V-Day

I spent part of my V-day afternoon observing at the domestic violence court in Chicago. It's the only court of its kind in the country, to my knowledge - it was structured to be victim-focused, and the judge I saw was amazing and considerate. I don't want to say anything about the specifics of what I saw and heard, but suffice it to say that I was reminded of the constant stream of victims who, every day, must seek protection from the abusers who terrorize them.



Chicago Abused Women Coalition

National Domestic Violence Helpline

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence Hotlines and Resources

The Mayor's Office on Domestic Violence

Indubitably, my good man!

Last night disc0 and I had a good old fashioned GAME NIGHT! It was cold-ish, but we walked over to Guthrie's Tavern in Wrigleysville. Guthrie's is one of the first places I ever visited in Chicago, back in the summer of aught five. It's even more fun in the winter, because of the warm-up drinks and the way the front windows get all frosty as the crowds pile in to the bar. And I seriously can't explain how awesome it is that bars are non-smoking now all over the city.

We had yummy drinks: hot toddies to warm up, and then delicious Left Hand Milkstout Beer (mmmm...beer). They don't serve much in the way of food at Guthrie's, but they have a big old pail of delivery menus! I love this concept, and Chicago bars are all about it. So we ordered a pan pizza from D'agostinos. FYI, and as we learned last night, a pan pizza is not in fact a hand tossed pizza, but instead it is a stuffed pizza with slightly less cheese - a healthy choice. (not.) Anyway, the food from outside and the drinks from inside were yummo.

The best part about Guthrie's is their fully stocked game cabinet. We started off with Stratego (it's kind of boring and violent and disc0 won - boo) then we played a couple of games of Ticket to Ride! I had never played before, but heard all about it from Beck and Gar. That game is much fun and has trains in it, which makes it even better.

Yay for game night!

Society Pages

Disc0 and I are finally in the society pages! Specifically, the Click! photo gallery of the Chicago Free Press. We were snapped by a roving photog as we milled about the lobby of the Equality Illinois Justice for All Gala. Today we picked up a paper and there we were. De-lish!

and Mama cooked the breakfast with no hog

Last night, disc0 and I attended Equality Illinois' Justice for All Gala. The law firm I work for was a sponsor of the event, so a number of lawyers, paralegals, and significant others got to sit at the firm table. There were over 1500 people in attendance. The speakers were inspired and inspiring. The lifetime achievement award recipient was a pastor from a Methodist church in our neighborhood who almost lost his position with the church because he insists on providing pre-marital counseling and holy union ceremonies for same sex couples. He lives the work of anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-heterosexism, and in his short speech reminded the crowd that we must insist on celebration, not just tolerance.

The whole evening really fed my soul.

I have been ramping up my efforts to get tapped in to the progressive and public interest community here in Chicago. I miss being around activists and lobbyists and public interest lawyers. I have met some great people in the last few weeks, including last night - by chance, we ended up sitting next to a couple who has been involved in Equality Illinois since the beginning of the organization, and we got along famously, with promises to get together again soon. It was also just wonderful to see all of the candidates who attended the gala, because they know that equality matters to so many Illinois voters. Speaking at one point about ENDA, the Equality Illinois executive director said, "last year, we got anti-discrimination protection for sexual orientation and gender identity passed in Peoria. If gender identity plays in Peoria, there is no reason it shouldn't play in Washington, DC." I can't wait to become more educated about the reality of state politics here, but for the moment it is exhilarating not to be disillusioned.



In other exciting news, I was a huge dork and introduced myself to one of the brilliant women of Gayco as she bopped around on the dance floor. The whole situation was super awkward, but fun (like me). Watch for me describing my VIP passes to all Gayco shows in future blogs.

Disc0 and I also picked up some snazzy items at the silent auction: a package of coupons and offers from different businesses in Andersonville; a bunch of tickets to different historical sites and tours around the city; and a weekend getaway at a little rustic cabin called "Wisdom Ridge" outside of Galena, IL. They don't have a website because they don't have electricity or plumbing. Being stubborn, I still scoured the brochure trying to find information on their spa packages - no dice. Seriously though, I am excited about this one. Contrary to popular belief, I do enjoy camping on occasion (I camped out in a tent in the Namib Desert, where jackals tried to steal our food; I am only partly as boujie as I look). I'm thinking we'll hit it up in April when we can still make use of the wood burning fireplace and there won't be too many biting bugs, but we also won't freeze to death. I'm not boujie, I'm just practical.

For now, I will tide myself over with Andersonville coupons...