Fairbanks and Alaska

Is He Hurt?

June 25, 2012

Fearless and proud. But so vulnerable. He lay in my backyard as I watered the parched grass. And he wouldn’t budge. Even as I walked within a few feet of him. It was a yard that was home to our dog as well. Older yellow labs aren’t know for their ferocity.  But still. A dog. […]

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Oyez, Oyez, Oyez

November 10, 2011

The town criers of the middle ages were the mass communication devices of their day. They provided the only means for common folk to access official news and information. It worked like this.  An officer of the court walked through his medieval town, or stood on a castle watchtower, rang a bell, and bellowed Oyez (Hear Ye), Oyez, […]

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The Internet of Things

November 1, 2011

When the stream of media forming our consciousness is indistinguishable from the stream of consciousness forming our most enlightened media we will have arrived at a distinctly new place in human evolution.                                                 […]

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Writing About This Rather Than That (9/11)

September 11, 2011

I have an idea for a 9/11 essay, but will wait until after the event to write it. In the media ramp-up to the anniversary, I am on 9/11 overload. Perhaps not as much as my NYC brothers and sisters, or the survivors, or the families of the victims or other WTC alumni. The mixture of […]

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Hail Mary To The Chief

April 7, 2011

Regime change is about to happen in my adopted city of Chicago.  We will be Daley-less for the first time since 1989 – a whopping 22 years. While Rahmbo is trying to figure out his way to the patronage lists, there will be a small municipal power vacuum – kind of like skin ripping off […]

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Get Up, Dogs

February 15, 2011

It feels like a scene out of a Jack London story, and that’s probably why they are doing it, right now. Dogs and dog drivers are braving 50 degrees below zero (actual temperatures – not wind chills), frostbite, unbelievable winds, sun, snow, mountains and the Yukon River. It’s the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race – […]

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The Groundhog Day Blizzard

February 5, 2011

“…make the narrative a combined Diary and Autobiography.  In this way you have the vivid things of the present to make a contrast with memories of like things in the past, and these contrasts have a charm which is all their own.  No talent is required to make a combined Diary and Autobiography interesting.” Autobiography […]

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Ergo Sum

January 22, 2011

Look, I am not claiming supernatural powers. Its just that stuff happens.  It follows me around. And with no one else stepping forward to claim credit, I figure – why the heck not me. For instance,  my ever changing, adopted Sweet Home Chicago was recently crowned the Traffic Congestion King of America. Huzzah! And who […]

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The Ice Palace

January 1, 2011

My readers know I have worked at the most prestigious address in the world – but they might not know there were several other addresses I worked from that came in a close second. For a couple of years, a long time ago, I worked at The Ice Palace. And I am not talking about […]

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