Every time I opened my closet, I saw the jumpsuit. Thick denim, dark blue, with a wide 70s-style lapel—beautiful, even on the hanger. Whenever I spotted it, my heart sank. Because it used to fit me, and now it didn’t. I know all bodies change, but I feel betrayed when mine does. Over 18 months […]
Category: City Life
Posted inCity Life
Comfort in the face of the unknown
The numbers boggle the mind. More deaths than AIDS in 40 years, the most recent epidemic in recent memory. More deaths than the 1918 influenza pandemic, previously the deadliest disease event in American history. More deaths than the U.S. Civil War, the deadliest conflict in our nation’s history. More deaths. More. More. More. The COVID-19 […]
Posted inCity Life
Black Harvest Film Festival, reggaetón, and roller skating
It’s getting a wee bit chilly around here but here’s some things to do this week that just might warm you up. Fri 11/19 606 Records and Cleve Carney Museum of Art (CCMA) are teaming up to celebrate Ben LaMar Gay’s new album, Open Arms to Open Us (be sure to read Reader contributor Hannah […]
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From Serbia to Albany Park
Tucked in a side room during September’s Taste of Serbia Festival (an annual event at Old Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Church in Logan Square), Milena Tatic Bajich, 57, and her mom, Ljubica Tatic, 86, were simultaneously showcasing their passions (respectively, Nikola Tesla and textiles). Milena is the director of the Chicago chapter of the Tesla […]
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Dante, shopping, and 70s grooves
Looking for some things to do this weekend and beyond? We’ve got you covered, whether you’re craving theater, dinner, comedy, or . . . stripper drag clowns? Read on, readers! Fri 11/12 Bridge Dance Festival returns to Links Hall (virtually!) tonight and tomorrow, with streamed performances beginning at 7 PM. A project of Asian Improv […]
Posted inPublic Service Announcement
Ragamala, Party People, and Red Stars
Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend, which will give you that wonderful overnight “extra hour” if you happen to be out and about around 2 AM on Sunday morning (you don’t have to go home, but you can’t “save” here, bwahaha!). And the time is going to change whether you’re awake or not, so don’t […]
Posted inCity Life
When the hog butchers left
For just over 100 years, there was the smell. Writer Upton Sinclair called it “an elemental odor, raw and crude,” in The Jungle, his 1906 novel revealing the conditions of Chicago’s Union Stock Yards. “It was rich, almost rancid, sensual, and strong,” he wrote. “There were some who drank it in as if it were […]
Posted inCity Life
Taking the plunge
Early risers who wanted to greet the lake had a place to gather on Friday mornings this summer and fall. Friday Morning Swim Club, a group meetup for early morning swimmers, was created by five friends last summer and has become very popular over the past year. What started as a small gathering surpassed anything […]
Posted inCity Life
We’re here, we’re queer, we’re at the beach
What makes Hollywood Beach and others like it welcoming to LGBTQ+ Chicagoans?
Posted inPublic Service Announcement
Pumpkin destruction, hot clowns, and hardcore
Looking for a little break from the spooky season? While it’s nearly impossible to completely avoid the ghouls and goblins over the next seven days, here’s some events and activities that promise a limited amount of monsters. As always, beware of the emotional vampires – some of them show up year-round! FRI 10/29 If you’re […]
Posted inCity Life
It’s the ghost wonderful time of the year
Here’s a (spooky) sampling of some Halloween and other (horrific) seasonal events and activities coming up (from the shadows of the night) in Chicago and beyond (the living dead). Bwahahahahahaha! Theater, magic, a haunted trail, and arcades The Jigsaw Bride Through 11/14: Wed 8 PM, Thu 3 PM, Sat 4 and 8 PM, Sun 3 […]
Posted inCity Life
Like Tinder in print
A look back at the love stories that started in the pages of the Reader, no swiping necessary
Posted inPublic Service Announcement
B is for Bobcat, Brown N’ Loud Market, and ‘booty bounce’ in this week’s round-up
B is also for bountiful, and there’s no shortage of intriguing events to check out this week, whether you’re looking for serious onstage drama, a musical meditation on Chicago’s lakeshore environment, or a celebration of Black women, queer, trans, femme, and/or gender nonconforming people. Fri 10/22 Shattered Globe Theatre, in association with Interrobang Theatre Project, […]
Posted inCity Life
Tickled pink
“When I walk outside and I’m wearing something pink I feel very girly, which I really like,” says Cheyenne Williams, 19, an early childhood education student at DePaul. “Cutesy and pink, that’s my motto,” she says, while sporting an impeccable Lolita-like ensemble. “I always put my outfit together the night before, no matter where I’m […]
Posted inPublic Service Announcement
From radical literature to ‘schlock and awe’
Drag performances, classical Spanish dance, a radical book fair, b-movies, a ghostly tour of downtown, and some great cooperative community fairs and events are all on the agenda this week. Fri 10/15: If you’ve ever wanted to attend a gayer Met Gala, check out RUFFLES: Berlin Night Club’s “safe space for queer artists to showcase […]