Beth and I went to a White Sox game last Wednesday courtesy of their opponent that night, the Houston Astros. More specifically, courtesy of the kindness of Kevin Goldstein, and old friend who happens to be a bigwig in the Astros front office. (Beth posted about Kevin’s story a couple years ago.) The seats were […]

Last week I turned 58. The birthdays all seem to be one big blob now. The exuberant 16th, 18th and 21st are long forgotten milestones. Thirty, forty and fifty were, I guess, somewhat noteworthy. But now, I don’t think much about them. The writer Richard Ford referred to this stage of life as “the permanent period” […]

Forty years ago this summer I graduated from high school, I was working at the candy and nut counter at Sears at the local mall, and I spent my summer anticipating just what life at the University of Illinois would be like. I also met my newborn nephew for the first time, and changed my […]

Live theater is a marvelous thing. Witnessing actual people up there on stage in real time creates a tension and energy that, for my money, makes even middling plays worth the time. And then there are those times when live theater is magical, powerful and unforgettable. That’s how it was yesterday, when Beth and I […]

A few years ago our German friend Gerald visited with us on his way to an extended hiking holiday in Alaska. He’s smart, perceptive and analytical, so it’s always fun, and sometimes painful, to get his take on us Americans and our America. (For the record, he’s a good sport and takes his share of […]