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Continuing the holidaze . . .
Dec. 14th, 2011 03:01 pmI am finding this year that I am attending far more holiday events than in the past. This is, I am sure, due to the fact that the logistics of going to and fro are easier now that I am retired. Depending on where I'm going, I can use public transportation and not worry about parking (where & how much!). I can go to events that start early or end late, without having to think about work hours. So I'm very social!
I went to two bar-related events last week. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers had a cocktails/hors d'œuvres/recruiting event one day, and the next my law school had a cocktails/hors d'œuvres event. I dashed from that second one to the December Second Friday Open Studios at the Fine Arts Building. Turned out that, because of the holidays, a lot more studios were open than usual, and there were some additional musical and performance things going on. There was a partridge in a pear tree:
and the Venetian Courtyard was open!
On Saturday, my AAUW chapter had its December/holiday meeting, and that night I went to the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus "Holly Follies" at Rockefeller Chapel.
On Sunday, I went to the Jazz Institute's members party and then to Casa Italiana's Festa di Natale. At the Jazz Institute party, I ran into a former colleague of mine whom I haven't seen in years, and the odd thing was that at one of the bar events, someone else who knew her and I were wondering what she was up to. So now I know, and we exchanged emails and will keep in touch.
Monday, the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre had a "thank you" reception for the Saints, and while I was there I signed up to usher at a couple of productions next year. Then off to the Poetry Foundation for a reading of Christmas poems, including Talking Turkey, a highly amusing poem. The reading was followed by noshes and drinks.
If I end up looking like Santa Claus (that is, fat!), you know why!
In non-holiday stuff --
Yesterday was the 60th birthday of our local classical radio station, 98.7 WFMT, so they had a day of music (ten hours) at the Cultural Center. I was able to get there for the first three hours (but had to get home for a couple of conference calls for boards that I'm on). I missed Nicole Cabell, but was there for harpsichordist David Schrader, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, The Lincoln Trio, the Orbert Davis Quintet, and tenor Rene Barbera.
I've also been to usher for In the Jungle, an adaptation of a Bertolt Brecht play that is benefiting the Howard Brown Health Center. A worthy cause, but I think there's a reason this Brecht play is not frequently produced. It's not his best.
I spent a long evening at the Gene Siskel Film Center, too, seeing two John Turturro films in one sitting: La Passione, about Neapolitan music (and history and society), and Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy, dealing with the puppet theatre there. Both excellent!
A variety of Teatro Vista-related events: a reading of a new play that will probably be part of the Tapas reading series in the spring, lunch with a prospective board member, and a workshop with grant funders.
I went to two bar-related events last week. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers had a cocktails/hors d'œuvres/recruiting event one day, and the next my law school had a cocktails/hors d'œuvres event. I dashed from that second one to the December Second Friday Open Studios at the Fine Arts Building. Turned out that, because of the holidays, a lot more studios were open than usual, and there were some additional musical and performance things going on. There was a partridge in a pear tree:
and the Venetian Courtyard was open!
On Saturday, my AAUW chapter had its December/holiday meeting, and that night I went to the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus "Holly Follies" at Rockefeller Chapel.
On Sunday, I went to the Jazz Institute's members party and then to Casa Italiana's Festa di Natale. At the Jazz Institute party, I ran into a former colleague of mine whom I haven't seen in years, and the odd thing was that at one of the bar events, someone else who knew her and I were wondering what she was up to. So now I know, and we exchanged emails and will keep in touch.
Monday, the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre had a "thank you" reception for the Saints, and while I was there I signed up to usher at a couple of productions next year. Then off to the Poetry Foundation for a reading of Christmas poems, including Talking Turkey, a highly amusing poem. The reading was followed by noshes and drinks.
If I end up looking like Santa Claus (that is, fat!), you know why!
In non-holiday stuff --
Yesterday was the 60th birthday of our local classical radio station, 98.7 WFMT, so they had a day of music (ten hours) at the Cultural Center. I was able to get there for the first three hours (but had to get home for a couple of conference calls for boards that I'm on). I missed Nicole Cabell, but was there for harpsichordist David Schrader, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, The Lincoln Trio, the Orbert Davis Quintet, and tenor Rene Barbera.
I've also been to usher for In the Jungle, an adaptation of a Bertolt Brecht play that is benefiting the Howard Brown Health Center. A worthy cause, but I think there's a reason this Brecht play is not frequently produced. It's not his best.
I spent a long evening at the Gene Siskel Film Center, too, seeing two John Turturro films in one sitting: La Passione, about Neapolitan music (and history and society), and Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy, dealing with the puppet theatre there. Both excellent!
A variety of Teatro Vista-related events: a reading of a new play that will probably be part of the Tapas reading series in the spring, lunch with a prospective board member, and a workshop with grant funders.
