Month: October 2023

CSO Concert

Tuesday’s concert was indeed one of a kind! The program included

  • One composer unknown to me
  • A soloist unknown to me
  • Three pieces unknown to me

… and all of them were so good!

Each of the pieces was a gem, but Gershwin’s Piano Concerto stood out. I wish I would have the right words to describe it! The program said that Gershwin wanted to combine classical musical forms with jazz and blues, and that’s exactly what it was. The music was all around us and filling each corner of the space. I was bathing in the sounds of music, and each next phrase felt absolutely unexpected and at the same time perfectly in the right place.

OK, I just do not have enough words to describe it! The soloist told the audience how he was coming to CSO as a kid, and how happy he is now to perform on that stage. And again, I do not know how to describe how amazing he was!

My pe-concert Amorino 🙂

Pret A Manger Reopened!

It’s finally back to Chicago! I complained on Instagram about them not coming back after the pandemic, and two years later, they tagged me back:). I was so excited that I ie-installed the app and re-joined the club two days in advance – I removed both when Pret left Chicago.

That’s one of the oldest initial locations. Yesterday, they had a pre-launch and gave away 200 breakfasts and 200 lunches, but I didn’t need either, and also, I didn’t have time to stay in line. Still, I made sure to come and see! The only thing which I wish would be different – they are only open until 5-30PM, and they are closed on weekends, and that’s when I need them most.

IKEA Finds

Since we were in IKEA on Sunday, I could not leave it empty-handed. The best thing was that after two years of searching for Enthusiasm cups with holders, I finally found one.

Boris didn’t like that they were too big. I can’t disagree with that:), but I love how they perfectly match the ones we already have:

(I was working from home today because it was the last day for Boris to be here; that’s why breakfast at home for a change. I ended up spending almost all of the workday in meetings, so the fact that I was at home didn’t change much, but still).

A Very Short Theater Review

On Friday, we went to the Lifeline Theater to see The Cat’s Cradle. And we didn’t like it. I thought the small storefront theater couldn’t make Kurt Vonnegut bad, but … well, I do not think it was good. I really liked Bokonon (both the actor and how he was presented in this production), and I liked Crosbies, but I didn’t like what they did with the book. For me, “Cat’s Cradle” is about the responsibility of a scientist for the consequences of their discovery, about being a human first and then a scientist. Jonah’s story starts from researching Felix Hoenneker for a reason. This part didn’t get much attention in a play. Instead, they tried to pull more of today’s content into the play, talking about wars and how they are the US Government’s fault.

Even without this latter part, the first act was sort of falling apart; it became better in the second one. I almost regret we went, but at least I didn’t buy a subscription 🙂

Milwaukee

Boris and I went to Milwaukee today to visit the girls. We didn’t plan it originally, but Anna had a very bad knee injury, and Boris wanted to go to cheer her up (not like I didn’t want to, but I have more options to visit). I do not want to go into Anna’s medical details here, but the last three weeks were not easy. Anna told me earlier that Nadia and Kira were very helpful, and today, I got a chance to see for myself.

I was astonished by the changes in both girls since I last saw them a month ago. It felt like they became two years older in all imaginable ways. Nadia has her own bus pass and her own library card, which she carries in her wallet. She showed me a page-long essay she wrote and her geometry assignment. Kira’s speech made a huge leap. Both Nadia and Kira are very helpful at home. Kira can load and unload a dishwasher, and while I was there, she spent at least twenty minutes doing the dishes, rinsing the plates from the traces of food, and loading the dishwasher.

We went to IKEA together (Anna used a scooter inside the store), and then we (mostly Boris and Nadia) assembled a gigantic Kollax section.

A couple of pictures from today:

Walking to the Union Station. I rarely visit this pat of the Loop these days, and I forgot how stunningly beautiful this bridge is!
Approaching Milwaukee

In The Loop Yesterday

There were Palestinian rallies in the Loop for several days. Yesterday, Boris and I ran into a bigger rally on Michigan Avenue when we went to see the Camille Claudel exhibit at the Art Institute. I already read in the news about how violent the protesters have been, including attacking the City Council members, and that’s how yesterday’s rally felt. And it was way bigger than the biggest Ukrainian rally we ever had in Chicago.

The Tribune front page article talks about Palestinian and Muslim people in general feeling frightened and unsafe these days, especially with several hate crimes, and they compare their feelings with how they felt after 9/11. I think there is a big difference – I remember the feelings in society after 9/11. I understand that Palestinian Americans want to be safe, but that was not the narrative of yesterday’s rallies and all the rallies of the past week. The signs people carried were not about their personal safety. And not even about humanitarian aid to Gaza. And their chants were not about their safety.

Unfortunately, the ideology can’t be destroyed with shelling or any other means of brutal force. Same as it was not the German surrender that put an end to fascism destroying the terrorists won’t put an end to the terrorist ideology.

Long Bike Ride

Boris is in town. This was going to be a short visit, and I was busier than I would like to be when he was in town, but one thing we really wanted to do, and we did, was a long bike ride. Not the early morning biking, but midday biking on a beautiful sunny autumn day.

Continue reading “Long Bike Ride” →

The Floral Workshop

Yesterday, we had a “Women’s Night Out” in our firm: we had a floral workshop with Flowers for Dreams at the Riverfront Terrace of Beatnik on the River. I thought from the start that this would be a great activity, and it was even better than I thought! Also, I didn’t like Beatnik that much before because they always have very loud music, but when you are down in the Terrace, you do not hear the music from the street level, and being right there by the water feels like magic!

Continue reading “The Floral Workshop” →

***

Mom’s SSI application was denied again. I can’t even say I feel bad about it because, to be honest, we can survive without it. The lady who worked with me on the phone two weeks ago and with whom I talked today was a real angel. She made me feel like she was really trying to do the best for me, and she repeated multiple times that she completely understood our situation, but the rules are what they are. And again, I understand that it’s fair. I was very nervous about this whole thing for the past two weeks, and now life will just go on. She said we would be able to apply again in three years (a little bit less, but whatever), and that is before my retirement, so hopefully, we can last for that long.

I will need to figure out whether we can still apply for subsidized housing, and after January 1, she can apply for Medicare, but for now, I am going to take a break from all of these activities. My time is more important, and when it is wasted, it is wasted.

Unrelated, but also happened today: I went to see an eye doctor about my double vision. Not like I wanted, but when I asked for new prizm glasses in summer, an optometrist told me that he wanted me to check with a specialist whether anything else could be done. Nobody suggested anything radical to me for the past twenty years, but I decided to give it a shot. Another two and a half hours are wasted, and the result is the same: nothing that we can do for you. Just put a patch over your left eye when you go to the movies. Oh, well.

Fall

We’ve had a little bit of warmer weather recently, and on Tuesday, I moved my workday to an even earlier start than usual and came back home to take a bike ride. I was less of a traffic jam than I was afraid it could be, and it was really warm and calm – a perfect fall afternoon!