Returning to work on a Monday morning after a long holiday weekend means one thing: hundreds of new e-mails in my Inbox. Coming back from Thanksgiving I had the usual assortment of press releases, spam and unsolicited guest editorials, along with some actually useful correspondence.
A few days ago, I went to a birthday party for my great niece. She was turning 1. She's the younger daughter of my 26-yearold nephew, Ricky. I call him my first born. My sister gave birth to him when I was just 5, so my whole life I've been an aunt. It's always been part of who I am, and it's something I love about my life.
You've probably heard that a playoff system would solve all of big-time college football's problems, giving us a true measure of the top football teams, which will inevitably produce the best possible championship game. But you don't hear that kind of dreaming down in the college football shadow world, what used to be called 1-AA, where they really do playoffs and understand what it means.
Thank God for the holidays. If it weren't for He/She/It and a soon-to-be former Senator from Illinois, the world would be very short on hope and promise as we collectively embark on another new year.
CityBeat is supporting a holiday promotional program put together by alternative newsweeklies across the country in which we're challenging readers to pledge to "shop local" during this holiday season.
I couldn't believe Andrea was putting more salt on her French fries. We were having lunch together at the Frisch's on Glenway Avenue. She got the Big Boy platter but paid more money and substituted onion rings for the cole slaw. I had the salad bar that features, of course, iceberg lettuce.