Tis the season for Christmas ‘holiday’ gatherings! Kristina’s Santa & Elves party last weekend demanded some sort of dressing up so in the spirit of lazy recycling I wore my one-of-a-kind SexFest 09 Santa hat, and then spent the evening trying to explain how this legendary brand of New Year parties came about. (Josh would have been proud of me.)
The next evening, Agata hosted a gingerbread baking party, which was as well-organised and delicious as it sounds. In a crude attempt to curry favour with US immigration authorities I produced this patriotic American flag cookie, and it was only afterwards – over a fiercely competitive game of Munchkin at Catherine and Jason’s – that anybody pointed out there were too many stripes. Sigh. That Green Card isn’t getting any easier now.
Tasty America
Tuesday night was the culmination of the SPARK mentoring season. Each week, a group of us at work have mentored a middle-school student and worked on a project together, which we now exhibited to their parents on ‘Discovery Night’ in the style of a science fair. (I got unreasonably excited about the opportunity to set up a tri-board, having never done a science fair before, and only recognising it from old episodes of The Simpsons.) It’s been a really rewarding experience – hopefully not just for us – and I’m looking forward to doing more next year.
Earlier in the month, Randi and I had performed the usual routine of going to Common Room and then deciding which plays to see. This time, a quirky two-hander called Matt and Ben seemed promising – a bromance imagining of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck writing Good Will Hunting together back in the 90s, and played by two women. The only problem was that I’d never seen Good Will Hunting, so we watched this first in preparation. And it was… OK. I mean, I didn’t hate it, and there are good performances, but something about characters rubs me up the wrong way. Especially the confused depiction of intelligence as some sort of all-encompassing magical gift. It felt like, and I realise this is stating the obvious, a film written from an actor’s view of the world.
However, it was absolutely worth watching for the sake of the play the next evening, because Matt and Ben was fantastic. The cast were terrific, the direction was tight and pacey, the set had some great 90s touches – everything about it was just well-honed and fun. By the time anyone reads this, I believe the last performance has already taken place, making this quite useless as a review. But if you were thinking of time-travelling a short hop and looking for somewhere to sit inconspicuously to make sure you didn’t upset casualty too much, go see this.
Friday night was the annual Groupon Holiday Party – my first, or my fourth, depending on how you look at things. Feeling like an old man, I took a nap in advance, and this very much enhanced my enjoyment of the whole thing. And Jill was there!
Reunited at the Groupon Holiday Party
Reasoning that only Sam and Michele would notice, I recycled my one-nice-jacket the next night for Nisreen and Mike’s ‘Glimmer and Glitz Winter Cocktail Hour’ (which proves that the SexFest tradition of branding your own events is alive and well in Chicago). This culminated in a game of Apples to Apples, which I’d never played before, but – despite everyone’s best efforts – was not quite as amenable to cheap innuendo as I’d hoped. (Yes yes, as everyone pointed out, that’s what Cards Against Humanity is for. On my list.) But the company was great, and as I wandered home to my increasingly Christmassy apartment, I felt pretty damn festive indeed.
Christmas in Chicago
Once upon a time, a very long time ago on the planet Earth, a species of ape evolved named homo sapiens sapiens, or human beings. At first glance, there seemed to be a lot wrong with these creatures. Their hips were too narrow, their two feet exposed their upright bellies to the world, and when they got frightened little goosebumps on their skin tried in vain to puff out non-existent hair in a futile attempt to look bigger and stronger than they really were.
But human beings had some tricks up their yet-to-be-invented sleeves, too. Their opposable thumbs helped them to fashion tools to make up for their deficiencies. With their special brains, they joined sounds to the world around them. And they were born to be social: they shared these sounds with other human beings, passing them on one to another, making connections, looking for patterns. Not all of the sounds were for the here and now. One human could tell another what was ‘over there’, or ‘back then’, or even ‘yet to be’. They could even imagine things which had never existed at all. Not bad for a hairless ape.
These animals were different to us, but also the same. They had not yet imagined credit cards, original sin or international shipping. But they did know, at least among those who made it to the northern fringes of their planet, that it gets dark at this time of year. The days turn to nights almost as soon as they have begun, and the air is cold, and the trees are bare. It is not an easy time if your body must keep its blood warmer than its surroundings, never letting up for a single moment, just to stay alive.
