Chicago

[andyhat]

I had an excellent time in Chicago. The three operas were all fantastic (Handel's Partenope, and Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera and La Traviata). Elizabeth Futral's Partenope and Veronica Villarroel's Amelia were the highlights, but as usual, all of the casts were wonderful.

I got to have pizza at Lou Malnati's and Edwardo's, Berghoff's homemade bratwurst, and Leona's baked garlic chicken. I love Chicago dining.

And, of course, I also got to spend a decent amount of time reading (yes, I did take quite a stack of books and magazines, and yes, I do print out all the online stories because I hate reading fiction on screen):

• Short Stories
  
  • Very Good
    
    • Lalumière, Claude. "The Ethical Treatment of Meat". The Book of More Flesh.
      
  • Good
    
    • Fowler, Christopher. "The Green Man". The Third Alternative Summer 2002.
      
    • Little, Bentley. "Maya's Mother". The Collection.
      
    • Piccirilli, Tom. "Naked Shall I Return". The Book of More Flesh.
      
• Novelettes
  
  • Very Good
    
    • Bell, M. Shayne. "The Pagodas of Ciboure". The Green Man.
      
    • Brown, Shane M. "Lucy Lucy". Aurealis #29.
      
    • Bull, Emma. "Joshua Tree". The Green Man.
      
    • Burns, Stephen L. "Look Away". Analog 5/02.
      
    • Cardin, Matt. "Teeth". Children of Cthulhu.
      
    • Coward, Mat. "Time Spent in Reconnaissance". Interzone 8/02.
      
    • Cowdrey, Albert E. "The Boy's Got Talent". F&SF 9/02.
      
    • Di Filippo, Paul. "Ailoura". Once Upon a Galaxy.
      
    • Di Filippo, Paul. "Shipbreaker". Sci Fiction 10/02.
      
    • Doctorow, Cory. "0wnz0red". Salon 8/02.
      
    • Duntemann, Jeff. "Drumlin Boiler". Asimov's 4/02.
      
    • Evans, Christopher. "Posterity". Interzone 9/02.
      
  • Good
    
    • Blau, Gala. "The Routine". The Third Alternative Summer 2002.
      
    • Calder, Richard. "Zarzuela". Interzone 4/02.
      
    • Chapman, Stepan. "State Secrets of Aphasia". Leviathan 3.
      
    • de Lint, Charles. "Somewhere in My Mind There Is a Painting Box". The Green Man.
      
    • Dellamonica, A.M. "Living the Quiet Life". Oceans of the Mind Winter 2002.
      
    • Dellamonica, A.M. "Three Times Over the Falls". Sci Fiction 2/02.
      
    • Di Filippo, Paul. "A Martian Theodicy". Mars Probes.
      
    • Duncan, Andy. "The Big Rock Candy Mountain". Conjunctions 39.
      
    • Dunn, J.R. "The Names of All the Spirits". Sci Fiction 7/02.