I remember being a child locked in a never ending struggle to stay up past my bed time.  Each night it was the same scenario.  Nine o’clock would come around and the “You finish your homework?” chant would start.  My answer was yes even if the truth was no.  I can’t tell you how many mornings were spent slurping down my Corn Pops while trying to finish up homework for Ms. DeStefano… ahh Ms. DeStefano… but I digress.

Long after everyone else was asleep and the house was dark I would still be awake under the covers with one ear glued to the speaker of my transistor radio.  I wasn’t thinking about Ms. DeStefano and I wasn’t listening to WVON or WGCI.  I would spend hours listening to radio dramas of long ago or maybe just the overnight news on WBBM.  Like I said in my Day One post, I was kind of a weird kid with a fetish for current macroeconomic news. I mean, my parents had a subscription to Newsweek but I think I got the most enjoyment out of the magazines. 

If my granddad or someone walked passed my door I could easily play asleep and turn down the radio volume as to not get into trouble.  I remember 8 volt batteries were hard to come by and I would go on household raids to swap my dying battery out for a fresh battery from a clock radio or other device.  I don’t know why I did this; it wasn’t like I couldn’t ask for batteries.  I guess it was the thrill of the hunt.  Speaking of clock radios, remember the old numeric clocks radios that told the time by flipping through numbers on a spindle?  How fancy was that back in the day!

I mention these things because although these sorts of electronics were light years ahead of what they had back at the beginning of the 20th century, they seem so archaic now.  I wonder what the world will look like when my son is my age. Will anyone remember what a 33, 45 and 78 was other than record collectors?  Technology dominates our lives today and although I am a technophile I smile when I think of my transistor radio and the hours of enjoyment it brought me.  I still listen to radio dramas from long ago. WBBM still broadcasts them, but now I listen via an uber surround sound system and nobody can tell me when to go to bed.

Do you enjoy old time radio dramas?  Did you have the hots for Ms. DeStefano? Tell me about it in the comments section below. 

On October 1st I will mark a new milestone in my life.  In talking about this upcoming birthday I have found that it is a surprise to many that this will be my 40th.  While I am flattered that people mistake me for being much younger I can tell you that the implications of turning 40 hit me no lighter.

This is a time of reflection and planning for the future but it is also a time of celebration.  Over the next 30 days I will write about some of the stand out moments of my life and the people I have shared them with .  You can all relax; nothing juicy and scandalous will be included.  This is just a celebration of life and times to help me beyond this pivotal point in my life.

With that being said let’s go way back into time to visit St. Paul Lutheran School.  Yes I went to a Lutheran school (insert gasp) before being indoctrinated into the one true Holy Roman Catholic Church.  My grandparents who made the great migration north were adamant about providing me a better life than they had. They thought that a private school would serve me better than the public schools in the west suburban school district 89.   

So there I was, a young black child from Maywood in the predominantly white environment of Melrose Park.  Everyone played nice but there was intolerance had perfect attendance.  I can say in hindsight that being thrown into an environment with a different ethnic make up had both positive and negative impact.  It was a very positive experience in that I avoided some social pitfalls and gained a different perspective; negative in that I missed out on the fellowship that comes by interacting with people of a similar background.  I attended this school from K-3th grade and my teachers were Mrs. Letterman, Mrs. Holstien, and Mrs. Dorn for 2nd and 3rd grade.  Some of my classmates were Michael Thompson, Judy Palmer, Vicky Vaughn, Arthur "Artie" Walker.  I can’t remember David’s last name or the first name of a kid named Huff from boy scouts.  Then there was the dreaded Chris Miesler. I hated that kid and his father taught 4th grade.  Do the math and you see why I only attended St. Paul until 3rd grade.

Other than Artie being in my facebook friends I lost touch with all of these people.  The one standout memory I have was a Christmas performance that I got to sing a solo.  Back then I loved to sing and was actually good (bet most of you didn’t know that about me).  I look back and think how innocent I was. 

