Being a boomer in a Bulls hat

Plus: Crawford's "Mommie Dearest" [View this email in your browser]( [READER Logo]( Daily Reader | June 18, 2024 Over the weekend, I took a long drive to visit an old friend who lives in a southwest suburb way west of Western Avenue. I was parked outside of what I thought was my friend’s house. I walked to the front door and then I heard voices coming from the back. I figured that my friend was in the rear with her friends. I walked along the driveway to the backyard, which was empty. It was a steamy hot day and I was sweating like a horse. Suddenly, it was quiet. That’s when I realized the voices actually had come from the neighbor’s backyard. And those talkers were now silently staring at me from over the fence as if they were thinking, “Who are you and what do you want?” A woman in a tank top stepped through the gate and walked up to me. Now, I often joke that when I look in the mirror, I see a young Paul Newman. But most people would see me for what I am: a boomer in a Bulls hat, cargo shorts and Hokas. Lord knows what this woman saw as she eyed me with suspicion. “Who ya looking for?” she asked. No hello, no “How ya doin’?” “I’m looking for G,” I said. “She’s my friend.” “Never heard of her—what’s the address?” I read the address off of my phone. “Wrong house,” she said. “That’s down the street.” ”Oh, man,” I said. “I reversed the numbers. It’s that dyslexia kicking in.” The eyes were still watching me from over the fence. “I’ve been reversing numbers my whole life.” To which she said, “Down the street.” So much for chit chat. As I headed toward my friend’s house, I briefly turned my head and saw the woman watching me walk away. Like she was just making sure. The good news is I had a great time at my friend’s—laughing at stories old and new, while brushing off the cicadas that occasionally jumped out at us from the bushes. Yes, we were in the land of cicadas. But I couldn’t get that brief confrontation with the tank-topped lady out of mind. As edgy as it went, I concluded things may have gone worse if I didn’t look like who I am—a boomer in a Bulls hat, cargo shorts, and Hokas. Call it white privilege—because that’s what it was. [Logo with text: The Ben Joravsky Show. Features man wearing a cap and headphones, and Chicago flag stars.]( 🎙 [Listen to The Ben Joravsky Show]( 🎙 ◈ Fervor by [Toby Lloyd](. Think Rosemary's Baby meets Goodbye, Columbus. Riveting debut novel by an impressively talented young British writer. ◈ [Kerry Reid]( on Oscar Wilde. ◈ [Ben Joravsky]( (from 2012): Mayor Rahm’s TIF movie. ◈ Personal PAC’s [Sarah Garza Resnick]( reflects on two years after Dobbs. ◈ Author and Roosevelt University associate professor [David Faris]( on the president’s son. ◈ CHGO Sky podcast host [Chris Pennant]( on the politics of basketball. [The Media Mixer, plus Méliès and Go Fish]( The Chicago Film Archives has hosted a yearly media mixer in which three local visual artists and three musicians are paired to create a short work with archival footage. by [Kat Sachs]( | [Read more]( → [Red Summer family drama]( The Prodigal Daughter concludes Joshua Allen’s “Grand Boulevard Trilogy.” by [Kerry Reid]( | [Read more]( → [a conductor and a pianist onstage in front of a orchestra]( [Opera as oratorio]( Haymarket’s La Resurrezione brings an early Handel work back to life. by [Deanna Isaacs]( | [Read more]( → [Camp Crawford]( With Love, Mommie Dearest goes behind the scenes of the infamous biopic. by [Deanna Isaacs]( | [Read more]( → Chicago's first Pride Parade was in 1970, one year after the Stonewall riots of 1969 and one year before the Reader launched. The Reader has been celebrating the LGBTQ+ community ever since. In recent years, we’ve helped put [Swappin’ Boots]( [Dim Sum & Drag]( and other queer community events on the city’s calendar; reported on [the fight for gender-affirming care during the pandemic]( elevated trailblazing Chicagoans like [trans public school teacher Karen Topham]( and [“Chicago’s gay granddaddy of tattooing," Cliff Raven]( and so much more. [CHECK OUT THIS YEAR’S PRIDE ISSUE!]( Get the latest issue of the Chicago Reader Thursday, June 13, 2024 [READ ONLINE: VOL. 53, NO. 19]( [VIEW/DOWNLOAD ISSUE (PDF)]( [Donate to the Chicago Reader.]( [Facebook icon]( [Instagram icon]( [Twitter icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [YouTube icon]( [Website icon]( [Logo] You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from the Chicago Reader. Want fewer emails from us? [Click here to choose what you want us to send you](. Or, [unsubscribe from all Reader emails](. We’ll miss you! [Sign up for emails from the Chicago Reader]( | [Forward this e-mail to a friend]( © 2024 Chicago Reader. All rights reserved. Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616