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Mom’s SSI application was denied again. I can’t even say I feel bad about it because, to be honest, we can survive without it. The lady who worked with me on the phone two weeks ago and with whom I talked today was a real angel. She made me feel like she was really trying to do the best for me, and she repeated multiple times that she completely understood our situation, but the rules are what they are. And again, I understand that it’s fair. I was very nervous about this whole thing for the past two weeks, and now life will just go on. She said we would be able to apply again in three years (a little bit less, but whatever), and that is before my retirement, so hopefully, we can last for that long.

I will need to figure out whether we can still apply for subsidized housing, and after January 1, she can apply for Medicare, but for now, I am going to take a break from all of these activities. My time is more important, and when it is wasted, it is wasted.

Unrelated, but also happened today: I went to see an eye doctor about my double vision. Not like I wanted, but when I asked for new prizm glasses in summer, an optometrist told me that he wanted me to check with a specialist whether anything else could be done. Nobody suggested anything radical to me for the past twenty years, but I decided to give it a shot. Another two and a half hours are wasted, and the result is the same: nothing that we can do for you. Just put a patch over your left eye when you go to the movies. Oh, well.

Fall

We’ve had a little bit of warmer weather recently, and on Tuesday, I moved my workday to an even earlier start than usual and came back home to take a bike ride. I was less of a traffic jam than I was afraid it could be, and it was really warm and calm – a perfect fall afternoon!

Lake Michigan Today

OHC 2023

The day started with the pouring rain, and I was unsure whether it was still a good idea to go with our original plans for the OHC Day. Igor said he would go with me or without:), and I decided to go, hoping for the rain to stop later in the day. It eventually stopped, and the trip “to the other side of the world” was totally worth it.

As usual, I hope to tell more about what I saw a little bit later, but judging by my recent level of busyness, it is not very likely to happen, so I will at least mention the highlights of the day.

First and foremost – Beverly Hills is so beautiful! Regardless of the OHC sites being open to public, it was such a pleasure to walk the streets, to see houses and trees, and just take in the spirit of the place.

Continue reading “OHC 2023”

Wild Onion Market Fundraiser

I am a part of Wild Onion Market – I joined as an owner almost two years ago, and since then, donated several times. Now, our coop is in the final fundraising stretch, raising the remaining fund needed to open in December.

Today we had a fundraising event in the Rhapsody Theater. I bought two tickets because I felt I could do at least that, and took my mom there, since the theater is just two blocks away from her building. I was hoping to catch a program, but when we came thee at six, they told us that the programmimg won’t start till 8 PM, and I was not ready to stay that long.

I didn’t plan to participate in either silent auction or the live one, but since I had time, I decided to check out the silen auction items. To my surprise, I saw that a painting with the estimated price of $350 and initial bid of $75 didn’t get any bids. I quickly put a $100, and nobody put anything after me! That way, completely unexpectedly, I became an owner of this beautiful painting:

Monday Notes

  • Got an updated COVID-19 vaccine. After my double failure in Rogers Park (a long line for community vaccination and later, the Jewel on Howard told me that they only have walk-ins on weekday mornings (and no scheduling because of a website error), I booked an appointment in a CVS on North Michigan – convenient time after work, zero wait.
  • Managed to work almost uninterruptedly on a pressing issue at work and achieved the results I am proud of.
  • My neighbor stopped by, and even before I offered asked me whether she could have a cup of tea :). I consider that a tectonic cultural shift 😀

Camille Claudel Exhibit

Just back from the Art Institute, where I saw a Camille Claudel exhibit. It’s amazing. I am shocked, sad, and ashamed of how little I knew about her! Like “everybody else,” I knew her name, but the only reason I knew it was in connection with August Rodin – like “everybody else.” She is always mentioned as his apprentice and his muse, and Rodin’s bust, created by Claudel, is his most known representation.

That’s who she was in my mind. Not trying to compare myself with geniuses, I still felt like I could relate to a female character developing professionally in the shadow of a more famous male figure, inevitably treated as “a secondary” both by others and herself.

In reality, however, Camille faces way more obstacles, starting from not being allowed to work with nude models as most females, followed by constant comparing her with Rodin to the point of her works being attributed to him.

She left Rodin’s workshop to be her own person and explore the subjects she wanted to explore, only to receive more criticism for nudity in her sculptures and not receive grants for any of her works to become a full-size artwork. Then, exhibiting the signs of a mental illness, destroying most of her works and spending thirty years in the psychiatric hospital. Her family insisted on her being institutionalized despite the doctor’s suggestions to take her home and reintegrate into the family.

She died in the hospital in 1943 when France was occupied, and she was reburied in a common grave, so there is no even a place to mark. Her works were almost forgotten, and her personal exhibits happened years after she passed away.

Her art is amazing and so distinct from Rodin’s works – now I know!

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Continue reading “Camille Claudel Exhibit”

Community Vaccination

I tried to attend a community vaccination event today to get a new COVID-19 vaccine for me and my mom. Unfortunately, when I signed up for both of us, I forgot that I had a mentoring circle meeting at work at 12-30, while the event was planned from 10 AM to 2 PM. Overall, that was the day when I was trying to do too many things. I stayed home for a seasonal furnace tune-up, which was supposed to happen between 8 and 12. I hoped the technician would come earlier and I would have time to take my mom to the vaccination before this 12-30 meeting. But obviously, when I need it most, it does not happen. Not only did the technician come in after 11, but he also stayed for an hour and a half – I do not know what he was doing for so long! When he left, I was already in the mentoring circle meeting, and after we were done, I decided to go to the vaccination site and see what the situation was – it was only 2-30 PM.
When I arrived, they told me it would be a 45-minute wait. I decided to stay. They would close the sign-up at two but then serve all the people who came by that time.
I had two people at work waiting for me to get back online, and I had grocery delivery between 3 PM and 4 PM, and when I realized that it was still at least another 15 min at 3-05, I left.
A lot of time was wasted. To be honest, when I was leaving the house at 1-30, I heard this sneaking voice in my head: just let it go, it didn’t work! But then I decided to give it a try… Once again – listen to the universe, and don’t try to bend it.
We will find another appointment 🙂

The Best Big US City!

Listen here – and you know that that’s about Chicago 🙂

Just an opening quote:

If you ask a Chicagoan what they love about their city, they’ll get poetic. They’ll gesture with their hands and grasp for words to describe what makes this “big-hearted and cold-blooded” metropolis so incredible. 

But listen to the whole thing!

Summer Is Turning Into Fall

And as usual, it takes just one day in Chicago!

I hope that I will have a chance to see fall foliage. I know that there was no way for me to go to Helsinki this fall, but I am still remorseful. Boris is telling me how the leaves are turning red and yellow and how the stores started to sell Christmas chocolate, and I am trying to give him instructions on which chocolate to buy, but I am sad I won’t be the one choosing Christmas chocolate this season. Next year, we will plan better! I know; I say it every year :).