mojosmom

My local college alumnae group had arranged to gather at Millennium Park for dinner, conversation and the concert, which was George Fenton's Frozen Planet, music he wrote for the BBC program. The film was shown while the music was played and Fenton conducted.

It was an absolutely gorgeous night, in terms of weather. Low '70s and a very slight lake breeze. Slightly more than halfway through the program, an unscheduled intermission occurred, so we could all enjoy the Navy Pier fireworks, visible from the Park despite being several blocks away.

Because they needed to wait for the sun to set because of showing the film, the concert was later than usual (8:30 rather than the normal Wednesday 6:30 start), but that was fine as it gave us more time to gab. About a dozen people showed up, from recent grads to retirees, so quite a range! I got there in plenty of time, despite a bus detour and lots of traffic, both due to Taste of Chicago, which opened yesterday. Our driver was blessed with good reflexes, because some of the drivers in the traffic were engaging in some rather dangerous maneuvers, like turning right in front of the bus! The extra travel time, however, did give me the opportunity to have a nice chat with a couple from Colorado who were visiting Chicago for the first time. They were enjoying the architecture, and I gave them some tips on where to go and what to see. (Wearing my unofficial Chicago tourism bureau hat!)

I got home late, though, almost 11:00, and had a bit of a hard time getting to sleep. So I slept in a bit this morning, and then got a bunch of stuff at the farmers market. I decided I want to make more gazpacho, so I picked up bell peppers, cucumbers and cilantro to add to the tomatoes I already have.

So later in the morning, I heard some honking in the alley. I poked my head out, and saw a garbage truck trying to enter the alley for the pick-up. However, some jerk had left a rental truck parked in such a way that there was no possible way for the garbage truck to get by. Nobody could find the person who'd left it there, either. So the police were called, another garbage truck backed into the alley, eventually the first one backed out, went around and backed in. It was a mess. The yellow truck in the picture below now has a ticket on the window. Personally, I think they should have towed his ass:

Years ago, I was quite active in the Barnard College Club of Chicago, but, as with many organizations, a few people did most of the organizing, and as life moved on, so did they (we), and the Club became moribund. A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a couple of alumnae who want to revive the Club, so I went to an organizational meeting on Thursday evening. There was quite a good turnout - about a dozen people, including a couple of women who were also active back in the day. It sounds as though there is more communication and support from the College than was true in the past, so I am hopeful that this will get off the ground.

Friday, I rented The Golden Compass, which I enjoyed very much, and I still want every outfit Nicole Kidman (Mrs. Coulter) wore! I do think that they should have used the "Battle on the Ice" music from Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky for the final battle scene!

Yesterday, I got much accomplished. I took my car in for an oil change, which was quickly done. In fact, the car was washed and delivered before I'd finished up with the cashier. Should I, however, blame the wash for the fact that it is now pouring rain? Then I: paid bills, picked up books at the library, went to the bank, dry cleaners, grocery store, post office (bought a bunch of "forever" stamps!), and drug store, returned the movie to Blockbuster, came home and did a couple of loads of laundry. Whew! Then I went across the street to a Style Central, a local home décor store, where the owner was having a special Mother's Day event, with champagne and munchies.

Last night was the performance of Bach's Coffee Cantata that I'd mentioned in a previous post. It was tremendous fun! Turned out, it was more than just a performance of the cantata. I got there shortly before the listed starting time, only to discover that the first half-hour was a coffee service! They'd laid out pastries and strawberries, and coffee and tea, and actually encourage people to take them into the recital hall. Then, the members of the ensemble, singly and in various combinations, played bits and pieces of other Bach works. Then on to the main event, which I enjoyed very much. It was cleverly staged, beautifully costumed, and the performers were clearly having the time of their lives. The soprano was in particularly good voice. After that, the three singers and the harpsichordist treated us to operatic selections from Gluck and Mozart.

The performance was by the University of Chicago Cantata Collegium which, according to the program (by the way, whoever did the program obviously has a great sense of humor, because on the back there is a brown splotch and ring, like someone spilled coffee on it!), has a goal of "implement[ing] the University's interdisciplinary curriculum as a model for artistic collaboration, and poulariz[ing] the art of opera through free public programming." I'd say they are off to a good start - the room was full. And what an interesting group it is! The stage manager is off to Paris this summer, "where she will be designing parts for jet planes", the second violin will be in India at the Centre on Micro Finance, the set designer is a philosopher, and the flutist is a post-doc in biophysics!

After the concert, I decided to try a new restaurant in the neighborhood. It's actually been open several months, and is owned by the same people who have a very good Thai noodle place. This one, Chant, is advertised as "Asian Inspired Global Cuisine". I am sorry to say that I was disappointed. I had a chicken curry, which, while decent, was not as good as the one at the noodle place. The service was not very good; I had quite a wait for the menu, and later for the bill. And it's noisy! I really don't like noisy restaurants. It's bad enough when you are alone, but I hate going out with friends and being unable to carry on a conversation without shouting. Unfortunately, this is a problem at too many restaurants these days, including so-called "upscale" ones (in fact, it's rather more of a problem with those, I think).

This afternoon, I'm off to hear Don Giovanni!