Every December the publisher of my book Writing Out Loud asks me to write a year-end holiday message to send out to people who subscribe to my newsletter. But this past holiday, I had writer’s block. Who wanted to think hard about 2020? What would I write about? Conference presentations that got cancelled? Visits to […]

I had the week after Christmas off,  and I took advantage of it by spending a few nights at Starved Rock State Park. I needed some nature time outside the city, and Beth needed me to have nature time outside our condo. We’re together a lot in these times. As I finished packing on the […]

It being the end of the year, I thought I might write one of those year-end recaps. But as I cataloged things, I thought, nah. I’ll just say this: When I got sprung from the City COVID quarantine hotel last April, I had no idea that Beth and I would look back and say we […]

In the midst of despair and divisiveness, there’s one thing we can agree on: the COVID vaccines represent a remarkable accomplishment. Like every medical/technical achievement, the vaccines were enabled by earlier breakthroughs. Moderna’s, for example, relied on a new messenger RNA technique. Expect advances to keep coming. For example, using CRISPR technology, a COVID test […]

Save for our favorite sandwich joint Standing Room Only (which was done in by looting), the small businesses in our neighborhood are hanging on. Even the restaurants are eking by. So far. In Chicago, bars that don’t serve food were closed by city order. Establishments with licenses to serve food have been allowed to stay […]