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Category > Building a Sustainable Baby

OPINION

Choosing a Kindergarten Just the Beginning of the Battle

We just got word that the Pre-Schooler will be promoted at his day job; his new title will be Kindergartener. This happens next fall. As such, the Pre-Schooler will have to find a new office to work in. We’re hoping for the one in the corner by the water cooler with the windows.   Pre-Schooler is currently enrolled at University Primary School in the mornings and Early Learning in the afternoons. He thrives in both locations and we love both …

OPINION

Ho Ho Ho: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Santa Claus

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This is definitely The Preschooler’s first Christmas. He pulls out each ornament from storage with delight and screams “I WANT TO TOUCH IT!” when I pull out the expensive ones. He has his own side of the tree. He’s aware. And to top it off, some Santa Claus has bestowed a Candy Cane unto him also, and he’s now of course smitten with Santa Claus. Last year I struggled with this sort of stuff, because although my parents rewrite history …

OPINION

Gift Time Begins

The “No Presents” Birthday Party went great. The little guy still ended up with plenty of presents (around four or five) from family — not too many so that he couldn’t remember what he got. The Preschooler seemed fine with everything. He doesn’t watch any broadcast TV, and I think that is the reason why he doesn’t really know what to want. We used all the glass plates in the house and between the pizza and cake we quickly washed …

OPINION

A Chicago Music Business Field Trip

This past weekend I took my Music Business students on a field trip to some places in Chicago. On Friday, we visited Thrill Jockey Records, then Touch & Go Records and finally Chicago Recording Company. On Saturday, we visited Electrical Audio Recording Studios, and then the Metro, a great venue in Chicago. I don’t know how much the students liked it, but I was completely in heaven the whole time.

OPINION

Guns and Violins

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The Preschooler finds himself on the playground with a new friend from the city, and the friend suggests they play “Robbers and Policemen.” “I’ll be the Robber, you be the Policeman!” the new friend shouts. “I’m gonna steal all the money!” The kid screams and does a perfect John Woo sideways double-fingered gun at my child. “BANG! BANG!” a five-year-old mouth shoots. The Preschooler flings his hand back and forth at the criminal in a half-hearted effort to simulate a …

OPINION

To Force or Not to Force

Two completely unrelated things The Husband and I just had our first “date night” this year. We went to see Wire in Chicago at the Metro, the best place in all the US — and possibly Europe — to play a show. The stage is just a tad bit bouncy, perfectly sized so you can run back and forth on it and not run into anyone else, and the sightlines are fantastic; you can see almost anyone in the audience …

OPINION

The No-Presents Birthday Party

The Ex-Toddler’s fifth birthday is coming up. At this point I remember my sister saying of her child, “I cannot believe that time flew by so quickly.” To me, time hasn’t flown by quickly; I feel like I’ve been aware of every moment passing. Maybe it’s because I’m old; the Ex-Toddler — let’s call him “The Preschooler” — has been with me for a very small percentage of my life. I was very used to my life without him, so …

OPINION

Stories That Are Fascinating Leading Up to the Election

These are the stories that are fascinating me before the election: 1. The research (and subsequent news stories) on how presenting misinformation and then rescinding it only strengthens some people’s belief in the lie. Research now specific to politics is underway. So, trying to turn a belligerent Republican — or Democrat — into someone who reads factcheck.org is a futile effort. This knowledge has lately stopped me from forwarding left-leaning NYTimes op-ed pieces to my poor republican sister who only …

OPINION

Staging an Intervention

What’s left to say about Sarah Palin? Just some observations about her attackers. I cannot believe the outpouring of hatred towards her I noticed during the days after she was introduced. Every intelligent woman in this town that I came across (and by intelligent, I mean ‘able to breathe on their own’) loathed her. Intelligent men did so a bit more quietly, passively. We all thought “the race is over!”

OPINION

When Art Attacks: Examining The Fireswallow Project

Well, there’s a new unexpected art project in town — shrouded in secrecy with only a website and manifesto to reveal itself. The collective is called The Fireswallow Project and they “are for art.” They tell us that in the coming weeks, art is going to happen, all around us, unexpectedly, and that they will be the ones providing us with the details.

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Most Recent Opinion Comments

{username}

nicely done Mr. Johnson.

{username}

...faith in humanity restored. Thanks E.

