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.

Charcuterie Board Class

We often have interesting office events after work, and I try to attend when I do not have a conflict. These events often conveniently fit between the end of my workday and some later evening activity.

On Thursday, we had a charcuterie board class. I missed the original sign-up, but signed for the waitlist, and once in a lifetime, I was lucky to be the only person moved from the waitlist to the actual event participant.

If nothing else, all of us could take our delicious boards home (I still have a little bit left in the fridge), but I also learned something new (and that’s me thinking I have these skills). One of the revelations: never do cubes! Cubes are boring 😂! I also learned why you want to cut in wedges – the cheese tastes differently close to the rind, so you get the full palate if you cut in wedges. I also learned how to make salami flowers, and why breaking cheese into pieces “naturally” is good. And – all these goodes were for me to enjoy!

ICE Raids

Igor happened to be there while things were happening, so I heard the news from him first-hand. The next day, it was all over the news. And then yesterday, the California National Guard deployment. Just one thing I want to say: I am glad that people are not silent anymore. It takes courage not to be silent.

The First Homosexuals Exhibit

Yesterday, I went to see The First Homosexual Exhibit at 659 Wrightwood. Now I can’t remember where I learned about this exhibit; the usual suspect is WBEZ.

The place is seriously guarded, and all tickets should be purchased online in advance (I won’t be surprised if they run background checks before issuing tickets – they don’t show up in your inbox instantaneously).

I planned to go with a friend who cancelled a couple of days before, but I didn’t find anyone to offer tickets, so I went by myself.

The exhibit is extremely interesting, and gianormous! I didn’t expect it to be so intense, and didn’t allocate enough time. They have curators in every room, and elaborate descriptions for almost every piece in the exhibit. I came earlier than my ticket said, and they said it’s fine. I thought I would be done in an hour, but more than an hour later, I realized that I had seen only half of the exhibit. At the end, I had to rush, and unfortunately, I won’t have another chance to see the rest, since I will be out of town for the second half of June.

I ordered a catalog, which should arrive in the beginning of July. I mostly wanted it to retain the loads of information. In the beginning, I tried to take pictures of almost everything, until I realized it was not possible 🙂

Below are two pictures of the space, which is absolutely amaizing.

And just t little bit of the exhibit itself, to give an idea.

…. and over 300 pieces, each with the load of information!

For those who are planning to go, plan on staying for 2.5 hours or so.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at Joffrey

I was there last night, and I didn’t realize it was not only the Joffrey’s opening night but also the first performance of this ballet on that side of the pond. It was unimaginably good, but so looong, it was torture on a weeknight! They should have at least started at 7 PM, not 7-30!

I read a rave review in the Tribune this morning. First, I wanted to post some quotes, but the article resonates with my impression so much (up to the choice of words!), that I will simply copy it at the bottom of this post.

Note – the ballet runs till June 22!

Continue reading “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at Joffrey” →

ADBIS 2025

ADBIS was the first conference I ever participated in. In this blog, I talked about ADBIS 1996, but there were four total conferences I participated in.

In 1993, I just sat there and listened, pretending I understood something.

In 1994, I had a chance to give a “short presentation,” which was supposed to be something like lightning talks nowadays: one slide, five minutes of talk. However, the session chair was either unaware of how that was supposed to work or didn’t trust me to be able to say something legibly. He just said a couple of sentences about me and my work and waved me back to my seat.

It was 1994, and I was not yet Hettie you all know, so I returned to my seat. The unexpected consequence of this disaster was that almost all of the “nobilities” approached me at the reception and told me how sorry they were that I was not given a chance to say a word. I became exceptionally popular on the spot, to the point that I didn’t have time to eat all the delicious food at the reception. And finally, in 1995, I had a chance to actually present the 20-minute talk, which was accepted by an international CfP committee, and was well-received at the conference.

That’s all to say, that this September, I am going to present a two-hour tutorial at ADBIS 2025! I am excited and a little bit nervous, but more excited :).

