#792: M-I-Z-

May 19th, 2017 § permalink

He was one of the people paid, for whatever reason, to sit on a folding chair outside of a car wash.

He was old and middle-age fat. Not obese, just a spare tire that wouldn’t go anywhere even if he tried to do anything about it, which he hadn’t.

But it wasn’t his girth that attracted me, nor his close-cropped buzz, nor the fact I was a few seconds from finding out he was one of the last holders of a North Side Chicago accent.

It was the fact he was decked head to toe in my college colors did. » Read the rest of this entry «

#791: How We Live Now

May 17th, 2017 § permalink

This is it, right? This is how we live?

We live in sunsets now, and warm nights of sushi and wine on patios. We live in texts from friends letting us know of impromptu get-togethers after.

That’s it, right? Life’s like this forever now? » Read the rest of this entry «

#790: In the Newsroom

May 15th, 2017 § permalink

I’m typing now. Everyone is.

A sales guy in the corner is chattering away. Two of the production guys were hushed-toning it about a color separation detail, but that got resolved and they walked away from each other.

Now it’s just you, me and the clicking and clacking of a dozen keyboards. » Read the rest of this entry «

#789: Cram

May 12th, 2017 § permalink

Rod Balgovijic went to prison for six and a half… fourteen… life?

Richard L. Daily was the first mayor of the city, known as the Boss on Five.

Do I talk about the Omnibus Boodlers, or just start with Kinky Dink?

Oh wow, I have to be a tour guide again. » Read the rest of this entry «

#788: Native Water

May 10th, 2017 § permalink

I can’t in good faith pretend the story I want to tell about Chicago today is in Chicago.

I can’t pretend I’m that parochial or have that much dedicated bandwidth to focus solely on the municipal jurisdiction that provides my garbage pickup and blog title.

I can’t pretend my thoughts aren’t focused on a president who fired the head of the agency investigating his cronies, of media blackouts at the highest levels, of threats against comedians and criminal charges for laughing at the attorney general, of whatever atrocity will be revealed by the time I finish this sentence.

So I went to the river. » Read the rest of this entry «

#787: A Movie House

May 8th, 2017 § permalink

By rights, it should be a chain restaurant.

That’s what the area’s best for. State Street, that great street where the only groups that can afford the ground-floor rents are multinational corporations shilling either cheap Chinese-made clothing or the finest of mass-produced sandwich meats. » Read the rest of this entry «

#786: Authenticity VaVOOM

May 5th, 2017 § permalink

She strode to the center of the ring, her muscles rippling under pounding stage lights that could be described as all-covering and a wrestling singlet that absolutely couldn’t.

Her foe in the faux mustache and all-too-real chest hair laughed at her, pointed and made a Trumpian chuckle-smirk to the audience. He turned to the crowd to flex again, the audience hurling boos at him as his theme song – “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” – piped through the gymnasium.

Then the wrestling began, wedged between the dancing. » Read the rest of this entry «

#785: Dip

May 3rd, 2017 § permalink

We all need a place to dive.

It’s a place to plunge under the water, to immerse yourself in the calming, clearing _____ that takes you away from your routine for a moment.

_____ could be a seat by a tree. It could be a little quiet spot in your office to just give you a break from the twin strings jerking you back and forth between work and home.

Mine’s a bookstore downtown. » Read the rest of this entry «

#784: The Chicago Way

May 1st, 2017 § permalink

The film “The Untouchables” (1987) has a line that has become a catchphrase for the city: “The Chicago Way.”

“He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue! That’s the Chicago Way!” yells the Scotsman playing the Irishman using the same accent he used to play a Russian submarine captain. » Read the rest of this entry «

#783: The Five-Year Plan (or I Hate You So Much Right Now, Google Maps)

April 28th, 2017 § permalink

I would like to dedicate today’s story to Google Maps, which about 20 minutes ago decided it didn’t like the interactive display I had spent hours designing and reverted to an incomplete version from three days ago, apparently deleting every change I had made since. Thanks, Google Maps. You’re a rock star. » Read the rest of this entry «

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