Love it-love it-love it!!!
I am copying this review from the Evanston Round Table, because I think it will be removed from the newspaper website very soon!
The Sentinels at Theo
Category: events
What I Liked Most About Our Aquarium Visit
The best part was that they didn’t change anything about the fight against climate change. Not only did all the notes in the exhibits stay as they were, including the Wild Reef and Amazon Rising, but they are also repeating this message during the dolphin show and other spotlight events.
I remember how, at the beginning of the year, several Chicago museums sent out the patron surveys asking the visitors’ opinion about the museum’s mission, supporting science and education, etc. I believe that the answer was almost unanimous, and when there is a will, there is a way.
“The Magic of Rogers and Hammerstein”
It’s one of my favorite summer concerts, and for the past several years, I have been trying not only to attend this concert but also to get tickets closer to the stage.
Before the concert, my neighbor and I tried a new French cafe. Just a couple of days before, I noticed a new cafe on North Michicgan Avenue, and thought the it would be nice to check whether they are open in the evening:I constantly lament about the disappearance of the inexpensive food options in the early evening hours; the places I oculd have a dinner before a show ora concert without breaking the bank. Panera, Cosi and Pret – all of them are mostly gone, and those that are left, close at 3 PM. The place which I spotted, Lea, reminded me of Toni Patissery, that didn’t survive the pandemic. I noticed that they are open until 7 PM, and decided to give it a try before the Friday concert.
It was great, both the food and desserts, and reasonably priced ($32, including the tip) for the meal below.
The concert was great, and although it looked like it was about to rain, it didn’t rain except for a couple of drops during the intermission. The seats were great, and I could see everything what was going on on stage. After my most recent surgery I can see very well even without glasses or contacts (except for the reaing glasses), but it was a little bit problematic to see things on stage. However, in June, I got contacts for both eyes for a perfect long-distance vision. I do not wear them every day, because I am fine without any visial aid most of the time, and also, when I have them on, I need a stronger reading glasses (I can’t even see the phone without them).
But for the performance, it was perfect! Eve though we were not in the front row, I could see everything!
I have a ticket for one more concert, which I will probably skip, and then Carmina Burana with my French guests in August.
The Factory Theater
The Factory Theater was the last of our neighborhood theaters that was on my to-see list, and that was the first time I finally went to see a performance there. The play description looked incredibly appealing:
Also, I realized that the past Saturday was the last opportunity to see it, so I made an effort, even though I was tired and had a million things to do.
Probably because I had high expectations, it was a slightly disappointing experience. The show “didn’t hold,” which would be understandable if it were an opening night, but that was the closing. I can’t say anything in particular about what exactly was bad, but it felt less professional than three other neighborhood storefront theaters I patronize. I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt: it could be just a one-off, or it could be that I was tired, so I am going to try it at least one more time next season.
Prairie PUG
We couldn’t have a meetup in June because an intersection of my availability and our Training Center availability was empty:). That’s a very mathematical description of the situation, but no matter how you describe it, I didn’t have enough energy to look for an alternative, and we didn’t meet.
Yesterday’s meetup was great! I can tell it by how I felt. Finally, I was relaxed and could talk to everyone freely, and didn’t have any worries in the background. A person who was presenting was doing it for the first time; there were some issues, but he handled it well. The audience was very engaged, and the conversation after the meetup lasted until I asked people to leave because I needed to catch the train 😀.
One of the regulars said to me: I do not think I ever told you that, but what you are doing is so inspiring! You do no have to do all the things you are going, but you are doing it for the community! I am not going to lie, I was very happy to hear that!
Beauty and the Beast
The Beauty and the Beast show was a part of my subscription. If it won’t be the case, I wouldn’t suggest taking the girls there, but since it was a subscription, and it was running on the week they were here, it was difficult to resist. I changed the tickets from Tuesday to Friday, and got the extra three.
The show was absolutely out of this world! Amazing! Nadia really enjoyed it, although it ended too late, and she was tired. Kira was scared in the beginning, and then fell asleep after the intermission, so it was not a great experience for her. Also, it was a rather long day: the last day of camp, then I took all three of the girls to do nails.
Then we had dinner at Ryo Sushi.
Then we went to Amorino for gelato flower, walked a little bit at the Millennium park, and finally went to see the show.
Below are some official photos:
LPI
LPI stands for Linux Professional Institute, and that’s yet another not-for-profit I got involved with. Last Thursday, I participated in my first Board meeting, where I was officially installed as new board member. The meeting was scheduled for two hours, and I was wondering why we need two hours for such a small adgenda. But the actual meeting lasted for two and a half hours!
All discussions were very interesting and informative, and I learned a lot (and next time I will know that it might take that long!) but my Thurday feelings were: OMG! How did I end up here, and how I have to do this for three years!
Independence Day Salute Concert
Unlike some people (whose decision I respect), I didn’t treat this year’s Independence Day as a day of mourning, nor did I complain that our independence is taken away or compromised. Same way as always, I refuse to let Trump claim ownership over America, over our independence, and our way of living. Nobody can take it away, and I am ready to fight. Retrospectively, I should have planned this day differently, for example, by attending the Evanston 4th of July parade to support people who are doing it the right way. And possibly finding some legal fireworks around, because there were too many illegal ones, including the one in our courtyard! We will plan it better next year! This year, I am still recovering from the stress of the previous several months, so I hope I can be forgiven :).
I went to the Independence Day Salute concert in Millennium Park (I have a subscription again, and I had really nice seats). I took my mom to this concert; fortunately, this time, there was no rain in the middle of the concert (like two years ago), and she liked everything, and didn’t even complain about not understanding what Christopher Bell was saying. I consider it a success 🙂
Pride Month
Pride Month is over. I saw a little bit of the Pride Parade in Helsinki (it happened despite the rain, but I didn’t want to stay around for long in the rain).
It looks like Chicago’s Pride parade was great, and as many commentators mentioned, “more defensive.”
All the right people were there and calling for resistance:
While I was away, my Immigration Equality t-shirt had arrived, and when I came to work on Monday, I found a Pride t-shirt from our Pride Employee Resource Group. I like them both and hope to wear them next summer, but I am especially proud of my firm, which supports LGBTQ+ employees.
Haymarket Opera
When you live in Chicago, you never stop discovering new cultural institutions and new activities. I don’t remember where I learned about the Haymarket Opera Company, but when I read about them, I knew immediately that I wanted to see their performance at least once.
Today it finally happened – I attended the last performance of Artaserse – an opera written by Leonardo Vinci (no, the other one!) In today’s performance, all roles except for one (Mandane) were cast by male singers. The opera was four hours long! (Good thing it started at 6 PM!)
The venue is very close to where I live (on the Fullerton Campus of DePaul), so it’s just over 30 minutes door-to-door.
The concert hall is small and extremely convenient, with a perfect view of the stage from any seat.
The production was very true to history in terms of acting, set, and costumes – everything was like the operas were produced in the 18th century, and that’s what Haymarket Opera is famous for.
Another thing I noticed was that the audience felt like a very close community, with “their usual seats” and such, and people were greeting each other before taking their places. Still, I was not miserable about being an outsider (and I survived a four-hour opera – some patrons left during the second intermission!)
Hettie's Reflections 