In fact, though my friends in the northeast have referred to their overabundance of snow this winter as “Snowmageddon” and other such intimidating names, many of us in Chicago have referred to our blizzard as Snowprah. Snowprah Wintry, to some. I love it. I mean seriously, Oprah has had a 25th Farewell Season that yielded way more than even she ever expected, like the half-sister she never knew about, and–OF COURSE–having my own sister and me as a part of her audience. Having an actual blizzard named after her? Oh my, I’m sure she never imagined that would ever happen. So, Snowprah. The media coverage of this storm (and the…
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Ready For My Closeup…Sort Of. (Part 2)
Did you read Part 1 yet? You should, before moving on. Click here to read it. When I woke up at 2:30 a.m. I was completely annoyed. Naturally my thoughts went to the photo shoot, and then to other “work” related items. I tried my best to think about things like puffy white clouds and wide open meadows, to no avail. I was wide awake. I made myself stay in bed until about 4:40, and that’s when I got up and started getting myself ready. The hair, though it took a really long time, turned out really well! I followed Lynn’s (my hair stylist) directions and was beyond pleased, even…
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Ready For My Closeup…Sort Of. (Part 1)
One of the details I’ve had to coordinate, concerning my soon-to-be-published book (yay!), is my author photo for the back cover. My publisher suggested that, since the book is about Chicago, I have my picture taken in front of a recognizable Chicago building or landmark. No problem. I have my favorites, and it took me about a half of a split second to create the mental short list of locations for the shoot. In fact, if you’re one of my long-time readers, I bet that YOU could create a mental short list of locations for my photo shoot. It took me less than half of a split second to figure…
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Schnitzel and Face Masks and Hookers, Oh My! (Alternate Title: “How I Spent My Christmas Eve”)
Friday (also known as Christmas Eve) was a lovely day. It was the first time in ages that Jim and I had day-long plans, alone together. To top it off, we were going to one of my favorite places–downtown Chicago–and experiencing a few of my favorite things. We took the train from the station near our house; the hour-long ride was lovely. Seeing the holiday decorations at each station along the way was very cool, even though some of the life-sized snowman decorations made by school children at the Berwyn stop were mega-creepy (sorry kids!). Once we arrived at Union Station we headed upstairs and grabbed a taxi that would…
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What Does Christmas Have To Do With a Tornado?
After getting a story starter from Kate McGroarty, the Museum of Science and Industry’s roommate for the month, I sniffed out the rest of the story of how one of the focal points of a current major exhibit came to be. I had the extreme pleasure of speaking with Kurt Haunfelner, the Museum’s Vice President of Exhibits and Collections. Here is the story, paraphrased, since I’m not that fast of a typist while listening to a really nice person who is telling a very interesting story. Besides the fact that I was thrilled as a fan of the Museum to get this backstory, it made me nostalgic for all of…