I grew up in a household where politics—paying attention to them, thinking about them, and forming reasoned positions—was not sport, it was an obligation as a citizen. My sister volunteered—at the age of 16—for Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, and after enduring the heartbreak of seeing her candidate murdered, she ended up working for Sen. […]

In my meeting with DJ Mermaid this week we talked (among other things) about expressing our honest feelings in our personal stories, and the importance of using strong verbs to express ourselves. DJ Mermaid is a very fast learner, and you’ll see an example of this in today’s post #3. IN her original draft she said […]

I’ve been visiting elementary schools with my Seeing Eye dogs more than 25 years now, so it’d be reasonable to think I’ve heard every single question a kid would dream up when it comes to blindness or guide dogs. Jackie Petrozzi But hey, who ever accused kids of being reasonable? Last Friday afternoon my Seeing Eye […]

As promised, here’s guest post #2 by DJ Mermaid. In our hour together this past week she and I discussed some of the positive comments you left to her post last week. She isn’t quite ready to respond online to the comments you leave here, but trust me, she does read – and reread – […]

Our friends Jim and Kathy Zartman invited Mike and me to a pretty cool event tonight. We’re going to a gala that benefits the Chicago School of Violin Making, and it sure sounds like my kind of party: Starts early – 6:30 p.m. Begins with a sampling of three to four wines Promises ”substantial”  Hors […]