Chicago Christmas Tree Lighting

I forgot to write about the actual start of the holiday season: the Chicago Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony. For many years, I attended it regardless of the weather, first with the kids, then on my own. I stopped attending it after the tree was moved away from the Daley Plaza to Millennium Park. The first reason was that the tree should be close to the Christkindle Market; they belong together. Second, the new location is less convenient. You have to be in a specific place to see what’s going on by the tree, and the first year I observed that most people who gathered to see the tree were able to see nothing.

Then, it was the Laquan McDonald unrest. It was quite horrible when people were already marching towards the Loop, and Mayor Emmanuel was lighting the Christmas tree. It is no wonder that people started pulling the lights off the tree and doing other damage to it.

Because of all that, I stopped coming to the ceremony, but this year, everything was different!
After not having a ceremony last year, we had it live! Also, this time around, there was more space to watch, and also, several large screens were projecting what was going on on stage.
Igor took my mom to the event, and one of my friends joined us. As usual, mom was first complaining that it takes too long to get there, and she did not want to inconvenience anybody. Then, she complained that she could not see anything, and then she said that the show with Ded Morozes on the boats in Saint Petersburg was better. Nevertheless, she asked both Igor and me to send her the pictures, and she asked several times how the show was called and for how many years it was on, and then sent the pictures to all her friends.

Fireworks after the tree lighting

The Start Of The Season

I never started Christmas preparations that early. I hate doing Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving. However, this year, with the global crisis of everything, I had no choice but to start early.

I’ve already bought all the baking supplies and ordered all packaging materials. Christmas cards, holiday stamps, and holiday address labels arrived, and all charitable gifts are purchased and either already arrived or will arrive in the next couple of days.

Today, I packed two charitable gifts, baked the first 133 cookies, and wrote and prepared for mailing the first five international Christmas cards.

Now, I am officially in season!

Books

I finally finished Bedrock faith, which I read as a part of One book – One Chicago.

I am still thinking about this book. I rated it 4-star, but I would give it two separate grades if I could. One for the quality of writing, and another for the book’s main idea.

The book is very well written. You do not want to rush through; you are not trying to turn the pages before you finish reading and pick at the end. I read it slowly, enjoying the language, savoring each detail, and each of the characters appeared so real!

As for the book’s main idea, I am still hesitant about my feelings. I think that the book manifests it loud and clear that “once a bad apple always a bad apple.” It feels like Stew Pot “was born bad” and acted violently throughout his life because he could not act differently. And I have a problem with that statement. I believe that under life circumstances, a person can become very negative and that their mind might take such a turn that they would constantly think of harming somebody. But it will always be impossible for me to accept that people might be “born that way,” and there is no way to change it. I would love to discuss it with somebody who read it.

Another book I recently finished listening to is Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. My impressions are similar to what I felt after finishing “Color of Law”: I can’t believe it’s happening here and now. Wilkerson suggests that race is social rather than a biological characteristic and compares the position in the society of Blacks with this of untouchables in the Indian society. The similarities are shocking. Also, she describes many real-life situations that are too real, so well-recognizable, and once again, it feels unreal that things like this happen nowadays.

***

Rittenhouse. Disappointed and sad. And there is no energy in masses to raise the voices strong enough to be heard…

I am thinking and thinking this one thought: if he were Black, would such a verdict be possible?!

Partial Moon Eclipse

Tonight was the longest partial moon eclipse in over 500 years; at least, that’s what I read the day before. Chicago Tribune was saying that it would be very easy to observe, and since it was three-and-a-half hours long, I had chances to see some of it.

The eclipse was supposed to end at 4-45 AM, so I made a point to get up at 3-45, and at 4 AM, I was out on the street. First, I thought I would see it from my balcony, but this didn’t work. However, when I came down to the street, I saw it right away!

It was enchanting, and although I could not capture the actual thing on my camera, I am very glad that I woke up an hour earlier than usual. The sight was worth it!

Christmas Reminder

I wanted to write “the final” Christmas reminder but decided against it :). In any case, I am starting everything earlier this year, because the speed with which the mail is moving is unpredictable.

