It seems like only yesterday: Beth’s Seeing Eye dog Harper saved them both from being run over at an intersection a couple blocks from home. Harper yanked Beth out of harm’s way—so hard that she fell to the pavement and that the sturdy metal harness snapped. It was a harrowing experience, but afterward Beth and Harper […]

There’s a lot of construction going on around our neighborhood, and most of it I’d be happy to do without. Apart from the noise (pile driving, anyone?), the end products are indistinct glassy vertical slab apartment buildings. But, our little stretch of Dearborn remains unchanged, Sandmeyer’s Book Store is still here, we can still walk […]

On this Memorial Day, let’s do our very best to honor those who’ve died while serving in the armed forces—let’s stay the hell out of stupid wars from here on out. We’ve been in one war or another for most of my lifetime. All but maybe one (Desert Storm, and even that was probably avoidable) […]

 Just another conversation at the CCAC. This morning, Beth attended the inauguration of new Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. To register for the event, she used an online form that was very intentionally and seamlessly accessible to her computer’s screen reading software. In advance of the event, Beth and everyone with disabilities planning to attend […]

Two weeks ago I posted about the burgeoning phenomenon of people walking—forward and backward—while glued to their cell phones. Kind of the pedestrian equivalent of texting and driving, and by my lights, nearly as  abhorrent. I trimmed the post and sent it to the Chicago Tribune, which published it in the Voice of the People […]