Questing
I spent the summer I turned twelve doing four things: reading, keeping a journal of every book I read and film I saw, practicing my violin, and mowing the lawn while belting show tunes (secretly dreaming I’d be discovered by a talent agent over the drone of the mower). The summer I turned twelve I … Continue reading
Opening Ceremonies & Isolationism
The Opening Ceremony of the Rio Olympics was a delight. From beginning to end, the game designers, producers and International Olympic Committee united to attempt something truly ambitious and profound. Instead of focusing the Ceremony on the home country, a long-standing tradition of glorious patriotism – as seen in London 2012 – and extravagant pageantry … Continue reading
audiobooks are for lovers
I feel as though I ought to have news. But life these days is a quick succession of busy nothings. (Did Jane Austen ever actually write that or have I just gleaned it from films?) There has been illness and snow and a procession of casseroles. There are hopeful exciting moments of professional glee muddled … Continue reading
Things I Like — Free Music
I may bemoan the lack of free museums in this city, but summer heralds a cornucopia of affordable musical fare. Finally attended the Dame Myra Hess Concert series under the beautiful Tiffany dome at the Chicago Cultural Center. Bite-sized classics, today a cello sonata, for lunchtime listeners. (You can tune in live on WMFT‘s website … Continue reading
All the news that’s fit to click: News in the Age of the Internet
This morning as I buttered toast, my mind flitted to the Huffington Post. Or rather, the day it launched. I remember the day it launched in 2005. I remember writing about it for a now-defunct blog. I remember discussing it with my nerdy grad school friends who went on to become journalists and Google execs. … Continue reading
Once Upon an iPad
Once upon a time, some very kind and generous parents gifted some lady an iPad. She loved it very, very much. Primarily because it let her FaceTime with loved ones far away and properly read pdfs anywhere, (but also, secretly, because Dots could be a lifesaver on a cold dreary platform hundreds of miles from … Continue reading
Drawing Dinosaurs
In the first weeks of kindergarten I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Everyday I got to go out on my own to a place full of other kids and play and read and learn stuff. ALL MORNING. All the best things in life were crammed into that room. We had a proper playhouse, … Continue reading
Chicago Botanic Garden
One of the true hidden gems of our Chicago explorations so far. Despite the first part of the name being slightly misleading — the Gardens are a full 25 miles north of downtown, on the edge of a pretty suburb named Glencoe, I can attest it is absolutely 100% worth the journey. A traditional Botanic … Continue reading
#MakingTime : Day 2
I’m taking on Do What You Love‘s 31-day experiment #MakingTime. Each day we’ll carve out an increasing number of minutes (one minute on Day 1, two minutes on Day Two…) to make time for the here and now and the big picture stuff that gets shoved under the sofa most nights. I’m going to try … Continue reading
Que Sera Sara? 