Tina is a buddy of mine who I met back in 1997 while attending training at Second City . I think our friendship fate was sealed on the first day of improv class as he were tangled into a continuous, hand-holding "human knot" and were tasked with unknotting ourselves while not letting go. Shortly thereafter, I found myself behind Tina, hands cupping her...<ahem>...breasts. I was horrified, and she couldn't stop cracking jokes about it--and hasn't to this day. At that time Tin

I can't say I was looking forward to the holidays ending, because of the doldrums that inevitably follow a fun and busy holiday season. But I figure once we burn through January then we have one less month for potential snow. I took the time today to walk outside and appreciate what was a beautiful snow fall. The snow falling can quiet the busiest street, neighborhood or city. It never ceases to amaze me how quiet Chicago is when I stand outside during a snow. It's a special

Another New Year. It's odd to think the New Millennium (the REAL one) was ten long years ago. Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future, right? I am a Resolutionist! I know many people who pooh-pooh the idea, but I think it's a marvelous time to mark new beginnings--no matter how well you fare at them. New beginnings can start anytime, but there is something particularly appealing about them coinciding with a brand new year, where you can say months later "O

There are fewer things I look forward to than a good work out. Haha. Just kidding. I probably don't dread anything more than going to the gym. At forty-two I've managed to join many, and attend few. It was a good system and it worked for my needs. Until a few years ago when I realized my waist size was keeping up with my age. Admittedly, it was convenient to have a mechanism for remembering my age, and likewise my waist size, assuming I'd never forget both at the same time.

I knew before starting this blog that I should have stock piled them for years so I'd always have one to post. I'm sure had my brain not known I had a blog, I would have produced several blog-worthy pieces by now. Such as life and the ridiculous way my mind works. I've keeping busy with work and prepping for the Christmas holiday. We have company coming to stay with us a few different times during the season, so there was some work to do in getting the "guest nook" ready. Ho

Though I describe my childhood growing up in a small farming town in Indiana as idyllic, that perspective enjoys the distance of many years and many life experiences since. I was a shy, quite kid who always stuck pretty close to home, and as I entered high school that really didn't change much. I was biding my time, knowing the bright lights of a big city were in my future and that college loomed after high school graduation. A college town would certainly offer more to the c