Yearly Archives: 2013

Hiding is one of my favorite pastimes, a legacy from youth in the western suburbs of Chicago during the 1960s, where it was encouraged. I hid from my two brothers, one older and one younger until such time they stopped … Continue reading →

Chicago is ready for Spring before Spring is ready for Chicago. This has an upside. It inspires thinking about new growth. This may coax nice weather to feel free to show up sometime. Here are three idea sprouts, unencumbered by … Continue reading →

There are many reasons folks don’t write. Lack of talent isn’t one of them. Being smart is. Following are three smart-writer mistakes: 1. Explaining what you know. Being told isn’t fun. Discovery is fun. You will know you are explaining … Continue reading →

In Elie Wiesel’s book “The Gates of the Forest,” a rabbi says, “God made man because He loves stories.” I’ll bet one of his favorites is the story of Chinua Achebe, a man born in Nigeria in 1930. He died … Continue reading →

A woman I admire was interviewed for an essay about her life, which is far from over; but more of if is her past, since she has seen more than 90 summers. She said three events influenced who she is. … Continue reading →

The nice thing regarding youth is you can build on it, expand from the start of it. During the 1960s in Elmhurst, Il, this was nicely controlled expansion. It may be no coincidence that nicely controlled expansion described our neighborhood, … Continue reading →

People read books uniquely. I mean the sequence in which we read varies, not the format, which can be Oral-Ebook-Audio-Print. Now that I’ve noticed, I’m pesty about asking others HOW they read. Here are preliminary findings. Some 1st read congratulatory … Continue reading →

I didn’t think heaven had a photo studio but I believed holy cards accurately pictured what saints looked like when I attended Immaculate Conception grammar school in Elmhurst, Il during the 1950s. I wanted to have a lot of holy … Continue reading →

When it’s cold in Chicago, like, it’s chilly. But, again. It is what it is. I’m warming up by omitting words and phrases that turn talk tepid. Three in particular: 1. IT IS WHAT IT IS  as in “I was … Continue reading →

When journalist, feminist, and social activist Gloria Steinem was 45 (33 years ago), she wrote about her surprise discovery that women grow more radical with age. She reported this discovery after more than two decades speaking to campus groups, consciousness-raising … Continue reading →