February starts off with a bang for those of you in the San Francisco Bay area. Today and tomorrow, the Russian Center of San Francisco is hosting its 20th annual celebration of Russian art, dance and music. This is a big shindig, and the event that inspired me to start a Russian cultural calendar for adoptive families last year. There is a great lineup, and even a large screen TV dedicated to the Super Bowl. Tickets are $10 for adults, but kids under 12 are free.

Also, today and tomorrow, a... more

If you live or work in New York City and you want to get involved in a new philanthropic effort for Russia's orphans, head to the Times Square area today or Saturday.

St. Malachy's Church/Actors' Chapel Square is hosting a two-day exhibition and sale of art work created by orphans in Saratov. The church is located at 239 W. 49th, which is between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. There will be a piano concert from... more

I found the mother lode of information on Russia last night.

It's called "Sher's Russian Index", and it is a portal to all things Russian--art, culture, sports, science, language and much, much more. Well, there's not a section on adoption, but I can forgive its creator that because of all the other material that's here.

A word on the site's creator. He is one Benjamin Sher, and after a bit of sleuthing, I learned that he is a Russian translator by profession. His main Web site contains... more

After I finished writing this morning's post on Simply June, the business that Karen June Grant started as her Russian adoption was progressing, it occurred to me that it was time to dust off some material I had been saving on Matryoshka dolls. The Russian nesting dolls figure on Karen's onesies and she... more

Before the summer of 2004, Karen June Grant was just one of those gifted crafters we all get to meet from time to time. "Just"? No, that's not the right way to put it: The woman has panache.

But that summer Karen began to evaluate her main source of employment, graphic and Web design. Like many of us, she took what I've come to call a "momventory" because she and her husband were going to adopt from Russia. "As we started to get closer... more