My classmates called me Mr. President because I was such a straight laced book smart nerd.  Even then I loved politics and paid attention.  I have such vivid memories of Ford or Carter on the news every night trying to explain some botched policy.  It seemed like such a dark time in the world.  The specter of Viet Nam was not unknown to me as a child.  They tried to kill Gerald Ford in 1975 and the nation wept. Richard J. Daley died in 1976 and the city wept.  In the span of 33 days two Popes died and the world wept in 1978.

I often wonder what my life path would have been had I stayed at St. Paul and I wonder what happened to my peers and teachers there.  Through the magic of social media maybe some of them will find me online and catch up… maybe I can even settle the score with that Meisler kid.

Did you go to St. Paul? Do you have memories to share? Add your voice to this post by commenting below or reaching out to me via social media. Look for a new post every day this month as I run up to my 40th birthday.

Over the last year I decided to join the whole social media explosion. I set up a Facebook account, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn account, started using my YouTube channel and disowned the internet ghetto that is Myspace. My thing is to keep LinkedIn limited professional peers and Facebook to friends and family. With the wealth of knowledge and networking available on Twitter, I just let that run wild.

Over the last year I have met some really cool people via Twitter. That’s really where I to my social media socializing. My followers have grown to over a thousand in count which is still very modest but I’d rather have quality vs. quantity.

Recently I got wind of a promotion Buick is launching called “Tweet to Drive”. Cohn&Wolfe and the Buick brand are putting a contemporary spin on the old test drive concept to introduce the new look of Buick to a new generation. I think it’s brilliant and I have signed up to be a “brand ambassador” for the promotion.

Social media is really becoming more of a segment of my professional life and less of a downtime pastime. Once you attend one of the Social Media Breakfast or Social Media Club functions I guess its just part of a normal progression to dig in and really see how this new communication channel really works.

That’s exactly what I hope to accomplish by participating in this project. Hands on experience with social media as a marketing channel for a huge company like GM/Buick could really open doors to other things. I have a great working knowledge of best practices for a blogger like myself or a corporation trying to reach its core demographic but this little experiment should really provide everyone involved with whole new understanding.

Stay tuned and I’ll let you know how it works out. Maybe you can “Tweet to Drive” with me.

Driving home Saturday night I ran into a traffic jam at Roosevelt Road and State Street. Red light after red light found me sitting in place waiting for hundreds of westbound bike riders turning South onto State Street . Traffic was backed up for a mile in each direction at Michigan, at Wabash, on State Street and on Roosevelt. Before I could hurl an F-bomb at the passing cyclists voice my displeasure, I remembered being stuck in traffic on Michigan Avenue last year for the same event. The annual L.A.T.E. Ride was taking place.

Each year the Friends of the Parks organization holds a Long After Twilight Ends (“L.A.T.E.”) ride to benefit the organization. I certainly respect the organization and everything they do to keep Chicago’s green spaces in top condition but it’s really time for the Friends of the Parks to be good neighbors and find a fund raising activity that is less disruptive to motorists and to the neighborhoods they ride through.

This year the ride took a different route than recent years and I suspect the change was due to growing cries of displeasure from people inconvenienced by the event. With a name like Friends of the Parks and 26 miles of lakefront path in our beautiful city, wouldn’t a nice ride along the shore better suit the organization? I just want to point out that if they delay just one emergency vehicle in the traffic this ride causes and all their efforts are all for not. Lincoln Park Zoo holds Zoo Lights on the premises and other organizations host similar fundraising events that don’t inconvenience nearby residents. Why can’t Friends of the Parks do the same?

Have an opinion about this story? Add your voice to the discussion. Use the comment box below or post this story to your favorite website for others to view.

Well, the LeBron-a-thon didn’t go the way I expected.  It didn’t go the way anyone other than Miami fans expected for that matter.  Personally I was sure BronBron would be reporting to the Berto Center as a Chicago Bull this fall but it wasn’t to be.  I still feel playing in Chicago was his best chance at making it all the way to an NBA championship.  Even so, after all is said and done, I can’t fault Mr. James for making the decision he made.  I wish him well down in Miami.

