Neo-Futurists, Public Library, Aquarium

On Sunday, continuing our quest to see things we could only see in Chicago, we went to see the Neo-Futurist show, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. Thirty plays in sixty minutes--wow! Of course at an average of less than two minutes per play, they were more like subplaylets. Some were absolutely great, however. (If you are planning on going, you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph, as the element of surprise definitely adds to the experience.) I particularly loved "Mr. Science Demonstrates Othello" (Othello was played by an oreo cookie, and Desdemona by--of course--a candle, but that was just the beginning!!) and "229 Words From A Cork-Screwing Mother-Fucker" (don't those anthropomorphic-looking corkscrews always look like they would have something to say if they could talk!?), but most were in fact quite entertaining. And would you believe it--the stars of #22, "Kiss", were (you guessed it?) US. Ever wonder if you could make out on stage in front of hundreds of people? Well, we could and did! In fact, it was pretty sexy. Not that we'll be going into the porn business or anything, but it did give the whole experience an extra charge of excitement.

Anyway, I give them 5 stars and would definitely go again. It was a superb experience.

On Monday, to get some work done, I headed down to the main branch of the Chicago Public Library. I'm really sorry I didn't take a camera, because it was an amazing place. All shining and marble and clean-looking, but also very much for the public. Anyone can go it, and it's even a designated heat-wave shelter. The upshot of all this is a somewhat uncomfortable fascist feeling about the place (lots of aggressive-looking people in uniforms), making it a not wholly ideal work environment, but all the same I'm totally glad it exists, and would probably go back. They had some dynamite origami books (also making it a not wholly ideal work environment) and I learned some cool new folds. Also, the ninth floor is an incredibly beautiful atrium space, all green and marbly.

I spent a lot of time trying to get the free wireless to work, and it does work, but it's a bit flaky. Well, you can't have everything.

Finally, yesterday after I'd had a quite respectable jag of dissertation work in the morning, Colin and I headed down to the Shedd Aquarium. As always with aquariums, it was a bit on the expensive side (came out to $20 apiece averaged out, Colin being a Chicago resident--25% discount--and I not). But it was grand, and more than we could see all of in an afternoon. The special exhibit currently is lizards. Such spectacular lizards!

Below are some other pictures I fondly took:













Okay, I know they're all reptiles except for the penguins. I could have taken pictures of dolphins or sea otters or fish or something. But what can I say, I'm just a herpophile!