Tag: community

Bike Repair

I planned to take my bike for maintenance when Boris was in town even before I got a flat tire last Sunday, and then I had to take care of both. On Saturday, I called the bike shop to check that they were open and started walking in their direction. It would take about 20 minutes because I couldn’t walk fast when I was walking my bike along, and I dreaded the situation. But just when I exited the alley and turned to Jarvis Square, I saw a Curbside Bicycles pop-up – it was so timely, I couldn’t believe I was so lucky!

The repair person said she could change the inner tube, but she kept looking down at my bike and asked: is it all you want to do? I admitted that I needed a full checkup, and I had concerns about the chain as it started to fall off too often. She measured it and said – yes, you need a chain replacement and probably a cassette replacement as well. It was 10-30, and I said that I needed to go somewhere at 3, so she said she would be done by then.

She texted me at 2-30, and I went down to pick up the bike. She gave me a complete description of what she noticed and what she had done, and that the brakes would still be noisy, but there was no technical concern there. She described the thorn she pulled out of my back wheel and how it almost looked like a nail!

The time saving and the level of service were not even close to what I would get otherwise, so I consider this business competition to be won by Curbside Bicycles!

I Know, I Know…

Please, do not roll your eyes on me! I thought for the whole month back in December before I said – maybe, and another two months before I said yes, and I chose the committee where my ideas will be needed and the time commitment won’t be huge.

And honestly, isn’t it the best way I can help my own community to become better?!

Jarvis Family Full Moon Fest

We had a family activities day at Jarvis Square on Saturday. It was the first time we had such a family-style celebration (the adult part followed after 8 PM). There was free face painting, and free s’mores, and trick-or-treating, and drumming, and Taro fortune telling. Most importantly, there were kids in costumes who had enormous fun! I walked there with my mom, and we walked around and made our s’mores over the fire, and then I got the butternut latte in the Charmer’s Cafe for myself and caramel cider for mom, and we sat there and watched the kids running around with the buckets, sitting for the face painting and drumming.

Mom was saying that it’s too bad we can’t take pictures, and then she added that it’s impossible to tell others how good it was because no words and no pictures can reflect the feeling and the atmosphere. That was one of the rare moments when she felt the way I hoped she would feel after moving here.

We saw Channel 5, and one kid yelled: Mom, we are on the news! The reported was interviewing one of the organizers, and I heard that she said that “it feels very safe,” which I couldn’t agree more.

Theo Cabaret: Baked!

I learned about Theo almost by accident (I don’t even remember where I saw the ad), went to see the Three Penny Opera, and loved them! And I decided to subscribe for a season – just one seat for each performance, without my neighbor or anybody. When we went there together with Boris, we had the side seats, and I realized that if I wanted to have the best experience there, I needed to be at a table. That’s what I subscribed for, and it was a perfect experience indeed.

The authors of Baked! are young, and so is the cast, and it’s a little bit silly and naive but also heartbreakingly sincere! I really enjoyed it!

Girls’ Weekend – Sunday

Just a couple of days before the weekend, Vlad called me and said that he was going to be in Chicago on Sunday. He had a work event on Tuesday but decided to come earlier to catch up with friends and family. Because of that, our beach day was naturally divided into two parts: in the morning, we went to the big playground in Loyola Park, then we went to meet Vlad for lunch, (and stopped at the Glenwood Sunday Market for fruit popsicles) and in the afternoon, we went to the beach again.

The weather on Sunday was … interesting. Very strong winds with temperatures barely above 70F, but the lake was as warm as the Midetarranian Sea. And the waves! The lifeguards were not supposed to let anybody into the water, but how can you control the force of nature?! They were making sure, however, that everybody stays really close to the shore.

There was an outdoor class of rhythmical dances, and I sent Anna to have fun 🙂

I bought a new set of beach toys, so not only Nadia and Kira were having fun, but Anna was equally (if not more) enjoying building the sand Tallinn Castle.

Granted, Vlad’s surprise visit was a treat, and we all had a very good conversation. Too often, it happens that when we do not talk for a long time, we start to feel like strangers, not knowing what to talk about. It was not the case this time 🙂

Both Anna and I agreed that it was the perfect Chicago/Rogers Pak weekend, and without it, summer would be incomplete.

That Why I Like It Here!

Artists Of The Wall 2023

There are at least two people I know who can tell the story of the Artists of the Wall annual event better than I do. The only thing I can say is that I love this annual celebration of people’s creativity, and I really really liked a lot of this season’s works.

Last Wednesday, when I visited my mom, I went to see the new paintings, and I think I took pictures of all of them – you can see them here.

And here are some of y favorites:

Continue reading “Artists Of The Wall 2023” →

Lifeline Theater

Igor and I continue to explore local theaters and continue to drag my mom along :). Tonight, it was Lifeline Theater with their ‘From the Mississippi Delta” production. I understood barely half of it, but the performance was brilliant!

Mom didn’t understand a word of it (or maybe just a couple of words :)), but she was also taken away by the performance. She loved the actors’ expressiveness and how they could transform themselves into another character by adding just one or two accessories to their costumes.

I Am Glad I Am Here!

Last week was two years since I moved to Rogers Park. Since then, I have changed jobs three times and had a lot of ups and downs, but one thing is for sure: I am so glad I moved! I enjoy coming back home, I enjoy walking the neighborhood, and that’s my home for real.

Saturday – As Planned!

That’s the most amazing fact about today – I did pretty much everything I wanted, and som more!

Long (ish) bike ride in the morning:

My cleaning lady came to wash the windows, and this year, we were also to open all of them. While she was washing the windows, I did a big portion of my emails and started my submissions to PG Conf NYC. Then I went down to Jarvis square fair and bought a lot of plants for my balcony and for our courtyard vegetable garden. Then I hung out for a little bit at the fair, chatted with the neighbors who also went down there, bought a crazy artisan doughnut

and hurried to the Abortion Protection rally (and finished my conference submissions on the CTA)

After the rally was over, I went straight to the Switch on Summer event (Switching on the Buckingham fountain). Last year, I came there too early and as a result, didn’t stay till the actual turning on the fountain (it was too hot). This time, I came at about 1-15, and it was perfect!

Continue reading “Saturday – As Planned!” →