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What so proudly we hailed
On four occasions a performance of the National Anthem genuinely, memorably moved me. The first happened in 1991, ten days after the Gulf War launched. A Black Hawk helicopter flew over us as my...
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Chicago is our kind of town
“Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.” – Carl Sandburg We tasted Chicago this weekend and enjoyed 24 hours of wind-blown,...
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Tips from a not-so-starving artist (A guest post from Katherine)
I first started budgeting when I was five-years-old, courtesy of a heavy metal lockbox hidden under my bed — a tad dramatic perhaps, since the safe held 12 two dollar bills and a Barnes and Noble gift...
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Because it’s the Cup
In its 120-year history the Stanley Cup has been tossed into a lake, accidentally left on the side of the road, filled with dog food, planted with geraniums, dented, scratched, pounded, slept on, drunk...
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A funny thing happened on the way to Second City
We saw three of our favorite funny girls on a quick trip to Chicago this weekend, where we caught the one-woman Grandma Mary Jane Show, now playing at the elegant Whitehall Rehabilitation Center;...
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This American Strife
The best comedy, in our opinion, combines sharp wit with keen observations, promotes talent, braves stands, and draws from the heart. It is clever, not caustic. Think Modern Family, Seinfeld, the...
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Author! Author! Celebrating a Second City Writing Debut
When my daughter Katherine looked for material to write her award-winning Second City Works by Women comedy sketch, she mined a source familiar to all of us — Homecoming. “Me, Myself, and Oh My!”...
View ArticleHappy birthday to one of the best people I know
My daughter Katherine is one of the best people I know. I’m not saying that because today is her birthday and I am the one that gave birth to her, in the middle of an ice storm after a 45-minute labor;...
View ArticleMy Favorite Photo: New York
To be fair, this isn't my favorite photo of New York, it's my favorite photo of my favorite people in New York. I shot it on our last family trip to New York, which was three whole years ago. I'm about...
View ArticleA basket full of memories
I found a basket of memories yesterday, and I sat on the closet floor and enjoyed them for a while. Time stood still, and then pleasantly rolled backwards as I sifted through sports buttons from all...
View ArticleOur Christmas Camelot
Everyone has a Christmas Camelot -- that magical moment when you look around a room filled with all the people you love and your heart swells so big it nudges the tear ducts in your eyes. This year,...
View ArticleAn L.A. Monster Story
In the four months since our daughter moved to L.A., she has totaled a car, unexpectedly couch surfed and fended off a crazy Armenian woman who raised a fist at her and yelled, "I will curse you until...
View ArticleBe kind, dear groundhog
Have you ever been to Punxsutawney? I have. That's how loyal I am to my fickle friend Phil. We share a fondness for random celebrations and burrowing on chilly February mornings. We're also legendary...
View ArticlePure & Weary take on the amendments
A highlight of our recent trip to Los Angeles was the morning we spent working crew for a Pure & Weary production. With Vince operating the boom and me monitoring the camera, we spent a pleasant,...
View ArticleCalifornia dreamin’
Highway 10 winds through Los Angeles like a giant metaphor, full of talented people driving forward, eager to arrive, but occasionally, communally stuck. Life follows the flow of traffic there,...
View ArticleA Step by Step guide to scoring a Full House and landing in 7th Heaven…also,...
The last time my daughter Katherine wore bangs she also wore blue Keds T-strap dress shoes, lacy ankle socks and dresses that tied in a big bow behind her back. She rode bicycles with training wheels...
View ArticleA full house and a heart flush
It's one thing to play to a full house, it's quite another to draw a heart flush. Pure & Weary scored both Saturday night during their sold out Monster Show at the Second City's Beat Lounge. Of...
View ArticleThe Boulder and the beautiful
If I've learned anything about raising daughters, it's that sometimes you have to meet them halfway. So, I did. Because she lives 2,000 miles away in Los Angeles, and I live here in good old Wisconsin,...
View ArticleThe Wisdom of a Tree
A lone pine tree stands at the midway point of the Wisdom Tree Trail in Los Angeles. At first glance, it looks a little scraggly, but the tree acts as both an important focal point and a metaphor. It...
View ArticleGirls’ Trip
If you need me this weekend, I’ll be in LA with my girls. Ahhhh! For various reasons I have spent the past year surrounded by boys and, for the most part, it has been a blast. I love a good muddy...
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