• Did a Chicagoan pick out that carpet?

It was nice to see owner Mark Fishman introduce The Shining at the Logan Theater on Friday night, even if his speech was little more than a reminder not to text during the movie. Taking pride in your theater (as Fishman did in interviews around the time of the Logan’s reopening) is one thing; it’s another to show up for a midnight screening just to wish your patrons well. Between Fishman’s greeting and the short round of preshow trivia questions hosted by one of the staff, the screening felt like a genuine gathering—the sort of thing that’s been all the rage in Logan Square for the past year or two. Open-mic comedy at Cole’s Bar, come-as-you-are arts events at Comfort Station (where I was surprised to find about 50 people at a free outdoor screening of Murmur of the Heart last month), the impromptu game night I encountered at Cafe Mustache on a recent weeknight: the neighborhood, occupied still more or less benignly by 20-something refugees of the suburban middle class, seems eager to celebrate community for its own sake. The sentiment may seem at times naive or overly earnest; but considering this generation spends so much time in isolation online, I find it easy to appreciate the impulse behind it.