Some animals sleep through the winter, but apes must see it out. And so they turned to their sounds, their words, and their stories. They told each other, at the darkest moments, that the light would come back. They began to celebrate, and drink, and feast together. They gave each other gifts, and made fires from the logs of trees, and sang songs of the harvests to come.
There are lots of songs, lots of stories and now lots and lots of humans. But Christmas, which is older and wiser than the name it now wears, is not about any particular one of them. It is about the coming together – those apes in the dark – and what they choose to share with each other. And if you celebrate it, you might take a moment to remember our collective ancestors, and how we owe our existence to their making it through.
Oh, and it’s also about hats:
Christmas crackers!
Reunited in Christmassy jumpers
No work this week, in honour of Thanksgiving Cat and Matt visiting. Yay! This was Cat’s first trip to the land of the free and it feels like we packed in almost as much to do as the quantity of food we packed into our bellies, kicking off with a very American folky rockabilly gig (Old Grand Dad, Wild Skies) with Billy and Taylor.
Actually the world’s 12th tallest building
In general the weather did guide us towards indoor activities, and so we did not go and stand in the cold for the Magnificent Mile Christmas parade, but gathered with Agata, Michele and Sam to watch it on TV from the comfort of my apartment instead. This was a good call, not only because we could add some British Christmas touches (think Bucks Fizz, jumpers and Fairytale of New York) but also because we stumbled on Family Fortunes Feud afterwards, which turned into a reliable staple for the rest of the holiday.
Finally made it to Green Mill. Sssh, no talking.
We also saw The Guide to Being Single, a “very musical theatre” guide to dating in Chicago, as well as hitting up the the Chicago History Museum, Willis Tower (during the day this time) and – finally! – Green Mill, a jazz club famous for being a haunt of Al Capone. We weren’t sure if the “no talking” rule would apply to him, because it certainly didn’t seem to apply to the very loud whisperer behind us, but it was a very cool place to me.
Faces for freedom (and stuff) at the Chicago History Museum
Oh, and the food! Deep dish Chicago pizza at Pequod’s, at which Cat and Matt befriended two large men from Philly while I stole their food. Utter devastation at Kuma’s Corner: a heavy metal-themed burger bar where the mac and cheese alone is liable to wipe you out. And not to mention many, many breakfasts at The Windy City Café. But my favourite meal has to be the patented Cat Hurley Sunday roast, which transported me back to the days of Drayton Park. Only with more American football on in the background. Go Bears.
It’s here. It’s happening. In the frozen flows from the outdoor pipe, the biting wind, the stinging in your hands as you fumble too late for gloves: the much warned-about winter is advancing. I’m writing this blog curled under a blanket on the sofa, clasping some life-preserving Tetley tea. Give it a couple more weeks and I might even consider a scarf.
At least the lights are out
At Ellen’s Master of Peppers chilli-making competition on Saturday, Agata and I celebrated being here for five months already. Time really has gone so quickly! (“Don’t blog about this as if all Americans hold chilli-making competitions,” warned Kristina. “And don’t blog that I told you not to, either!”. I’ve officially been here long enough that people are wary of my misreporting… now isn’t that something?)
Last week I also saw two more Common Room promoted plays. The first, Strandline, was an adaptation of a Northern Irish play from a few years ago, and was somewhat… confusing. It’s a shame when you leave a theatre wishing rather meekly for a bit more exposition of the plot: gets in the way of all those emotions you’re supposed to be having. I got more out of Watch on the Rhine (featuring friend-of-the-blog John Stokvis), and not just because of the lovely set, with seats scattered in all four corners of the fancy country house living room. This play dates back to 1941, as an anti-Nazi rallying call for an America not yet at war. It’s not exactly the most subtle of messages: if it was written today, I’m not sure I could stand the strength of the halo which beams from the anti-fascist hero and his too-perfect family. But as a piece of history, it was thought provoking.
Jeff DuBowe on Haarlem globetrotters: “One of our favorite spots. Super walking city. I think we were the ones who told your In-Laws about it…” Oct 14, 15:15
