Category archive for ‘Backstory’ rss

  • Things That Are Older Than I Am

    8/04/10 • (4)

    I knew this heinous day would eventually come. Oh well. The one good thing about turning 40 today? At least I’m not the oldest thing on the planet. These things are.

  • Happy Anniversary: Five Years of Chicago Carless

    7/27/10 • (5)

    Happy Birthday to Chicago Carless! My little blog that could is now officially five years old. Here’s a look at why I created it and where we’ve been together in the past 12 months. And thank you for being here to read it.

  • “Do you want to meet your dolphins now?”

    7/18/10 • (0)

    What do you do when you realize the company you applied to isn’t the company you want to work for anymore? Especially when they have no idea anyone would ever turn them down?

  • The Homing Pigeon of State Street

    7/17/10 • (7)

    Two months ago I moved out of Marina City to head for a quieter life beyond downtown. But there’s something to be said for living at the center of it all. I’m learning the grass isn’t any greener outside the Loop–and the roaches sure do put up a fight.

  • 30 to Forty

    7/12/10 • (3)

    In 30 days, I’ll be forty. As the final countdown begins, it’s time to say good-bye to all the things I thought I’d be before August 2010. And wonder where the hell my flying DeLorean is.

  • Moving on from Marina City

    5/25/10 • (18)

    I am no longer a resident of Marina City. At the verge of 40, my life goals when I moved downtown five years ago just don’t match up with who I want to be in the next chapter of my life. So I’ve given up my high-rise home in order to get my feet back on the ground. In every way possible.

  • Why I’m Here: My 9/11 Story Told for the StoryCorps September 11th Initiative (Audio)

    5/24/10 • (1)

    On May 21st, I was blessed with the unexpected opportunity to be interviewed by the nonprofit oral-history project, StoryCorps. I visited their mobile recording studio, temporarily parked in Pilsen…and told my 9/11 story for the national September 11th Initiative. From StoryCorps, here is my recorded remembrance of the day that changed my life and, ultimately, brought me to Chicago.

  • The Point of Social Media Is the Social, Not the Media

    1/14/10 • (1)

    Lido’s Caffé, the home of a longstanding coffee klatsch that germinated on Twitter–my coffee klatsch–succumbed to the ailing economy last week. Yet in the shop’s failure is a lesson in online community–and how to translate it to real life.

  • “Nostalgia for samsara is bullshit…”

    1/12/10 • (7)

    Yearning for the return of bygone glory days in a universe that’s ever-changing is a great way to lose forward momentum. Yet, I can’t help but ponder the first day of the last decade as I resolve myself to go a bit more gently into this one.

  • Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad ‘Burbs?

    11/22/09 • (1)

    One of the things I shouted loudest when I first began Chicago Carless four-and-a-half years ago no longer applies. Back in mid-2005, I still carried around my New-York-native anti-surburban bias. On recent reflection, it’s time to let the suburbs have their due. At least in Chicago.