Although Cubs fans might not believe it, Chicago can throw one hell of a curveball, be it running into a long-lost love at the grocery store, adoring a food you never tried before or coming across a zydeco band playing to no one. » Read the rest of this entry «
#13: After Sunset
May 28th, 2012 § permalink
Louis Armstrong’s horn wailed where the glass case of pliers and wrenches now stands. Cab Calloway hi-de-hoed by the breakroom microwave. » Read the rest of this entry «
#12: Nerds of Paradise
May 25th, 2012 § permalink
He had played a wedding that day — not a usual occurrence — so he was pumped, energetic. He danced a bit as he moved.
“Hey, guys,” he said when he caught up with the rest of the gang, our assembled crowd of journos and finance people. “The guy at the door said there are lingerie football players in here.” » Read the rest of this entry «
#11: The Old Ball Game
May 23rd, 2012 § permalink
The Salmon swim against the current.
Even if you dislike the pun, you can’t deny the men in their zipperless Amish pants, homemade jerseys and flat-topped caps fight against the now. You can’t argue that Never Wrong the umpire with the foot-long feather sticking off his stovepipe hat avoids the present. Lightning, the 18-year-old baseman swatting runs with a cudgel that comes up to my rib cage, walks off from the modern. » Read the rest of this entry «
#10: Strip Club
May 21st, 2012 § permalink
All I remember is the heat and her dance. » Read the rest of this entry «
#9: Dead Row
May 18th, 2012 § permalink
A magnificent fat crow glared at me from atop the cemetery birdbath. Under gray, clamoring clouds, it cawed a warning to me. Somewhere, a man reading Lovecraft got an erection he couldn’t explain.
I was going a’writing in a graveyard. » Read the rest of this entry «
#8: At Last
May 16th, 2012 § permalink
I sipped a glass of bourbon that cost more than a whole bottle would wholesale and watched the three-piece jazz combo perform a medley of Etta James’ “At Last” and an original composition apparently known as “Test One Two.” » Read the rest of this entry «
#7: A Room Full of Goulets
May 14th, 2012 § permalink
There are those of us in this great, big world, this city of smell, who are of the belief that all moments contain all things, that a moment of grief contains an aspect of beauty, that a moment of levity contains a seed of tragedy.
I am one of those people. It’s a belief I cherish, but one that’s hard to defend in a room full of Robert Goulets. » Read the rest of this entry «
#6: A Serial Killer’s Post Office Grows in Englewood
May 11th, 2012 § permalink
I have to avoid the paternalist disease of praising a neighborhood just because I wasn’t instantly mugged, punched and carjacked the moment I parked the Chrysler in Englewood. » Read the rest of this entry «
#5: The Show
May 9th, 2012 § permalink
Was it cold on the ledge? Did the wind cut at you?
Did the lakeside damp wet your clothes, making them cling and clutch? Did the fog condense on your face, making it look like you were crying, a little lost girl on the 42nd floor ledge screaming for the firemen to stay back?
It sure looked cold from the ground. Sorry the show went on. » Read the rest of this entry «
