Month: December 2023

A Week In Review

Time will tell whether it was a good idea to try to accomplish the impossible. For the whole week, I would go to bed about midnight (except for Saturday, when it ended up being 1 AM Sunday)and wake up at my usual time, which is between 4-30 and 4-45 AM.

At work, having been in the office for only four days between two weeks of time off, I had endless meetings and then worked after hours trying to do some actual work. I was planning my presents, ordering things, writing the cards, etc. In addition, I had many problems with my conference website, sending tons of emails trying to correct them and meeting with the Talk Selection Committee. I had to prepare a million things for the upcoming PG Conf EU week and manage several 2024 conference submissions.

I took Friday off, and I decided not to go to the Corporate Christmas Party because otherwise, there was no way for me to bake my Christmas cookies. I want to be very clear here: this was not a sacrifice on my side; these are my priorities, and I would be way unhappier if I didn’t do cookies this year.

Lena also took Friday off and left work earlier on Thursday to drive to Chicago so that we could start baking early Friday morning.

I do not recall whether I mentioned it, but this year, due to all of the time constraints, I decided to utilize the Tree Santa company for my Christmas tree delivery because I knew I wouldn’t have time to go and choose it. Since Friday was literally the only day I was at home, I also scheduled the tree delivery for Friday.

It turned out the tree was too thick to fit into my tree stand, so they had to give me one of theirs, and it was not as nice as mine. As for the tree itself, it was fine, but the shape was not as I liked it (too thick in the middle), and the top was “tripled,” and Lena and I spent a lot of time trying to put the star on it.

At 5 PM, we called it a day and went to the Christkindle Market and then to Millennium Park to see the Chicago Christmas Tree and listen to the carolers.

Continue reading “A Week In Review” →

Guaranteed

The two-year pilot program, which provided guaranteed cash payments for its participants, ends in December.

Here is a WBEZ episode that recaps the results of the program. The most important aspects highlighted by  author and scholar Eve Ewing are the following:

More flexibility. A lot of other assistance programs dictate how funds can be spent. Guaranteed income programs let people use the money however they want.

An investment in public safety. Ewing says when people return from jail or prison and have alternative forms of income, that decreases the likelihood they’ll resort to violent crime.

One word: Dignity. Ewing says guaranteed income challenges the notion of “deservingness,” and that the right to safety, education and housing should not be decided by economic status. 

The Guaranteed podcast.

We Are Baking!

MTT

This abbreviation is how a famous conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, is referred to (and I believe he introduced it:)). I heard him conduct many times, and I greatly enjoyed his spark and liveliness, and even his habit of talking between musical pieces.

Last year, MTT returned to conducting after an extremely difficult battle with brain cancer, and on Tuesday, I attended his concert for the first time after his return. He is very frail, and it is very difficult to recognize him. He was helped on the stage. Yet, his performance was spectacular, and the audience gave him a standing ovation. Most importantly, he was visibly happy being in the environment, which has been the essence of his life for a half-century.

Copying from his website (that’s not like he looks now, but I will always remember him this way)

Dear Friends,

My return to performing these last months has been very special. The 20 concerts with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony were heartwarming. Making music with these great artists and for so many friends in the audience felt like coming home, like coming back to life. I couldn’t have been happier.

It takes strength to meet the demands of the music and to collaborate on the highest level with the remarkable musicians who so generously welcomed me. I now see that it is time for me to consider what level of work and responsibilities I can sustain in the future.

I have not publicly discussed my medical diagnosis. I have Glioblastoma Multiforme, a type of aggressive brain cancer. I had an operation to remove what was visible and had radiation and chemotherapy. Currently the cancer is in check. But the future is uncertain as Glioblastoma is a stealthy adversary. Its recurrence is, unfortunately, the rule rather than the exception.

I’m taking stock of my life and will be reducing my administrative responsibilities. I have decided that, after 34 years, I will be stepping down as the Artistic Director of the New World Symphony. This organization, which I co-founded with Lin and Ted Arison, has been and will continue to be a vital and ever-growing resource for musicians. I’m proud of what we have accomplished and very proud of our 1,200 alumni. I will soon assume the role of Artistic Director Laureate and will dedicate myself to working with the NWS Fellows and Alumni on adventurous projects that have long been close to my heart.

I look forward to my work the remainder of this season with orchestras in the United States and Europe and to the many musical collaborations planned for next season. I intend to stick around for a bit. Creating and collaborating to make great music is what it’s all about for me. Every moment on stage with my colleagues is memorable. I want to thank all who have been supportive during this time, especially my husband Joshua Robison. He has always been by my side and is, as ever, my hero.

I will continue to compose, to write, and to mull over your thoughts and mine. I’m planning more time to wonder, wander, cook, and spend time with loved ones – two legged and four. Life is precious.

I send affection and gratitude.

Michael TT

Your Future Self

I recently read the book Your Future Self by Hal Hershfield. Although, in the end, the book didn’t impress me that much, I liked the main idea of it. The author states that we often base important decisions on our relationships with our “future selves.” When you think about yourself in the future, ten, twenty, or even thirty years from now, can you imagine your future self as a person? Do you think about that person as a stranger or as “you”? Can you imagine what your future self will enjoy doing? Multiple psychological experiments demonstrated that if an individual thinks about their future self as the same person, they usually make important decisions about their life choice considering their future benefits. To put it in more straightforward words, a person who identifies themself with a “future self” would be more inclined to contribute to their 401(k) and exercise regularly. This example is rather primitive, but you get the idea.

