My mom taught school most of her adult life, only taking time off when I was born to get me to kindergarten–and then returning to the classroom,. I can tell you, it was not an 8-3 job. It wasn’t a 9-5 job, either. It was—maddeningly for my sister and me—a constantly on-call job. As in, […]

A few weeks ago Beth heard that Little Feat, one of my favorite bands, would be playing at The Vic, a great little old Vaudeville theater turned music venue. Here’s the deal: I usually pretty much avoid nostalgia trips. For one thing, if I’ve seen a band, and the show was good, I don’t feel […]

Just had a great weekend visiting a friend from the neighborhood who has since moved back to his hometown of St. Louis. I took the Amtrak with another Printers Row pal. The three of us originally met, where else, at the late, great Hackney’s. Miraculously, the trains to and from the Gateway City were very […]

Every weekend, a Chicago FM station called WXRT does the Saturday Morning Flashback. All morning, the DJ plays noteworthy music from a given year. A couple weeks ago the year was 1973, and among the songs played was Frank Zappa’s “Montana.” You know, the one where he’s going to be a dental floss farmer. What […]

Beth got a lot of reaction from her post about being hassled by a creepy guy, and having Whitney and a Good Samaritan banker help her. Apart from the comments, there were a lot of phone calls and in-person talks. Some expressed surprise and regret at having never thought about what being in a situation […]