Finally Back in Chicago

It has been exactly nine months since I last posted. During that time, a lot has happened. Most importantly, I moved back to Chicago a few weeks ago. Since I originally started this blog the first time I moved to Chicago, I decided that I should take up the blog again, now that I’ve moved back.

Weekend In My Favorite City

This weekend was my second trip back to Chicago since I moved away in April, and it’s been fantastic. I am exhausted; I needed to cancel my credit card this morning because a stranger has it; and I have to wake up at 4 AM tomorrow morning (and later work until at least 10 PM) — but it has been a phenomenal weekend. 

La Boheme and the American Chamber Opera Company

The American Chamber Opera Company‘s first performance of La Boheme is this weekend in Chicago — November 19th at Saint John Cantius Church (see below for the related Groupon). If you’re in the Chicago area, you should definitely think about going. And in case you’re not familiar with opera, don’t be nervous: the American Chamber Opera Company was founded with the goal of making opera accessible.

To quote the website, the American Chamber Opera Company’s mission is “to perform full-length opera and oratorio in English” and “to convey a true sense of the composer’s intent in each piece, while making relative connections with [their] audiences.” Additionally, “the company looks to find young artists with exceptional talent to perform the roles.”

Helping Students Living with Autism Speak with DonorsChoose.org

Imagine having to navigate through life completely silenced; never being able to tell someone your opinion or communicate your needs. Many of my students living with Autism face this experience every day of their lives.

Mr. Cunningham, a teacher at Hearst Elementary School in Chicago, IL, created a classroom project at DonorsChoose.org called “Helping Students Living with Autism Speak.” He has a class of thirteen students, all of them living with Autism, ranging from second through fifth grade. His project involves using the text-to-speech capabilities of iPod Touches with his students; he writes, “This technology will provide my students with the power of a voice; something many of us take for granted.” Unfortunately, this project will not affect these students’ lives unless the money is raised for the iPods. 

Back In Chicago! (But Only Visiting)

I have spent the past four days in Chicago. After four months and sixteen days away, it was fabulous beyond words to be back. It felt so right. As I started recognizing buildings and street names, it felt a little like coming home. I’m not sure I’d realized how much I miss the city of Chicago, not just the people I love within it.

I lived in Chicago for about nine months — not really all that long a time — and yet it has made such an impact on my life. When people ask me where I’m from, I’ll generally tell them that I’m currently living in the eastern suburbs (of the Twin Cities) but that I spent most of the past year in Chicago (if it seems relevant, I’ll add that I’m originally from the Twin Cities, but I went out east to college near Philly). For whatever reason, Chicago has really captured my heart in a way I never expected.

The Amazingness That Is Genderqueer Chicago

After being in Minnesota for nineteen meetings, I was finally able to be at a Genderqueer Chicago meeting last night, and it made me so ecstatic that I could barely contain myself. So many sparkle fingers. I just kept repeating how happy I was to be there, to be with everyone — to finally be back. I also realized how much being at the meeting helps me to clarify my thoughts about the topics (and to introduce new ideas).

Milk & Honey Cafe

I’ve gone to Milk & Honey Cafe several times — once with my roommate when we were looking for furniture, once with my cousin when she was visiting from Indiana, and once by myself, fairly recently before I left Chicago, because I was really craving a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Milk & Honey Cafe is located on Division, less than a mile away from where my apartment was in Chicago. The food was always excellent; if I’d had more money, I would have been there far more frequently. 

Using Restrooms In (Relative) Safety

I’ve been a bit pressed for time this week and last, due to my new 40-hour-a-week job and 70 mile roundtrip commute each day. So, today’s going be a brief little post highlighting a couple cool restroom-related websites. I’ve posted time and time again about how dangerous public restrooms can be for trans and gender non-conforming folks, how unnecessary it is that restrooms are gendered, and how terrifying and infuriating restroom-policing can be when I’m out with friends. Here are a few projects that try to address these problems. 

What’s Really Going On In Boystown

There has been a great deal of anger, controversy, and discussion regarding recent events in Boystown. Waves of racism have flooded Facebook’s “Take Back Boystown,” often under the pretense of concern about safety, labeling youth of color as a danger to Boystown. Avi Rudnick, project attorney at the Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois (TJLP), has writtten an excellent and insightful article for Windy City Times that views these debates in a new light. He writes, “Instead of focusing on making only Boystown safe for residents, the focus should be on creating communities free from violence.”

Primehouse: A Burger Like No Other

After my trip to David Burke’s Primehouse in Chicago (which I chose because of this review) last March, I have learned two things. First of all, Primehouse has an unbelieveable burger. And secondly, when I go to restaurants by myself, I need to decide what I’m going to order before I enter the restaurant.