Category: events

Last Thursday

I hope I will have more time to reflect on the actual days of action, but for now, I just want to say that there were no major issues, things went well, and all my efforts were well paid off.

I had to be at the venue at 7 AM, which meant I had to wake up my houseguests by five, and we had to be out of the house by 6 AM (so that I won’t subject them to running to the train station with my speed :)).

I had fewer people on the training day than signed up, but that’s because I was limited in how much I could advertise, and because it was new. Those who attended loved it and said it was a useful thing before the conference.

Also, it was great that we had to test everything before the main conference day (although some new technical issues came up later). My co-workers helped with stuffing the bags, otherwise we won’t make it 🙂

No pictures from the training itself, since I was running around all the time.

Anns came to help me; she was sick the week before, and ended up having an ear infection and bronchitis, which she found out when she finally went to a Minute Clinic in the evening. I do appreciate her sacrifices, and I can’t even say she shouldn’t have done it, because her help was more than essential.

After the training, I managed to fit in a very short meetup with Jay Miller:

I worked very hard to ensure that this event was held in collaboration with our Black Employees resource group, and that’s part of my commitment to supporting DEI, no matter what the rest of the world does.

And the day was not over yet – we had a speakers and volunteers dinner, which was set up in a great way, and I am very thankful for the catering company for making it just the way I wanted and on a budget!

Last Wednesday

Keeping going through the last week. I hosted two conference attendees, plus Anna for one of the nights. My first houseguest, B., was a conference speaker from Madagascar. She is an absolutely outstanding woman, and I want ot tell more about her in the near future. That was her first time coming to the US, and she had a 22-hour long journey with two connections. I told her I would meet her at ORD, because it is very difficult to navigate this airport even when you are an experienced traveler.

Her flight arrival time was 7:30 AM, and I took the L-train there, because everything runs relatively normally on a weekday morning, so it was a 4 AM wake-up, leaving the house at 5:30. The airport was as quiet as it could possibly be, and we saw each other right away. I took her to the office where we left her luggage, and then to the Architectural tour, because Wednesday was the only opportunity for her to see something!

One of the conference attendees took the same boat tour with us, and then we went to the Art Institute. I didn’t plan to be at work on that day, but one of the customers kept having issues, and I was the only person who could fix them. I asked Igor to take over my Chicago guide responsibilities, and rushed to the office to save the world. My second houseguest, L. was arriving at 4 PM, and we calculated that with the luggage and the passport control, she would be at my house by 6 PM, so I had plenty of time. But then I was stuck with saving the world, and her flight arrived earlier, and by some miracle, her luggage came out very fast as well.

With all that, she waited for us for twenty minutes! At least, the weather was warm on Wednesday, and she just sat on her luggage in the sun reading a book. Nobody wanted to go out for dinner, so I made a quick meal and went to bed.

The next day, the actual work had begun.

We Did It!

PG Day Chicago 2025 was a success despite the efforts of multiple people and many unfortunate circumstances. It will take me some time to realize it is over!

Two CSO Concerts

Just to note that I had some life during the past two weeks, not just conferences, papers, submissions, and millions of other things.

The first one was on April 13, a joint CSO/Joffrey performance. The first part was just CSO, but both pieces were extra special. The first was Chevalier de Saint-George’s First Symphony (and I am all into him since I learned about his existence, which, I hate to admit, happened fairly recently). The second one was Hayden’s Farewell Symphony, which, again, I knew nothing about, and I just thought that all Haydn’s symphonies are the same. The musicians didn’t have the candles on their music stands as they technically should for this piece, but they were still walking away until the last two violins were left. Below is not the CSO performance, but just to show what it looks like:

Then, after the intermission, we had the Joffrey on stage! In fact, they were warming up during the intermission, and everyone in the audience started taking photos 🙂

I especially loved the last piece, Le Bouef sur le Toit, by Darius Milhaud. Of course, below is just the music, without the ballet, and trust me, that was something worth seeing!

The second concert was Mahler’s Seventh on April 17. My neighbor, with whom we usually go, didn’t know what it was going to be, and it was a surprise for her that we would be sitting for an hour and a half with no intermission. But then she was absolutely taken away by the music :). Some works sound especially good when you listen from up close, because you feel like you are surrounded by music, and Mahler’s Seventh is one of them.

We Will Always Be Knox!

Learning that Governor Pritzker was chosen as a Knox Commencement Speaker was terrific! In general, news from Knox these days sounds very encouraging. With so many colleges bending to Trump’s ultimatums, it’s great to see those that stand their ground.

Also, the header of the Knox website page is more meaningful than ever: When history calls, be prepared to answer.

I really want to make a day trip to Galesburg on June 8 and listen to the Governor’s speech!

Copying the announcement from the Knox website here.

Continue reading “We Will Always Be Knox!” →

“It’s Basic” Documentary

I am on my way home from this event. I was half an hour late, but it was just the right time, as it turned out. The programming started approximately ten minutes after I arrived, and the panel after the screening was only 30 minutes long. After the “official part” was over, half of the audience rushed to the podium to talk with panelists, and I decided I did not want to stand in their way.

I loved the documentary; I cried several times. I am a firm believer in basic income, and I do not need any convincing, but it was great to hear about true stories, scientific analysis of the results, and about what’s next.

One thing that concerns me about this initiative and others like it is the randomness and small size of the groups of people who can benefit. It feels like one extra piece in the boundless mosaic of human services, and when I think about how I would like it to evolve, I would say this program should be as universal as possible.

On another topic: the Green Line was delayed several times both inbound and outbound, but I was able to ignore the surroundings and do something productive on the train.

I am super tired of everything which is happening in my life (including work), but there are things I can’t drop, no matter what.

My main reason to attend was the panelists:

  • Toni Preckwinkle, President, Cook County Board of Commissioners
  • Mayor Michael Tubbs, Special Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility; “It’s Basic” Film Executive Producer
  • Margaret M.C. Thomas, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Igor’s Photos From The April 5 Protest

And More From the Hands Off Rally

I don’t know what it tells about Annd and me, but we thought going to the protest after the Children’s concert in the CSO was a great idea, and so we did. And there were a lot of other parents who brought their children of all ages to the rally, so at least in this part of our plan, we were not an exception.

While we were at the rally, Igor mentioned that the number of participants was estimated to be about 30 K. This is not as massive as the anti-Trump rallies eight years ago, but it is still a good step in the right direction.

On the way to Daley Plaza
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Today’s Rally

I will post my pics shortly – most of mine are different!

What I Saw of Chicago’s “Hands Off” Rally

Two Operas

This week, I attended two operas in Lyric, and that’s it for this season. The first one was La Boheme. It was the first time that I listened to it live, and I loved every moment of it! Everything was perfect, the acting, the set and the costumes, and all the voices were out of this world! I am reposting the photos from the Lyric Opera website, because I know they will be gone soon!

Two days later, I went to the Listeners. My neighbor read the reviews and said she did not want to go, but I was intrigued and went alone. I have nothing against modern operas, and was open to hearing something new. When I read that this opera is about “a cult,” I became unsure but decided to give it a try.

In the end, it was not my thing. Or rather, I do not think that the story was opera material. The promotional video looks tons better than the opera itself. But maybe it’s just me!

Continue reading “Two Operas” →