-
THE SLEDDING HILL by Chris Crutcher
My good fortune in finding superb reading material continues unabated. Last night I finished the YA novel THE SLEDDING HILL by Chris Crutcher. It is narrated by a recently deceased 14-year-old boy but it isn't maudlin in any way. In fact, his description of the physics of death early in the novel is fascinating. Equally interesting is his ( Read more... ) -
BARE, A Pop Opera
This musical was first recommended to me by my friends Mike and Jeff, as well as my darling nieces. They directed me to the cast recording posted on the Web and available for free downloading. The music and story both appealed to me so I was thrilled to learn that my friend Nancy Kolton was cast in the Chicago premiere at the Bailiwick ( Read more... ) -
Trip to Boston
Despite snow and freezing rain the day before our departure, we had no trouble getting to O’Hare, valet parking at Thrifty Rental Car, and taking the shuttle to our terminal. Our American Airlines flight took off in a timely manner and we arrived early at Logan International.
Although I had printed directions to our ( Read more... ) -
Book recommendation
A few weeks ago I gave Gabrielle Zevin's YA novel ELSEWHERE my highest recommendation. This imaginative work tells of a teenage girl's experience in the afterlife without reference to religious beliefs.
I am also enamored of her latest novel, MEMOIRS OF A TEENAGE AMNESIAC. Equally imaginative, this is the story of a teenage girl ( Read more... ) -
Destination: Texas
Dennie had long been wanting to visit San Antonio and Richard is always happy to visit new parts of the country so on a recent Saturday morning we flew to Houston. A dear friend dropped us safely at O'Hare, we breezed through security with our carry on luggage, and our flight on American departed in a timely manner. We ( Read more... ) -
Reading recommendation
I finished reading a wonderful YA novel last night. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin is the story of a 15-year-old girl killed in a hit-and-run and her experience in the "afterlife." I admire the author's imagination and attention to detail in this emotionally honest story. She doesn't mess around with religious beliefs--she just creates a very ( Read more... ) -
September 2007 Trip to St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
September 2-4, 2007
Dennie likes to make the best use of his days off by traveling over holiday weekends so for Labor Day we visited St. Louis. We flew out of O'Hare on American and all of our connections were timely. We stayed at a ClubHouse Inn in some northwest suburb that I picked up on the Radio Shopping ( Read more... ) -
I saw Rufus!!!
I made my second visit to Ravinia last night with my coworker Josh while foolish Dennie stayed home, and it only confirmed by first reaction that I really, really love it there ( Read more... ) -
Injustice in my world
Dennie and I had such an unpleasant experience last weekend that I was moved to write a letter of complaint. Dennie wanted me to forget all about it but my coworkers and a couple friends insisted I mail the letter. Besides I want to be a good example to my nieces and nephews. Actually they're already speaking out about injustice in the world--I ( Read more... ) -
August 4, 2007
When Dennie got home from work, we drove down to St. Charles to the Kane County Flea Market. It's held the first weekend of each month and this was our first opportunity to go this year. We enjoyed strolling around, eating fair food, and Dennie found a new sun plaque for his collection, as well as some garden stakes to replace ones that ( Read more... )