Although, as I said, the book overall didn’t impress me (there are many repetitions, and the author does not go into more complex behavioral examples), I was thinking a lot about that concept. It was new to me, and naturally, I wanted to apply it to myself.

Although my life taught me that I should never presume that things will go a certain way, and although I am always ready for surprises, I definitely think about the future me as “me,” and I care about this person, and I do not expect that they would like some tedious tasks more than I like them now, or that they won’t like to do things I am currently doing. And that’s probably why I spend time on planning for the retirement and potential long-term care and I like having a very detailed plan for my retirement years. However, there are some other aspects of the “future self”, which many Goodreads reviews mention: it’s not only about your financial and physical well-being, but also what kind of a person you will be, and whether you will hold to the same values. Right now, when I think about my retirement, I think about how much more volunteering I will be able to do, and how many new things I would try. Nobody can guarantee that this idea will stay with me, but as of that moment, I definitely associated myself with my future self.

Recently, I often think about “what will happen after,” not tragically, but simply thinking about it more realistically: one day it will happen. One day, I won’t wake up (an optimistic scenario). And yes, I think about leaving money for charities, but not because “I will be recognized, ” but because I truly believe in the causes. I thought about it a lot recenlty: I do not need to have a name on a brick, because it won’t matter when I die. I am not sure whether I expressed my phots clear enough, but it really won’t matter. The only thing matters is what we are doing the right thing now, when you are still alive and can do it.

Priceless!

Forwarded by a friend:

While I Was Away…

I didn’t even think that I ordered that much on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but that’s what I found when I returned…

Christmas Tree At Anna’s House

Yesterday, I went together with John and the girls to get a Christmas Tree.

Unfortunately, most of the trees were too small, and all the bigger ones had some visible defects, but I think we picked the best we could find.

Today, we decorated the tree, and I really enjoyed the process. This one is way smaller than the one I usually have, so decorating is not a multi-hour thing. They have a lot of very interesting old ornaments that feel so good to touch and put on the tree, and the tree looks just adorable!

Making Christmas Happen

The two “major distractions” of this holiday season (Anna’s surgery and my conference) forced me to do even more planning than usual. I honestly hope that’s the first and the last Chrismas season of that sort in my life.

Here is how I am dealing with this challenge so far.

  1. I had three kids from the Secret Santa for Chicago Public Schools. That’s the project I was involved with since almost since it’s very beginning. I went through multiple organizational changes with it, but by now, I learned to watch for the letters early and not to struggle with the choice of presents; I learned to read between the lines of the letters :). The only challenge this year was that the presents drop-off period was the after-Thanksgiving week, when I had no time in my schedule for that. I am happy that I figured out a time interval on Monday when I could take Uber both ways, with all the roads being empty and the ride prices low. And I am happy with my choice of presents
  2. Since I moved to Rogers Park, I lost the “Adopt a Family” program which was run by the Palatine Township, and I could not find anything similar around me. This year, I found out that the Night Ministry is doing a similar project for families and single individuals in the transition living program, and I even managed to find people who are running this project. The rules (and the amount of information I receive about the family) are very different from what I used to have, but I was able to pick up something for everyone, so I hope it will all work well. My next challenge is to find the time to drop off the presents because I will have just a few days between my return to Chicago and my departure to Prague, and after I come back there are again just a few days left before the presents are due. I am sure I will be able to find the time for a drop off, and I feel very good about this program – it’s like the missing piece is finally found.
  3. I also have very little time for Christmas cards, and for the past three days, I used all the time I was not “on duty” to draft Christmas messages to my friends. That is the process you can’t speed up because each season greeting is special and meant to be for that one person you are sending it, especially for people who live far away. I am done with all but two drafts of the cards that I need to send before leaving for Prague.
  4. Cookies are scheduled with military precision, and the new tins are ordered – not in the cheapest possible way, but just to be sure we have them on time! (I might run out later to get more if I find a non-existing time).
  5. I do not usually decorate the house right after Thanksgiving, but this season, I had no other options, so I compromised :). By the time I left for Milwaukee, everything except for the tree was up.
  6. My Christmas tree delivery is also scheduled, and I will have to be very efficient in order to decorate it before I leave, but it should also work out.

And why I am doing all this decorating right before I leave for a week? That’s because I want to return to the beautifully decorated Christmas house. I am always decoration for myself, not for the visitors, and that’s one of the things about Christmas I like the most:)

TIME Magazine: Should we end obesity?

And one more article from Time Magazine. It was published about three weeks ago, and all this time, I wanted to share it, but life got in my way. The article title is Should we end obesity? This by itself sparks controversy since people usually do not question the fact that the extra weight is bad. However, I believe it’s very important to separate the health concerns and the numbers, which do not even have any scientific justification, as it is explained in the article.

Since I know very well that close to no people click on the links and also that the content is not universally available across the globe, I am pasting the article here:

Continue reading “TIME Magazine: Should we end obesity?” →