Who would have thought that buying a home was such an irritating event in one's life? I hope the second time around will be much easier, like having a second baby. To those of you that know, I am still on schedule for closing on Friday the 13th. I did everything that the lenders asked me to do, even...

The quest was for bamboo salt. Since our customary source has vanished, at least for the time being, we set off in search of a new one. The plan was to start north and head back to town, checking along the way. We found it at the very first place, New Oriental Market (6929 Airport). And we also coul...

The other day my wife and I were walking on 23rd St. when we saw people staring at something on the ground at the corner of Lexington ave. We look down to see a man lying there on his back as if he is asleep. Other people are slowing down and staring also but just continuing on by. We stop and see t...

When it comes to "erotic services" posts in the Housing section of Craigslist, Chicago lags far behind Vegas, LA, NYC and SF. Maybe that's why Forbes thinks we're so miserable. [via]...

Friday* evening is when the city comes alive with a vengeance. As if it were sleeping the rest of the time. But Fridays are a frenzy of partying and drinking and laughing too loud. In a frantic attempt to drown out the panic of life running out faster than we can make sense of it. One such Friday, I...

Key step: Get arrested. [From a distance of 15 feet,] Actor Robert Kabakoff snapped a photo of a woman's bottom as she sunned herself in Central Park... [H]er friend saw and admonished him with a wag of her finger. Before he knew it, the woman was talking to cops and Kabakoff was handcuffed in the b...

This little story about Austin’s commercial real estate has been floating around in parts for the last month or so. Following is some language from today’s NYT (”Sam Zell’s Empire, Underwater in a Big Way,” byline Charles V. Bagli): In Austin, when the Thomas Properties Gro...

So yesterday in the web 2.0 social media circles there was much derision over the City of Austin’s inclusion of a disc golf course in the stimulous package going through the political process up in Circle K Ranch, aka Washington D.C. The Statesman ran articles here and here and an editorial he...

Click the image above to view the full photogallery. In defiance of all the bad news splattered across the Jumbo-trons of Times Square, the steel support for some new super-signage is rising above the corner at 46th and Broadway. Thrusting skyward like a big clenched fist, this will be the topper fo...

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Chicago has more teachers looking for work then it does teaching positions. Which is frustrating to me because I’m a teacher who is looking for a teaching position (check the resume). But finding out that there is little to no demand for my elementary/midd...