The Best Part About Having ADD
When is a neurological disorder a gift? The answer to that depends on whom you ask. If you asked me a few weeks ago, I’d have said never–and why are you asking me such a silly question, anyway?
Saudades of Things Past
It had to happen sometime. Last weekend, after five years of my Chicago life–and for the first time ever in his, Jose visited me in Chicago. That’s ‘joe-ZAY,’ so pronounce it right in your head when you read it. My best friend from my adult years in New York. My Portuguese connection.
Story and Legend
Last night during the 2008 Studs Terkel Awards at the Chicago Cultural Center, one of the winners, Sylvia Rivera, the general manager of bilingual public radio station Radio Arte, shared this comment from the stage: ‘You write the story of your life. You create your own legend.’ In two sentences, Rivera described my dilemma.
What Is a Chicagoan?
Lately I’ve been wondering about my place in the world. Maybe it’s the New Yorker in me that keeps bringing that question up. New York has long history of considering itself the center of the universe. Take a New Yorker out of Gotham and he’s bound to feel disoriented.
Everything in Its Place
Sometimes in life we don’t learn our lessons until a little too late. Last weekend, my boyfriend brought me back to reality. This weekend, I’m afraid we’re saying good-bye, and I wonder how much of that is my fault and how much is simply to do with a love that went faster than maybe it should have.
Happiness Takes a Hiatus
A little more than a year ago, when I wondered where my writing–and my life–would take me, I couldn’t have guessed what the following twelve months would have in store. Today, I return to Chicago Carless from a self-imposed month-long hiatus awed by the changes 365 days can bring.
“Downtown Local” Podcast Debuts on Chicago Carless
Given me and my big mouth, it had to happen sometime. Today debuts Downtown Local, my (most likely allegedly) weekly podcast look at life, love, and folly from the heart of downtown Chicago. I’ll use the podcast to expand on issues I cover in my regular blog posts, as well as to share new stories–and, of course, rants.
Sole Man
The Friday evening IM was as unexpected as it was emphatic. Fifteen hours til Donn’s movers were coming, and he wasn’t done boxing yet. Good thing he was only moving next door. They say you learn a lot about a person when you help them move. Mostly, things you never expected to find out.
Out of the Box
I finally have a grown-up bathroom and I’m proud to say it. Four-and-a-half months is a long time to live in a cave, which is as much as I did this year. Separating in the middle of a move, as did I and my ex-partner in May, much was already boxed up, thrown out, or otherwise inaccessible when the deed went down. Now I’m taking my life back–starting with my apartment.
The Point of No Return
Last month, I accepted the job offer of my life in New York City. Today, I turned it down. At long last, I admit it. I am hopelessly in love with Chicago. I’m staying right here.