Category: events

Still Traveling

I have 300 more pictures and 30 more stories to tell about the time I spent in Ireland, but life goes on, and I can’t keep up with it!

I arrived in Stockholm last night and spent the whole day not leaving the hotel, attending the conference, and talking to friends and peers. And tomorrow morning, I am leaving for Paris!

The whole conference was great, filled with presentations, meetings, and conversations!

And One More – Please Come Out Next Saturday!

Friends! Those who are in Chicago, please consider coming and supporting this counter-protest.

Igor says very well why you should counter-protest if you really want to support Ukraine!

On March 18, the group of left-wing activists from the organizations that make up the ANSWER Coalition will gather at Wrigley building in Chicago to demand “end the $100 Billion in arms shipments to Ukraine,” negotiations with Russia and “no war with China.” Nowhere is there a demand for the aggressor in the war – the Russian Federation – to withdraw the troops from Ukrainian soil. But then, these are the groups that insist that the 2013-2014 Maidan protests are neo-Nazi coup supported by the West and that Putin’s response was justified because… NATO expansion, and Nazis. So lots of Putin talking points over there.

More info on their respective here: https://www.codepink.org/piu20iraqchicago

Peace in Ukraine is a laudable goal, but there can’t be meaningful,, lasting peace until the Russian Federation withdraws its troops, until all imprisoned civilians are released and until those who committed war crimes on the Ukrainian soil face justice. If you believe that a display of Putin’s talking points shouldn’t go unchallenged, come out and protest, and spread the word about the *real* path to peace.

I will be out of town (and out of the country) and won’t be able to come. Please, come for me!

All About Yesterday

There were a lot of different events happening in Chicago on Friday and Saturday, marking a year of the Russian war against Ukraine. I have an acute feeling that I haven’t done enough, haven’t said enough, and that people, in general, are more indifferent than they should be.

Still, I want to report some positive news.

The Ukrainian rally on Friday was massive, with lots of city and county officials in attendance. I was hoping to be there at least for a part of it, but I had an unreconcilable conflict with the girls arriving at the same time. Igor was there and took a lot of pictures.

DSC_6514
DSC_6523
DSC_6525
DSC_6514
DSC_6531
DSC_6537
Continue reading “All About Yesterday” →

Les Miserables

This is the best musical I ever saw in my life. Seriously. I tried to find some recordings on the web, and only found this one, and it conveys very little of how marvelous this performance is! Everything: the voices, the acting, the costumes, the set – everyting was superb. 

The performance was very long – more than three hours, but I didn’t feel tired a bit. My neighbor and I both sat with our eyes wide opened throught the whole show, trying to catch each smallest detail. 

I don’t know what else to say except of that I want to see it again (and I have no time for that :))

The Orchid Show 2023

My friend Lena started a tradition of visiting me in sprig to attend the Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid Show. We did the first one right before the pandemic lockdown, then we did the second one last spring, right after the war in Ukraine started. And last Sunday, we went to the 2023 Orchid Show. Same as before, we took my mom along, and Lena’s friend from Palatine came to join us.

I do not think anybody needs words to describe the orchids. They are magical. This year, the show organizers placed magnifying lenses close to some of the orchids, and neither Lena nor I liked this. We both think, it was a good try but the result was not as magical as one could imagine.

Here they are:

Continue reading “The Orchid Show 2023” →

Silence Is Complicity!

A rare occasion that my first look at BBC alerts in the morning made me smile – I saw the news about Biden’s surprise visit to Kyev. Actually, I instantly felt completely awake! It was quite awesome and unexpected.

But even though several of my friends messaged me excitedly, I told all of them that Biden does not decide the aid to Ukraine solely. We still need to make sure that the US Congress will continue to support financial and military aid for Ukraine.

That brings me right to the main topic of this week. I was trying to find any rally supporting Ukraine, and the only one announced was the one on February 24 by Saints Volodimir and Olha Cathedral.

Why is it not enough? First, this rally will be mostly Ukrainian; there will probably be some representatives of Polish, Lithuanian, and maybe Georgian communities. And it will be far from the Loop. And the important thing now is not only to condemn the war and war criminals but also to send a clear message to our legislators.

Here is what struck me. I didn’t build a political activists network in Rogers Park yet. I emailed a few people from NWSOFA with whom I canvassed and rallied in the suburbs before I moved, and there was zero enthusiasm about rallying for Ukraine. One of them suggested contacting Jan Schakowsky’s office. I went to her website, and to my dismay, I saw zero about Ukraine. Zero. Nothing in her list of issues or in her foreign policy stands. I could not believe my eyes. 

My concern is that now that we have a Republican majority in Congress and the conversation about “how long we are going to send money to Ukraine” has resumed, the message from the constituents should be unambiguous. We should support Ukrainians in their fight because they defend the world. It’s not a charity, and it’s not an investment. It is the fight for all of us. Without help from the rest of the world, Ukraine won’t win. And if Ukraine doesn’t win, Putin won’t stop. 

Igor joined the efforts of the organizers of Saturday’s rally on Daley plaza, and I am trying to do my small part by promoting this event. I don’t know how many people will come, but we have five more days, so I hope to spread the word. 

If you are in Chicago, you might have seen these flyers. Please come and join us on Saturday at Daley Plaza. 

President Zelensky Addresses The US Congress

I know everybody saw it already, at least those who care. But I wanted to make sure that the full video stays here. The most important words from this speech – this is not charity. He said – it’s an investment, but I would make a stronger statement: this is not an investment in the future, it is today’s defense of democracy in the whole world. And for that, the world should be forever thankful for Ukraine.