Author: Hettie D.

My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996. I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future. I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life. As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.

The CheckOut Piano Series

The Checkout is our new “local” venue. I’ve been there twice already (here is one of the posts), and when they announced the Sunday Matinee Piano series, I decided to take my mom there, hoping it would be less stressful for her than going to the CSO.

The concert was brilliant! Same as during my previous visit, I enjoy the unique opportunity to hear an exceptional performer in a very intimate setting. The performer, Feiyi Liao, is a doctoral student at Northwestern, and he performs not only with exceptional techniques but also with a heart and soul.

The program was “classic” (Mozart, Gershwin, and Franz Liszt), but each piece sounded like “for the first time”. I chose the seats so that my mom could see the performer’s fingers over the keyboard (if that’s not the case, the concert is lost for her). She liked it :).

This Yamaha concert grand was donated to the CheckOut by Piano Forte. Beautiful sound, and the primary reason for the Solo Piano Series

***

The upcoming Time Magazine issue will be all about Minneapolis, and I just received an article from that issues in the mailing list. It started like this:

The memorial for Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal agents on Jan. 24, has grown to span several parking spots on Nicollet Avenue in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis. It’s now a mountain of carnations, prayer candles, poems, and notes. One message pleads: “America, do not let their deaths be in vain – We the People.”

When I read the last sentence, I was so close to crying that I couldn’t read any further. That’s how my thoughts are circling non-stop. The moment I am so proud of people rising up against the injustice, I immediately think: why did it have to be people losing their lives to make half of the country finally rise in protest? And the next thought is always the one from that article that made me cry: do not let their deaths be in vain!!!

***

And once again, I heard from one of my European friends that “they do not know what’s happening in the US.” The same story again: my French friend L. messaged me that her daughter saw a TV show about the ICE raids and asked whether I was safe and could I be arrested. I replied: no chance, there are too many of us! When we talked a couple of days later, and I described to her our situation, she said: Thank you! Here, we do not know anything, and do not see anything!

And once again, I am wondering why this silence. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Tulips from My CSA Delivery

My CSA offered tulips as add-ons, and I ordered a small bouquet of the Monarch Beauty. I love them! They are getting more and more beautiful every day!

The Lake In Winter

There have been a couple of sunny days since I came back, and although I am mostly working all day long, I had a couple of opportunities to walk on the winter beach and say hello to the Lake!

“Holiday” At Goodman

Retrospectively, it was not the best idea. I decided to get a discounted ticket for the Holiday when I realized I would need to work from home on Friday for my mom’s case manager visit. I already had a reservation for the Ribbon, and I did some mental time math and decided that since I would see my mom during the day, I wouldn’t need to visit her in the evening, and I could go to the Ribbon by five-something, and go to Goodman right after that.

Then, there were things at work, and I felt bad refusing to help, and then there was no time to go to the Ribbon, and I only went to Goodman, being really tired.

I do not get the concept of shows starting later on Friday. Most weekend shows start at 7 PM, but Friday shows have to start at 7:30 or 8 PM, “because you do not need to go to work the next day.” But I am pretty tired by the end of the day on Friday, and more sleepy than any other day of the week.

The play is a modern adaptation of the 1920s play by Philip Barry, and in my opinion, it would be better if the setting remained “a hundred years ago” one. Not like the situation itself is less probable nowadays, but the language and a very specific humor definitely belong to the 1920s. I could appreciate and acknowledge amazing acting, but I kept mentally placing the characters in a different setting, and in the end, it felt like too much.

But once again, I am happy to admit that I was just super tired. I rarely go out on Fridays, and I think it’s better for me to keep it that way!

Rewiring Democracy: An Event With Bruce Schneier At CPL

First, I saw this event advertised in the CPL newsletter. Usually, a direct anything mentioning AI, straight into trash, but this time I hesitated, because I saw that the author was a cybersecurity expert, and the picture seemed very trustworthy :). I put the event in my calendar and purchased the audiobook.

I loved the book from the start! I see it having a relatively low rating on Goodreads, but I can tell you why it stood out for me. It started with the thesis that “democracy is an information system,” which immediately grabbed my attention. I soon realized that I was aware of AI use in political campaigns and lawmaking, because this was nothing but an extension of modelling that was widely present in politics even twenty years ago, and I didn’t object to it at all. I don’t know how else to explain it, but all of a sudden, it all started making sense. I think that a big factor was Bruce Schneier’s positive outlook and his firm belief that we can be in control and put the newest technology to good use.

The meeting was livestreamed and recorded, and you can check it out below. I would rather have you listen to it than me trying to “retell” what was said. I loved the reasoning about the short chain between consulting AI on how to vote and total autocracy.

My favorite part of the book, which was not mentioned in the talk, was about regulating AI by spot-checking its decisions. Also, it’s very important to remember that any technology can be used for different purposes, and AI is not an exception.

The Silver Summit – reblogging

The Silver Summit

Ribbon!

Since McCorminc skating rink closes at the beginning of February for the second year in a row, I decided to try to go to the Ribbon when I am back from my trip, and yesterday, I went there for the first time; and not just this year, but actually for the first time to the Ribbon.

I absolutely loved the skating experience, it’s way more enjoyable than McCormick, but getting there takes more time, so there is absolutely no way to go there over the lunch break, even the extended one. The only option is to go after work, and you need to take both your backpack and your skates, and also take them home. Additionally, you have to rent a locker because there is no option to leave even your boots, let alone the backpack, in plain sight: it’s not a circle, it’s a ribbon :). Minor things: there is no free skating; even if you have your own, it’s $5, and a locker price is $3 for a small one, where you can fit nothing, as I realized yesterday, and $5 for a bigger one.

A travel time from my office, including renting a locker and putting my things there, was almost 40 minutes, so once again, I need to figure out how to fit it into my schedule and how often I can do it, but I am really glad I went and figured it out. It was a little bit pushing the boundaries 🙂

Long Live Federalism!

Somehow, it’s during Trump’s presidency (both last time and that time) that I especially appreciate the principles upon which our country is built. I already shared this with some of my friends, and now I want to share it with a broader circle: Illinois joined the WHO network after Trump left it. I never knew states could do this, and now I am wondering whether we can join the Paris Accord 🙂

The Tribune article text is below.

Continue reading “Long Live Federalism!” →

Magellan

Magellan is the Philippines’ Entry For Best International Feature at the Oscars, and the reviews were raving. I decided it’s a must-see, even though the movie is almost three hours long. Judging by the description, I expected more or less a traditional, colorful historical movie with a pronounced social message:

At the dawn of the modern era, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (Gael García Bernal) navigated a fleet of ships to Southeast Asia, attempting the first voyage across the vast Pacific Ocean. On reaching the Malay Archipelago, the crew pushed to the brink of madness in the harshness of the high seas and overwhelming natural beauty of the islands, Magellan’s obsession leads to a rebellion and reckoning with the consequences of power. A vast, globe-spanning epic from Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz (NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY), MAGELLAN presents the colonization of the Philippines as a primal, shocking encounter with the unknown and a radical retelling of European narratives of discovery and exploration.

My first reaction was disappointment: it felt more like a Tarkovsky movie, just with prettier landscapes. Iwas even thinking of quietly leaving the screening. But gradually, my perception changed, and I kept watching. If you watch the trailer, it does not give a good impression of the movie. The trailer is more dynamic and less picturesque. And doesn’t show even a percent of violence.

Maybe three hours is too much to say “colonialism is bad.” You decide.