What surprised me more than LeBron’s decision, was the reaction of Cavalier fans and team ownership alike.  Sure, the one hour special on ESPN was a bit much but to respond to it the way Cleveland did showed why that city hasn’t won anything in decades.  If LeBron’s actions were bad, Cleveland’s reaction was utterly tasteless.  I feel Dan Gilbert was way out of line with his open letter berating the local boy who made good.  James walked away from that steaming heap of an organization to become a contender.  Can you really blame him?  Seven years of hard work on and off the court, in the community, etc. and they burn his jersey. You people in North East Ohio ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Unlike Clevelanders I can still be happy with the end result of this year’s much hyped free agent season.  Chicago walks away as a much improved team with the addition of Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and J.J. Redick.  Our new head coach Thibodeau can look forward to making a deep run into the playoffs. Especially with the Cavs reduced to just a supporting cast of players that the 2009 Bulls were able to easily handle while LeBron was resting for the playoffs.

Welcome to Chicago Thibodeau, Boozer, Korver and Redick!  This town knows how to support it’s sports teams.  I’ll personally be in the 300 seats drinking a beer and cheering you on all season. Go Bulls!

Every year it happens. I’m in the loop during the taste and I see car after car with out of state plates or one with that I’m a proud parent of an “insert suburban high school name here" honor roll student going the wrong way on a one way street. They ask for directions to Willis Tower one block away from the building. If I had a dollar for every time I told a tourist to try looking up, I swear I’d be rich. I don’t know why but I’m always the guy the ask directions from. Sure I’m usually dressed professionally and always willing to help but if these types only knew what I was thinking inside. C’mon you know who you are out there so take note because this guide to the taste was written just for you.

Getting to the Taste:

First of all, I want to welcome you to Chicago. Yeah, yeah forget what I wrote above… I kid, I kid. Not really but look at it this way, after reading this guide you won’t have locals pointing at you with hatred.

Where ever you are coming from I urge you not to drive to the Taste. Take the CTA, take Metra, take a cab from your hotel but don’t drive. The CTA has several bus routes convenient to the Taste and all el / subway trains have stops within a short walk from Grant Park. If you take Metra Electric in, the last stop will put you right at Michigan and Randolph but Ogilvie and Union Station are a good eight blocks east of the Taste.

Should you find yourself driving to the Taste slap yourself try parking in one of the garages west of LaSalle Street. Most of the garages in that area offer specials after 3pm that will allow you to park all evening for about $13. I recommend Washington & Franklin Self Park. Again, you will have to walk seven blocks east to get to the park but getting out of the loop will be so much easier for you. Especially if you come down to the Taste on July 3rd. If you ignore my advice, park stupid and get towed click here to find out where your car has been taken.

Making last minute plans to visit the Taste from out of town and need a hotel? As recent as last Wednesday a friend got a great rate for next week at the Palmer House Hilton (as low as $95 a night). With the recession, good deals can be had if you shop around.

The Food:

OK you made it downtown and you are ready to eat. I suggest beginning at the North end of the Taste and walking South from Monroe to Balbo.

First, you will have to buy tickets. Cash is not used at any of the vendors. There is a ticket booth as soon as you enter the gate on Monroe. They sell tickets on both sides of the booth so if everyone is headed to one side, go round to the other side to save time. Each ticket represents .50 cents and tickets are sold in strips of twelve for eight dollars. I know it doesn’t add up but if you read the bottom of your tickets it says "$2.00 charge per strip of tickets covers cost of amenities". These tickets are not refundable and you’re going to have at least three tickets left over that you can’t do anything with.

Now let’s eat. Expect sweaty, smelly people shoulder to shoulder with you and long lines everywhere you go. Its part of the experience so don”t freak out. No one item costs more than 12 tickets ($6.00) and everyone offers a sample or "taste portion" of something for 4 tickets or less. Beverages can be had for 5 or 6 tickets but if you want to have a beer, drink before you get there. The Taste only serves Budweiser and for 8 tickets a cup.

