When it comes to the "Invasion of Ded Morozy and Snegurachki" event that took place in Millennium Park earlier today, two of my mom's saying comes to mind ( Read more... )

For the past few months, I've seen plenty of social media ads, bus shelter ads and articles talking up the Chalk Howard Street festival. Professional artists and regular folks would have a chance to use chalk to draw whatever they can on the block of Howard Street east of the eponymous 'L' station, at the heart of the Juneway Terrace - the ( Read more... )

I've been to the top of Mount Baldy, the tallest and the most iconic dune of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, two times - once back in October 2010 and once in February of 2012. I would have come back more often but, a year later, a young kid fell through the hole that mysteriously opened up while playing on Mount Baldy. He survived, but the ( Read more... )

Well, it's that time again, ladies and gentlefolks. Tallgrass Writers Guild's monthly open mic is on Sunday, March 25. As always, it's going to be held at Sulzer Regional Library (4455 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625), between 2:00 PM and 4:30 PM. And, as before, I am going to be reading at it. I encourage everybody reading this to come read your ( Read more... )

On Monday, August 21, much of the United States will see at least a partial eclipse. In Illinois, the only place where you'll be able to see a total eclipse is in the southern Illinois city of Carbondale and some of the surrounding area.

Amtrak has two state-sponsored trains - Saluki and Illini running between Chicago and Carbondale during the day ( Read more... )

Last Friday morning, I was in Park Ridge, a suburb just outside Chicago's northwest city limits, covering the ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks for the Niles Bugle.

A year earlier, the city unveiled a 9/11 memorial. Its centerpiece was a beam from the ruins of the World Trade Center, and it was meant ( Read more... )

I've been celebrating American Independence Day on Edgewater's Hollywood Beach. Rather then trying to watch fireworks at Navy Pier, I would watch the fireworks show Saddle & Cycle Club put out on the nearby[Foster Beach]the same Foster Beach where Danny and Sandy had their summer romance in the original, Chicago-based version of Grease. The view from the ( Read more... )

Back in September 8, 2014, two days after my fifth chemo, my mom and I attended the National Cancer Survivor Day celebration at Cook County Hospital. The event is supposed to be a celebration for those who made it through the chemo and other procedures, and a way to give hope to people who are still going through it ( Read more... )

This year, Riot Fest, the popular punk/rock/rap festival, moved from its long-time home in Humboldt Park (of the eponymous neighborhood) to Douglas Park (of North Lawndale). This was a big deal, because the circumstances behind the move were controversial and because, while Humboldt Park is working class and partially gentrifying, North Lawndale is ( Read more... )

Yesterday, I went to Hyde Park to attend a release party for the South Side Weekly newspaper's second Lit Issue. I gave a background on what it was and why I thought it was pretty cool in an earlier post, and I see no reason to repeat it here.

Like last year, the party started at 6:00 PM, in the backyard of the building that houses 57th Street ( Read more... )