult,” I became unsure but decided to give it a try.
In the end, it was not my thing. Or rather, I do not think that the story was opera material. The promotional video looks tons better than the opera itself. But maybe it’s just me!
Member’s Night at Aquarium
On Friday, I left work earlier and took a train to Milwaukee to pick up Nadia and Kira for the Shedd Aquarium Member’s Night. We already did it multiple times: Anna brings the girls to the train station, I get out, pick up the girls, and hop on the same train. That works great because the wait is minimal, and there is no risk of missing the train: it’s actually the same train going back!
I have many reasons to be proud of my granddaughters, one of which is that they can walk a long distance without complaints and understand what it means to wait for a bus or for the museum doors to open. We ended up walking most of the way from the Union Station to the Aquarium, with only a short Red Line ride in between two strides, and they did great 🙂
The Shedd is undergoing a major renovation, but some parts are already open, including the former Rotunda reimaged as two exhibits:
These are two live ecosystems: one with fresh water and one with salt water, and some parts of the glass are magnifying. The best part is that the systems live and evolve, so the promise is that each time you come, you see a slightly different
Nadia’s personal achievement was that she finally touched a sea star 🙂 (not pictured). and a couple of creepy creatures we spotted – there were more, but we were very busy watching!
Friends! In case you are wondering – life is getting on my way again 🙂 But I am alive and well! Probably too much alive!!!
A Turnaway Play
Tuesday was the day of the DevOps conference, and after it was over, I went to one more event: a staged reading of the excerpts from the Turnaway Play, a play by Lesley Lisa Greene that looks at what really happens when a woman is denied access to abortion. The play was inspired by the Turnaway study, which offered the first scientific examination of the consequences of abortion bans. The reading was followed by a discussion with Personal PAC CEO Sarah Garza Resnick and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss.
Several things were interesting about this event. The venue was Theo Ubique Cabaret, which I patronize several times a year, and it was a political fundraiser I hadn’t attended for a while. Adding to that, the topic is really close to my heart, and I felt the unity and readiness to fight, which I didn’t feel for a while.
The best moment from the play reading was when the lecturer posed a question to the class. She described a young woman getting into exciting educational program, being able to participate in a research of her dream. However, she does any rainy day fund, and she is not in a stable relationships, and she finds out that she is pregnant. What should she do? – asked the lecturer. Should she get abortion or should she keep the baby? And the answer is: it’s not your business! Only she can decide what’s the best for her! And that’s the statement I agree with 1000%!
The political speeches were very empowering. Sarah Resnick and Daniel Biss talked about the importance of the local elections and our commitment to defend the humanitarian values locally when the federal governments doesn’t. So were the talks with the guest – I didn’t feel so good for a very long time!
Overall, this day, which ran from 7 AM to 9 PM, was prefect: revitalizing and inspiring.
Constructing Hope: Ukraine
Saturday was the day of St. Patrick’s celebration, but I did anything but that. In the morning, I was in the clinic escort, and then I walked to the CAC because I wanted to see two new exhibits and buy Chicago River Cruise tickets for people coming in April.
Unfortunately, the shortest way from the clinic to the CAC building is along the Chicago River, and unfortunately, that was precisely when they started to dye the river green!
A side note: two years ago, when I was in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day, I was shocked to see how calmer and more civilized the celebration was there!
The last two shots were taken from the windows of the Chicago Architectural Center, and my goal was to see the Constructing Hope: Ukraine exhibit.
This exhibit showcases the work of grassroots initiatives to support short- and long-term Ukrainian reconstruction efforts. While the exhibit space is filled with first-aid sheltering kits, Co-Haty project works, and design ideas, the video monitors screen the footage of the crews asserting the damage to the buildings, women crying over the ruins of their homes, cursing the invaders. To be honest, that left me with hopelessness rather than hope, but that was how that day went.
By the end of the day on Saturday, having clinic escort in the morning, then seeing this exhibit, and then watching Under the Grey Sky, I felt like there were so many real threads in the world that all my troubles and fights were absolutely not important and I have no right to be upset about them.
I still do, though 🙂
Belarus’ Resistance
To add to my yesterday’s post, a couple of pictures from the Siskel Center foyer where Mara Tomkevich posed with one of the activists of the Chicago Belarusian community and audience members.
She is amazing, and I keep thinking about this movie and how powerful it is. During the Q&A, Tomkevich mentioned that all the scenes from the rallies and arrests were the actual footage and even the soundtrack to the scene by the prison gate was recorded by the prison.
It’s so sad and so unfair that so few people know about the events of 2020 in Belarus, about resistance, rallies, arrests, and prosecution. I hope this movie will spark some interest in these events and that the struggles of the Belarusian opposition will be more widely acknowledged.
Last Week In Review
I had some events to attend every day of that week, plus trying to get six hours of sleep every day (hopeless), plus everything else.
Out of the six cultural events I attended last week, one was “above categorization” (the screening of the “20 Days in Mariupol), two were in the category “OK, but I won’t lose much if I didn’t attend,” and three were great.
The two were “The Fat Ham” in Goodman
and “Clue” at the CIBC theater.
The audience was ecstatic at both shows, so I guess I should attribute my ambivalence to “I am not in the mood for “just funny” things” these days.
The ones I loved.
Continue reading “Last Week In Review”20 Days In Mariupol
The Siskel Center ran “20 Days in Mariupol” as part of their Shadows of the War Lecture series, which meant that this documentary was a part of the curriculum for the students of the Art Institute of Chicago. The tickets were also sold to the general public, so I got a chance to watch it (without advertising).
It’s incredibly painful to watch this documentary right now, with Trump doing what he is doing, with the UN resolution, and everything related. Adding all the other battles I have to fight these days, it feels like the whole world is against me, and all the evil forces are coming from one source (which is not true).
I do not think I can add any meaningful comments about this documentary. In the beginning, the lecturer mentioned that “there is not much reading available” for it, but I am sure that there will be plenty and that it will remain in the history of war documentaries as an outstanding journalistic work. And I hope that the time will come when it will be presented as evidence of war crimes to the International Tribunal.
Today, however, it feels like nobody is held accountable for all these atrocities.
You can watch the whole documentary here if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet.
Hettie's Reflections 