As you walk toward Balbo from Monroe here are my recommendations:

• Bobak Sausage (Booth 1): I didn’t try this one but a bacon wrapped frankfurter sounds so good. Let me know if you check this one out.
• Iyanze West African (Booth 2): They offer a full serving of rice & beans with jerk chicken and plantain.
• Billy Goat Tavern and Grill (Booth 8): Leave room for a half cheeseburger taste portion. They also offer full servings as a rib eye sandwich, double or single cheeseburger.
• Abbey Pub (Booth 11): This place has fat free ice cream and fries with Irish Curry. Irish Curry?
• Vee-Vee’s African Restaurant (Booth 22): Collard green egg rolls, sweet potato cheesecake and a taste portion of red beans & rice with jerk chicken. You can stick a fork in ME now, I’m done.
• Robinson’s #1 Ribs (Booth 23): Oak Park’s own serves up BBQ ribs, rib tips, pulled turkey and a boneless rib sandwich. Try a taste portion of hot links or turkey wings.
• Eli’s Cheesecake (Booth 24): Watching your sugar intake? Get a taste portion of plain or chocolate cheesecake made with Equal®.
• Gold Coast Dogs (Booth 29): Meh’ I’d rather go to Gene and Jude’s or have a SuperDawg.
• Lou Malnatis (Booth 32): I don’t recognize any other pizza joint in Chicago (except for Pat’s Pizza but I’m still kind of mad at them) so this is the only one I need mention. Leave room for Mal’s and you won’t be disappointed.
• Harold’s Chicken (Booth 41): Seriously what do they put in their chicken to make it so good?
• O’Brien’s (Booth 42): The Old Town favorite is servin’ up buffalo popcorn shrimp among other things.
• Las Tablas Colombian Steak House (Booth 48): Really good food but I was disappointed that they were out of chorizo so I moved on.
• Abundance Bakery (Booth 51): Chocolate brownies and upside down caramel cupcake.
• Garrett Popcorn (Booth 53): Everybody knows I <3 Garrett Popcorn so I had to stop for a flash frozen popcorncicle. I was presented with a frozen caramel ball of popcorn on a stick frozen and steaming in the heat. Same great Garrett popcorn turned into a cold treat for the summer.

Although the Taste of Chicago is a celebration of local fare, there is so much more to the Taste than just food. Concerts and events are going on across the area. For a full line up of restaurants & menus at the Taste and other events check out the Mayor’s Office of Special Events website.

After a disappointing showing in Philadelphia, the Blackhawks returned to the United Center and returned to their winning ways. Although we won back to back games to open up the series I voiced my concern about production on Patrick Kane’s line in those contests. After the Flyers evened the series at two apiece Joel Quenneville noticed also.  Splitting Kane, Towes and Byfuglien onto three different shifts was all the edge the hometown heroes needed to trip up Philadelphia and snatch back the series advantage 3 games to 2.  Kane continued his scoring and Byfuglien showed up with two goals of his own (including one sweet empty net goal from nearly center ice).

I gotta give kudos to the NHL who provided alternative camerea feeds streamed to the web for people like me stuck at my desk at work. It wasn’t the same as watching it live or on a big screen but it was huge to be able to follow along from my work station. The NHL is making leaps and bounds ahead and becoming the league we as fans always wanted it to be. Thank You!

How about Michael Jordan showing up to watch the game? As captain of the last championship effort to come to fruition in the United Center, seeing him there was a huge good omen for our boys. My first thought admitedly was oh no MJ is coming back and now he’s playing hockey.

Our one goal is now one game away and I am looking forward to dancing in the streets this Wednesday night. The original six Blackhawks have the pleasure of hosting Philadelphia one more time this season and the opportunity to win Lord Stanley’s Cup in front of a home town crowd ripe for celebration.

I’ll be in the streets with my camera looking for celebration pictures Wednesday night.  If you see me out, smile and say cheese for the camera. Go Hawks!

Seriously you can’t make up the kind of entertainment I had the pleasure of witnessing today at the Blagojevich trial. I arrived outside Judge Zagel’s courtroom on the 25th floor of the Dirksen Federal building at about 7:30 AM. Just in time to hear the diatribe of a woman waiting outside the courtroom going on about how Blagojevich was framed for butting into the Republic Windows labor dispute. I don’t recall the former Governor intervening on the workers behalf but let this woman tell it, he’s paying the price for it now.

