I got word this morning that one of my favorite places on Earth, the Hill Street Resort in Grant Park ( http://www.hillstreetresort.com ) is closing down, a casualty of the current economic crisis.  The owners, Jerry and Michael, who renovated the entire facility from the ground up and ( Read more... )

so... what is it about me that makes folks uncomfortable?

My stepfather of 27 years passed away this morning, primarily from long-term complications of a life dedicated to research on nuclear chemistry for the U.S. government.  May he rest in peace.

Andrew J. Johnson
born December 17, 1924
died August 19, 2007

a dear friend of mine is dying.  not from the cancer in his gut and lungs so much as from the chemotherapy and other treatments he's been through to try and get rid of the cancer itself.  intense, repeated exposure to radiation has damaged his autonomic nervous system, making it difficult for his body to perform several of its basic functions and ( Read more... )

::ping::

announcing the arrival of maren hall darnell, born to my not-so-little brother, daniel, and his delightful (but likely rather tired) wife, katherine... huzzah!

yesterday marked two weeks after my spine surgery and the first day i was allowed to drive. i celebrated by going to the doctor's office and work (yeah, okay, i'm a geek). two hours later, after rolling around campus trying to figure out how to get to my classrooms and such when i am actually able to come back, i was pretty much wiped out. ( Read more... )

i have survived the spine surgery and the subsequent hospital stay. got home from the hospital on saturday and have been more-or-less sloth-like since then. i'm permitted to sit for 15 minutes every two hours and to stand in five-minute intervals for no more than 30 minutes a day. were it not for the marvelous array of opiod pain killers and ( Read more... )

my spine surgery has been scheduled for thursday, january 5th. apparently i'm first on the docket: i have to be there at 6:00 a.m., even though i will have been preadmitted the day before. i sure hope my surgeon is a fan of starbucks ( Read more... )

passed my cardiac stress test -- freaky! meeting with my pcp tomorrow to get final clearance for surgery.

i want a beer.