Category: events

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.

The theater foyer exhibited the history of the motion pictures and the invention of the camera

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.

That’s my Mango California roll – so good!

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!

Board of Directors List

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!)

A Video Of Last Week’s Event

That’s the showcase I attended last week:

No Kings And More

I started the day with a long bike ride and then an escort shift:

It looked like it was going to be a very intense escorting, but the antis disappeared shortly after they marched by us. Our shift leader told us that they were fined on Friday for standing too close to the clinic entrance. If it continues to be like this, I won’t complain.

However, the moment I arrived at the clinic, a security guard told me about the Minnesota killing, which had just happened, and I was so shocked, I could not believe it (and I still can’t). For a moment, it felt like “Are we all going to be safe today?” Later, since we saw crowds passing us on their way to the Daley Plaza, these fears vanished, though the anger remains.

It was definitely a much bigger crowd than at the Hands Off rally, but same as in April, I managed to get pretty close to the center of events. I didn’t stay till the end of the march (there were at least three separate groups that took slightly different routes, and I think that marching to the Trump Tower was not in the original plans), but what I saw lifted up my spirit.

Below are some pictures and short videos taken during the rally and observing three marching groups.

Approaching Daley Plaza
Continue reading “No Kings And More” →

Knox Commencement

Yesterday, when I chatted with a Knox alumnus, Governor Pritzker’s commencement address came up again. I shared how I wanted to go to Galesburg and how that didn’t happen, and he said, “It’s online; you can watch it!”

Indeed, I completely forgot that I meant to watch it! And yes, it’s not the same as being there in Galesburg, but still much better than not seeing it at all!

I watched it today, and cried a little bit (more than once), and listened to almost the whole ceremony, but to Pritzker’s address especially.

His closing remarks were: How do you know you are on the right side of history? The wrong side of history wants you to be afraid. The right side of history expects you to be brave.

Our country needs us to be brave; all of us, not just Knox graduates.

I do not know any of the 2025 graduates in person; still, I watched the ceremony and looked at their faces with hope. Watched until the last note of “For the long, long road to Alma Mater.” And it was inspiring.