This is a conversation I meant to write about months ago, but somehow never found the time and the right headspace to finish it, so I am backdating this post closer to when it actually happened. For the past few years, Grandpa Gena P. and I have Skyped, almost without fail, every Sunday morning Chicago time (Sunday evening St. Petersburg time ( Read more... )

Last weekend, I went to Madison, mostly to hang out with my niece and my sister. Which, in spite of everybody over there being sick to some extent or another, I actually managed to do. And Anna and I actually wound up having the longest and deepest conversation in quite a while. We talked head-on about some of the things that we never really talk ( Read more... )

I feel like saying that my Thanksgiving week has been stressful is putting it mildly.

( More details - and some photos of our Thanksgiving dinner - under the cut )

I was originally going to write this earlier. In keeping with annanov's wishes, I was going to put it under friends lock until today, but I would have written about it. Which Anna might not have been happy with, so it may be for the best that, between work and other stuff, I never got around to writing this ( Read more... )

Happy 25th birthday to two out of my three siblings, the twins whose birth brought down the Soviet Union - annanov and vladiatorrA 25th birthday. That's a quarter of a century you existed on this Earth. Just the realization how much time has past since that sunny and, all things considering, cheerful day boggles the mind. It hasn't always been roses, but you've ( Read more... )

Grandma Kima was born on New Years Day. So, a lot of times, we'd celebrate New Years Eve at home and go to celebrate her birthday at her apartment the very next day. To me, a visit to this great apartment full of books, with the view of the vast, frozen Gulf of Finland outside the window, getting to taste Grandma Kima's cooking was always a treat ( Read more... )

This morning, my sister (annanov) ran a marathon in Madison (Wisconsin), her current city of residence. And my mom was very excited about it.

Rather then try to link to all three posts, I'm going to put gother one big repost.( Images from my mom's posts under the cut. Captions are my own )

So, last weekend, my sister, annanov and
( Read more... )

In what has become something of an annual tradition, I went to see my sister in Galesburg, a relatively small city in Western Illinois. I took the Amtrak train - this time, the long-distance California Zephyr. The following is a collection of notes I took during and shortly after the train ride, edited somewhat for comprehensiveness.


( Read more... )