July 5th, 2017 § permalink
My sister visited. My wife and I took a walk. There was a barbecue at some friends’ house with kids running around screaming, and an illegal but well-attended fireworks show at a nearby park.
When do you realize you’re in one of the most important days of your life? » Read the rest of this entry «
July 3rd, 2017 § permalink
The storefront is closed for the day, the workers off to turn a Tuesday holiday into four days of relaxation and barbecue.
Along the stretch of Michigan Avenue, other revelers wander by. It’s the morning, so they’re still happy and energetic. It will be hours before they slog back to the hotel lugging overtired children, too much SUE at the Field Museum merchandise and probably more than one Chicago Cubs hat.
The storefront, though, is unnoticed. Pasted print-up in the window pledging holiday hours and darkness inside. Which is too bad because I really wanted that damn magazine. » Read the rest of this entry «
June 30th, 2017 § permalink
I’m on a train now, heading south.
I’m scribbling into a little red notebook to transcribe later at work hoping the boss doesn’t notice. My destination isn’t far into the South Side. 1600 South, a toe past Roosevelt, on a section of Michigan that’s nice and built up but on a mile no one would call magnificent.
It’s for work, but this trip is my biggest dip into an entire half of the city in months. This four-blocks-past-Roosevelt jaunt is another reminder in my constant humiliation: My Chicago blog sucks at covering the South Side. » Read the rest of this entry «
June 28th, 2017 § permalink
Please take a moment to enjoy this image of JoJo the Bloodshot before beginning this story.
[Scene: A conference room in a spacious Loop skyscraper. A group of foam and fur creatures wander around the table, chatting and sipping coffee. A pantsless preteen bear trades business cards with a dancing pig as a giant eagle squats and starts to say “I’ve got something-” to an inflatable women’s basketball fan with a jetpack.]
[A giant green pile of sentient moss shaped like a child’s drawing of a dinosaur walks in, takes off his White Sox cap and places an attache case at the head of the conference table.] » Read the rest of this entry «
June 23rd, 2017 § permalink
The muggles were loitering by the House of Blues. » Read the rest of this entry «
June 21st, 2017 § permalink
Over the winter, I met with a bright, energetic, early-20s writer who wanted to do a story on me for a local arts website.
I think I made him sad. » Read the rest of this entry «
June 19th, 2017 § permalink
He had a contemplative look on his face, as if someone he trusted had hold him 2 + 2 = Aardvark and out of respect he was trying to see if there was anything to it.
Then a vein bulged in his forehead. His mouth pulled back in a grimace and hiss, he took two steps back and made a noise that was a combination of “Whoo!” and a deflating inner tube.
My cousin had tried Malört. » Read the rest of this entry «
June 16th, 2017 § permalink
It turns out Snoopy was born at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, but the man running the trivia night said he’d take Daisy Mills. » Read the rest of this entry «
June 14th, 2017 § permalink
It starts with a reference at work, that’s where the machine rumbles to life.
We’re past the point as a culture where we tell people news. The assumption now is that we already know what happened. The assumption is that we already know who killed whom by firing what randomly where. The assumption when chatting in the office is that it’s OK to start right in on the references and skip the 5 Ws and the H (who, what, when, where, why and how many dead). » Read the rest of this entry «