Original Sin

I heard about this book, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, on the Apple News podcast about a month ago, and I knew right away that I needed it! I listened to it non-stop until I was done. I see that it gets mediocre reviews; some say that the authors should have criticized more, some that they shouldn’t have touched this topic. But I am convinced it’s the right book at the right time.

When I started listening to it, I was shocked by how much was hidden from the general public, and wondered how in the world the people close to the President could set up such a massive cover-up. But then, listening further, I relived all the hesitations again, all of the many unknowns, and as horrifying as it is, I felt that I could understand. It’s a very depressing book, but an absolute must-read. We must learn the historical lessons and take in all the excruciating consequences of the 2024 election disaster.

AI

Last week, I had my first positive encounter with AI. I needed to reschedule the A/C maintenance, and I forgot to do this during the business hours. I called shortly after five, hoping that maybe they are still open, or I could leave a message, and the call was picked-up by an AI assistance, who introduced herself. And I might not even figure out that she was AI, if she won’t say so. Not like completely unrecognizable, but a striking difference from the automated answering system; it was an absolutely “human” conversation. She said that “she got it,” and my appointment changed to the day I requested. I was still not sure whether I could rely on her answer that everything was set, and I called the office a couple days later and they confirmed that my appointment was indeed changed.

I was most impressed when she asked me to spell my last name :)).

The War of the Worlds at the Lifeline Theater

Ninety-five minutes of sitting still and holding my breath! This play, by and large, exceeded my expectations!

If you are wondering how much this play is related to the famous H.G. Wells book, the answer is – very little! Yes, it’s about the Marician invasion on Earth, but the action takes place in the US, and even more specifically in Illinois, at some fictional point in time. There are definite hints that the action takes place in the past, but at the same time, it’s a sharp satire on nowadays media, television, reporting, politicians, and what else. All the characters are unmistakably recognizable, so you can’t stop laughing (or crying)!

The previews just started, so you can still see it!

***

On Friday, Boris received his passport with the new visa. He received an email last Thursday, and mailed his passport to the embassy immediately, but a week with both US and Finnish holidays delayed the processing. By then, there were additional worries because he had to travel with the EU during the first week of June, and he couldn’t do it without his passport, which was in transit.

Yesterday, we talked for a very long time, and finally admitted that we both were trying to hide from each other the extent to which we were affected by this three-month-long ordeal. We both confessed to each other that at some point, we accepted that this could be a permanent situation, and we couldn’t worry about it anymore.

I guess it’s good that we talked it through. Boris’ optimistic estimation of recovery time is “one more week.” As for me, I am not so sure. He told me that he can see that I still haven’t recovered from my big fight, and it shows in how I function.

As always, I am optimistic, so I hope that things will get better.

An Event with Ron Wynden

I am ashamed to say that I didn’t know anything about the book “It Takes Chutzpah” until I saw the advertisement for the library event. And I should be even more ashamed that I didn’t know who Senator Wyden was.

The only reason I made a note about this event was the mention of Governor Pritzker being a part of this conversation. I checked out what this book was about, asserting the topic and the fact that the Governor thought it’s worth reading prompted me to get a book and mark my calendar.

I put aside the book I was listening to at that time, and started to listen to the Senator Wyden ‘s book. When I learned which initiatives and legistlations he championed, I became really ashamed, and thought that my knowledge of the Senators is tilted towards the Midwest :).

I came to the library about 30 minutes before the event start, and there was a line (these events are not ticketed).

When they let us in, I hurried up to get the good seat. What I should have done was to get a copy of that book in the hallway by the auditorium, but it didn’t occur to me that they could bo sold out – which happened to be the case! I didn’t need the paper book for myself, but since I already read it, I thought that I wanted Igor to have it, especially when I could get a signed copy.

The event was livestreamed, and if you have 40 minutes to spare, I think it’s totally worth it.

As for the books, a person right before me in the line, got the last copy! For me and everyone behind in in the line, they offered an option to sign an insert which they will paste into the book when it will arrive, so I hope to have one which I signed for Igor in a week or so.

Also, you know how I always ruin the photos having my eyes closed?! This time, when they took a photo of me with the Senator, I was OK, but his eyes were closed!!! No luck!