{username}

Some question about what this matter says about our local population. Although I am not exactly part of the “CHIEF Yesterday-Today-Forever” Crowd, I am familiar with them and understand how they think. They would perceive the backwardized spelling of Fighting Illini as Incredibly Offensive, since many of them …

{username}

Whatever - I’m white and yer just a person to me. All I’m seeing here is an outlet for some seriously demented passion. Who cares, he got busted and served, move on. We’re just people these days - this shits gotta get old sometime…

{username}

One could argue that Nepermann was exercising 1st amendment rights and that the destruction of the display was “protected speech”, not merely vandalism.  One could even abstract Nepermann’s actions as a form of “art”. To me, the whole thing has the nature of a conflict of ideas and …

Lisa Bralts-Kelly avatar

Nicely written, but - wow, that bottom photo!

{username}

I have three adult sons and was a young man myself once. We all did stupid things and didn’t get caught. But unless you are a young man of color, those who advocate for the lesser charge are missing a huge point. How many young men of color …

Seth Fein avatar

Mike - I purely speculated that he might be fucked for life, if Rietz did the thing that seems to be the most rational: charge him to fit the crime with a felony for stealing and damaging a work of art, and doing it with intent to further …

{username}

I typically fly out of Chicago for convenience and environmental reasons.  Since any flight I would take from Willard tends to stop in Chicago, it’s more efficient to take the train or carpool to Chicago.  Plus, I have heard several accounts of a flight delay from Willard to …

{username}

Mike: I wouldn’t personally pay $16.5K to $18.5K for a restored mid 70s Cadillac Eldorado convertible, but that doesn’t mean that those numbers aren’t the appraised value in the current market. Check the Christies site for the results of the May 13, 2009 auction (sale# 1997) and you …

Most Recent Comments

Seth Fein avatar

Sorry for the delay on links, folks! Article now formatted in the way it was intended to be presented!   Have a great 4th!

{username}

Here is a link to Laurence’s blog.  His writing is at least as good as his food.  http://www.thislittlepiggy.us/

{username}

“There are no to finer words in the english language than “encased meats” my friend.“

Joel Gillespie avatar

Part 2 will run Monday, and Part 3 will run Tuesday. Enjoy your holiday weekend!

{username}

nicely done Mr. Johnson.

{username}

Thanks for writing this- I hadn’t heard about it at all yet.  I’m looking forward to the upcoming parts.

{username}

...faith in humanity restored. Thanks E.

{username}

Some question about what this matter says about our local population. Although I am not exactly part of the “CHIEF Yesterday-Today-Forever” Crowd, I am familiar with them and understand how they think. They would perceive the backwardized spelling of Fighting Illini as Incredibly Offensive, since many of them would …

{username}

Whatever - I’m white and yer just a person to me. All I’m seeing here is an outlet for some seriously demented passion. Who cares, he got busted and served, move on. We’re just people these days - this shits gotta get old sometime…

{username}

One could argue that Nepermann was exercising 1st amendment rights and that the destruction of the display was “protected speech”, not merely vandalism.  One could even abstract Nepermann’s actions as a form of “art”. To me, the whole thing has the nature of a conflict of ideas and values, …

{username}

When it comes to racism, you politically correct popinjays are the worst kind of racists. The two robots in question are not even black in colour. They may speak like hiphop stars and ‘don’t do much reading’, but how do their personalities refer to black people? I am sure …

Lisa Bralts-Kelly avatar

Nicely written, but - wow, that bottom photo!

gillian gabriel avatar

oooo.  thanks, i was not aware of this.  v. good to know.

{username}

I have three adult sons and was a young man myself once. We all did stupid things and didn’t get caught. But unless you are a young man of color, those who advocate for the lesser charge are missing a huge point. How many young men of color get …

K. Chi avatar

If the campus setting deters you from Evo Cafe, you can also get bubble tea at Xinh Xinh Cafe (a Vietnamese restaurant near Urbana’s Schnucks grocery store).  They serve a variety of other drinks from southeast Asia.

Seth Fein avatar

Mike - I purely speculated that he might be fucked for life, if Rietz did the thing that seems to be the most rational: charge him to fit the crime with a felony for stealing and damaging a work of art, and doing it with intent to further damage …

Heather Dillon avatar

You’re welcome, S. Potter! After spending a couple hours with Jesse and Abby last weekend, I was like, “Wow. This just makes sense (even though other media sources have painted a different picture).“

Doug Hoepker avatar

Anxious to read parts 2 & 3.

Doug Hoepker avatar

Good column, and good luck with this initiative. I have a hard enough time getting drivers to pay attention to me on a bike, and I’m moving faster, sometimes blinking, and typically at their eye level. Plus I’m sometimes wearing funning looking, tight clothing.

{username}

I typically fly out of Chicago for convenience and environmental reasons.  Since any flight I would take from Willard tends to stop in Chicago, it’s more efficient to take the train or carpool to Chicago.  Plus, I have heard several accounts of a flight delay from Willard to Chicago …

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