Month: May 2022

Homeless Turning To CTA For Shelter

I hear it a lot: how unsafe the CTA has become during the pandemic, especially the Red line. Not only do I hear about that, but I also see all the homeless people, especially when I happen to take a very early morning train.

I believe this article in Tribune provides very in-depth coverage of the problem describing measures already taken and some immediate plans.

As usual, copying the text here.

Continue reading “Homeless Turning To CTA For Shelter” →

California Trip

We are visiting my friend in Campbell CA – I decided that I do not need to have an excuse of a conference to visit her, so I exchanged the tickets for San Francisco one more time and added Boris to that trip.

Yesterday we were on the go for the whole day: we visited the Rose Garden, the St. Juan Bautista mission, and Monterey, and I have a million pictures 🙂

As usual, not sure whether I will have time to write in detail about all of it, but here are some:

More to come!

Ain’t Too Proud!

And one more musical – the last one from this subscription. I am so glad I became a Broadway in Chicago subscriber (and so glad that the live shows are back!). As always, the question is how to find time for all the shows which are out there!

I was surprised to find, that all the Broadway in Chicago venues quietly stopped checking the vaccination status, and also, the voice message from the CSO which I received today about the upcoming concerts, states the same. It is not necessarily a bad thing, considering that although the infection rates are currently high, we hospitals are not overwhelmed. I hope it will stay that way!

Work-work Balance :)

Most of the things which concern me these days are somehow professional. Although there are several different issues, they have something in common, which is – I am not learning new things fast enough. 

I submitted two segments of my first educational video, and I received a critique, which I find completely justified. I was thinking along these lines myself, so the critique was not unexpected. 

It has been going on for a while, but I think I reached a critical point – people are putting together presentations differently these days. They are way more animated, using screen recordings and other effects, not “the lecture style,” as I was told. 

I understand that this is related not only to these videos but also to my two presentations which I am giving in a month. I thought that “I had them” and just needed to add a couple of new slides, but now I understand that I need to rework them completely if I want people to listen:). And I am frustrated that it takes me so long!

Similar things are happening at work. I learned a lot in the past six months, but still, I often face some customers’ questions that require me to read volumes of documentation I never read before! 

And overall, I feel like I am behind with everything, although so many people help me! 

OK, that was a moment of venting. I am done:)

The Salmon Soup Triumph.

When I was at ODS last time, we talked briefly about “doing something new, ” and I had two ideas about what it could be. One of these ideas was Finnish salmon soup, and that’s what we decided to try today.

Now, as much as I love salmon soup, I never tried to reproduce it at home, although I had a recipe from my friend Natasha. The task seemed a little bit challenging, especially because I had to multiply the recipe by four (for 16 people instead of 4).

It was a smashing success! Several folks helped me, and when I looked at the pot, I knew that everything came together perfectly.

Everybody praised the soup endlessly, and everybody was coming for seconds and thirds. The youth asked to make the same soup again next time, promising they will never get tired of it 🙂

A Weekend With My Girls

My girls visited over the weekend, and we had tons of plans. The plans got almost canceled because Nadia started to get sick on Thursday night, and both Anna and Nadia arrived partially sick. Then we didn’t go anywhere on Saturday because Nadia was getting sicker and sicker, and Anna was about to go home right away. 

We finally decided to wait till Sunday morning, and to my surprise, Nadia woke up mostly normal and ready for adventure.

We went to the Field Museum as we originally planned to do on Saturday. This weekend was marked by the opening of the new Native American Galleries. The whole exhibit space was completely re-imaged; both the content and the presentation became more meaningful. There were several activities related to the new exhibit. One was the native storytelling with Karen Ann Hoffman. All I can tell – she was amazing, and I am not going to try to retell the stories. We all sat on the floor and listened for half an hour.

Another great activity was basket weaving. We looked at the demonstration, and later, we could stop by, and get our share of materials and instructions. We came back for the next two strings, and then the last time to finish the project. All of us (except probably Kira) enjoyed this activity a lot – we worked together and ant the end, we had this cute basket!

Finishing touches to our family basket

Once again, we spent almost the whole day in the museum and came home with barely any time left to have leftovers dinner before the girls went home.

To Kill a Mockingbird

I went to see this play at Netherlanders Theater on Wednesday. I do not know why I didn’t check details in advance – probably because I was sure that there can’t be anything unexpected – but I didn’t realize that this is a play, not a musical. Until some time into the show 🙂

It was a splendid production, and very true to the book, except for adding some references to today’s situation (like “seventeen shots”).

The theater was packed (and they do not check the vaccination cards anymore, although masks are fortunately still required)? and the audience was completely taken by the performance.

At some point, however, I got a feeling that not everybody in the audience was familiar with the book (although it seems impossible); or maybe they forgot since school. It’s just that the reaction to some scenes (like announcing the verdict) seemed to be a little bit like they didn’t expect it.

On my way home, on the Red Line, I heard people talking about the play – some of the passengers saw playbills in other passengers’ hands, and that started the conversation. When this happens, it always feels very good, like we are indeed one city. One Chicago.