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 […]

First, thanks to all of you who’ve commented or contacted me directly regarding last week’s post about people walking around while glued to their phones. The response was such that Beth encouraged me to submit it to the Chicago Tribune Voice of the People section, essentially their letters to the editor feature. Well, it took […]

Back when cell phones were relatively new, I was routinely, involuntarily made privy to half a conversation — in elevators, checkout lines, restaurants, and just walking down the sidewalk. I still remember just passing a woman on my block and hearing her, quite loudly, say “Well, don’t tell anyone, but she has breast cancer.” Most […]

The first time I operated a clutch and a manual transmission was during my first summer break after my freshman year at the University of Illinois. And it wasn’t in a car, but on a motorcycle. My high school best buddy was also back after his freshman year in Wisconsin. He showed up at my […]

My first recollections of the TV quiz show Jeopardy! date back to watching TV with my mom, who was an avid watcher when she could catch it—there was no Tivo then. I faintly remember that perhaps it came on late in the afternoon? Well, Esther was pretty damn good at it (she worked crosswords during […]