Not a “final”, but just a reminder of what I’ve posted ten days ago.

Please let me know if you want a Christmas card and/or Christmas cookies from me.No need to reciprocate :).

I’ve got my new Christmas cards and stamps:

And the cookie tins are out:

Recent Activities

The last couple of days were all about PostgreSQL, not just work but mostly my community activities. A couple of weeks earlier, I volunteered to participate in selecting the talks for yet another in-person conference, which will be held in San Jose in January. One of my talks for this conference is approved, so I am going there. The organizers asked me which of my talks I would prefer to present for that conference. That was great because I didn’t want to present the same talk at multiple conferences.

Tomorrow, I am hosting a Chicago PostgreSQL User Group meetup, and I am trying to do hybrid again. This time, six people registered to participate in person, seven including me. I think that in reality, there will be three people plus me, and it will progress because last time it was just me plus one more person.

Another thing I realized is that the holiday season is approaching for real, so this weekend, I need to start sending out international cards, and I need to start baking cookies. Also, I need to review my presentation for the New York conference. Although I’ve already presented it at least three times, I still need to review the slides and ensure they are not outdated.

The Joys Of Living In The Condominium

On Friday, several emails were sent back and forth between the property management and the building residents: no hot water. You might not believe it, but I had a feeling of relief. In fact, when I first saw this house, and the agent was taking me through all the parts of the building, I saw these giant water heaters in the basement and thought to myself: does it mean that the hot water is not my problem anymore?

Indeed, it is not! The condominium handled all repairs, and by 1 PM, the hot water was back. And I thought for a minute that if this happened in my old house, I wouldn’t know about it until I came home from work Friday night, and then I wouldn’t be able to shower in the morning, and all my weekend plans would be screwed, because I will be looking for emergency service and would pay something unpredictable for it.

Live Theater

What a night! I can’t even say it was like in the “old days” – it was better than ever! Or maybe I forgot. Or maybe I just haven’t been to a Broadway class show for a while.

My neighbor and I had a night out in the Loop on Thursday. We started from a dinner at the Italian Village where I hadn’t been for more than two years. These days, they have a very strict reservation policy: they allow 1 hour 45 min for dining, and they charge you for canceled reservations (you need to put a valid credit card when you make the reservation). But that worked for us, ensuring that there was no crowd at the entrance, the tables were filled, and everybody had enough time to dine. It was nothing extravagant, but it was a very nice and festive dinner with their homemade pasta, wine, and a seasonal dessert.

Then, we headed to the Nederlander Theater. They have a very strict COVID protocol, and they really watch the patrons following it – and this allows them not to have any capacity restrictions. .

The show was fantastic! It was a pre-Broadway run of “Paradise Square,” and everything about it Twas brilliant: the story, the music, the voices, the choreography! Two and a half hours of celebration of people’s talent and creativity!

The story takes place during the Civil War in New York, at the time when President Lincoln instituted the first Federal Draft, followed by the Draft Riot. More educational resources can be found on the production website (I think that I am not the only one who knew nothing about the Draft Riot, and about the Five Points neighborhood. At first, I didn’t realize that the actors present the real interracial couples of the 19th century; I thought that the cast was race-blind. But as the story unfolded, I realized that it was indeed about Irish/Black couples.

Unfortunately, I could not find any pictures, even from rehearsals, but I hope they will add some images to the production website at some point.

The only bad part was that I was at home after 11 PM and went to bed about midnight. And then, on Friday, Igor and I went to see the “Bug” in the Steppenwolf theater. That show started at 8 PM, and once again, we had to wait for the train, and I was home after midnight, and two nights in a row with about 4.5 hours of sleep was not a good idea.

The “Bug” is a play written by Tracy Letts, and it’s a very difficult thing to watch. Unlike most people, I didn’t see the movie and judging by the description on the website I didn’t realize how depressing it was going to be. It’s not that I am avoiding depressing plays, but with that one, I can’t even see what anybody in the world could do to prevent that tragic end…

House Updates

Boris made several home improvements while he was here. I already showed the lights in the dining room. Another thing was that we finally stained the unfinished IKEA cabinets. Almost in spite of our efforts, they look presentable!