Clik here to view.
#40in15
Photo credit: Flickr user Palo via Creative Commons I turn 40 this year. After rushing into an ultimately failed first marriage, I no longer get particularly hung up on where or who or what I’m...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Beware the bubble of your own understanding
David Carr died this week. He was a media reporter for the New York Times, a former alt-weekly editor, a man in recovery from addiction, a father, a husband, a defender of the good, a champion of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
An obituary and a celebration of Mark W. Anderson
My friend Mark Anderson died this week. This is the unedited version of the obituary that will run in the Chicago-Sun Times. I will link to their version when it’s posted. We’re also trying to raise...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sorbet
The other day I realized I’d written a grand total of three posts here this year and two of them had to do with death. This realization came after reading a friend’s status update lamenting a case of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicago media is getting rid of what it needs the most
Last week, a new report from The Knight Foundation said a lack of local news and information was the biggest cause of declining turnout among millennial voters. Meanwhile, these three things happened...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Of course the Sex Pistols have a credit card
The Sex Pistols now have a branded credit card. For some reason, this development has made people feel angry and betrayed. I say “for some reason” because…do people not know how and why the Sex Pistols...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mark Kirk has a very specific image of the South Side
This week, Illinois Senator Mark Kirk referred to Lindsey Graham – an unmarried Presidential candidate – as “a bro with no ho.” He further intimated “that’s what we’d say on the South Side.” (Kirk was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
May the tavern rise up to meet you: The Frunchroom – 07.16.15
This is the piece I read at The Frunchroom back in July. Oh hey, did I mention I produce/host a South Side reading series called The Frunchroom now? (Not here, apparently, because I’ve only written...
View ArticleClik here to view.
At Mizzou, the tension between the message, the medium and the marginalized
Graduate student Jonathan Butler leads the protesters at the University of Missouri on Oct. 6, 2015. KOMUNews image via Creative Commons license. Link I’ve been struggling to reconcile competing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Timing is everything in the Laquan McDonald shooting case
View image | gettyimages.com On October 20th, 2014, Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by a police officer. McDonald was a 17-year-old teenager who was, according to reports, high on PCP and carrying a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A year of good intentions
Fighting the good fight. With ice cream. I should have known my grand plan for this year might hit a snag or two when my most enterprising, driven friend told me he thought my list of 40 goals for 2015...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Touchvision ends with a proud legacy
Yesterday, the staff of Touchvision was informed our company would be shutting down, effective immediately. A bunch of my fantastic and talented colleagues are looking for work today so if you need...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pushing back on racism: The Beverly Review, 12.29.15
Screenshot from WBEZ’s Curious City report on Beverly’s 1970s integration efforts. This was from a presentation called “Beverly Now.” Yesterday I experienced an afternoon of celebration, reflection and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Year Five
At some point during our shared birthday week last year, I realized I wasn’t going to write my annual post about where Abigail and I were in our lives. Let’s just say it was a tough week. This year...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rainbow Cone is Chicago’s original family dynasty
The piece below is something I wrote for a now-abandoned project about unique Chicago places. With Rainbow Cone‘s grand opening this weekend and the store celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Father’s Day, different angle
Despite my insistence that it was bath time, Abigail – inexplicably dressed in her choice of a red flannel nightgown since 4pm – pleaded for permission to ride her bike around the block. I insisted,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Neon Indian’s “Annie” is basically Phil Collins’s “Don’t Lose My Number”
The NY Times recently proclaimed Phil Collins to be “very much alive” based on his recently reissued classic albums, an upcoming memoir and its interview with an ambulatory Collins during which words...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The South Side is a myth: Tuesday Funk, July 5th, 2016
With The Frunchroom taking up most of my live lit energy in the last year, I didn’t have as much time as I liked to do live readings. I’m trying to get back into the habit and reading at Tuesday Funk...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Time to hit the reset button on the 19th ward school closing/restructuring plan
If you don’t live in the 19th ward of Chicago, you might not know there’s a plan to close and restructure some of the schools in our neighborhood in an effort to solve overcrowding at another. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hope
Everyone is afraid. That’s how we got here. I’m looking for hope right now or a sense of some common bond and that’s all I’ve come up with this morning. For some, they’re worried their livelihoods or...
View Article