After a delay long enough for me to go home and charge my cell phone and come back to the federal building they began to let spectators into room 2503. There sat Rod “the hair” Blagojevich, his wife and at least eight lawyers with MacBooks all around the table. The six government lawyers had water and notebooks (the paper kind) on their table. Does this say something about the federal prosecutors in this trial? Just askin’. I’m about six foot tall and it looked like Blago was slightly shorter than me without the signature helmet hair.

One by one I sat through the questioning of the first twenty five of 28 to maybe 34 potential jurors. Judge Zagel asked each one several questions about what they heard of the case and if they could form an opinion without considering outside information. For some reason most were asked if they owned a business or worked in a business owned by someone close to them and/or if they watched/listened to or surfed a lot of news. The judge was very methodical and joked a bit at times. Keep in mind this is the same judge that presided over the trials of Joey the Clown and Frank Calabrese so high profile cases are nothing new to him.

Highlights of the jury pool featured a Sunday School teacher and former precinct captain for Sandi Jackson (juror #102), a marathon runner (#119), a hipster guy who worked in show business (#122) a Chicago Reader ad coordinator who admitted he already believed Blaojevich to be guilty (#125) a music recording engineer with monster pork chop sideburns (#114) a former actuary who thought the deposition process was a time consuming distraction (#116) and a woman who’s brother was charged with a crime by detectives by mistake and as a result was angry and was not sure if she could remain impartial through the proceedings (#112).

Several potential jurors had concerns about the use of wiretaps and cooperating witnesses and several had strong negative opinions about politicians but no one took the cake like juror #126. This young man from Washington DC has a training class coming up in New York at an investment bank and per Judge Zagel would say or do anything to get out of serving on this jury. On his questionnaire he mentioned that he feared for the future of our nation and that self interest will kill or country. Judge Zagle pointed out another questionnaire entry where he mentioned that getting stuck on this jury would screw him out of his job opportunity. He even went as far as to consult a lawyer on ways to get out of his jury duty. Zagle with a seasoned yet deadly tongue was quick to point out that such behavior was acting on self interest. He called the future investment banker’s attempts disgraceful and said he was fortunate that the questionnaires are destroyed for if not it might come back to haunt him someday.

Rod and crew were in good spirits during the whole process. At one point the former Governor paused to speak to a trio of law students observing the trial. He joked with the students that he went to Pepperdine and found out after he graduated that the school had a law library. He said had he known that while he was a student there he could have been representing himself.

Do you have thoughts on the trial? Make sure to add your voice to the discussion by commenting below and be sure to follow my updates on twitter with the hashtag #blagotrial during the proceedings. As much as possible I will be sitting in on the trial and blogging about it here.

Niemi! Niemi! Niemi! I can’t stop chanting his name. After Blackhawks goalie Antii Niemi turned away 33 of 34 shots in Game 2 can you blame me? The Hawks did exactly what I hoped they would do on Monday, which was to clean up the sloppy play and settle into the frenzied atmosphere to play some heads up physical hockey.

Early on I thought the power play drought was going to continue for the Blackhawks but that evened out in Game 2 with five penalties each. Where there was no real bad blood between these teams before it sure exists now. Cross checking, unsportsmanlike conduct and even a double major penalty for misconduct on Chris Pronger and Ben Eager has me expecting more fireworks to come in the next game.

Going into game three tonight in Philadelphia, I’m sure this will be the decisive game. The Hawks have been so good on the road but the Flyers have been flat on their backs before and gotten up off the canvas. Tonight is all about who wants it more and who can keep their composure to execute when it counts. I’m looking for Tim Kane and his shift to show up and put a few pucks in the back of the net and of course for Niemi to keep up his excellent play.

I’ll be out at Joe’s on Weed for the official road game watch party. Hope to see you there!

In May I got a chance to shoot a little bit of the 2010 NEXTFEST and talk to some of the artists at the Merchandise Mart. These creatives aren’t traditional at all but amazingly creative. As a graphic designer dealing in the digital I am always amazed by artists creating tangible 3D works. I take many visual keys from the likes of their work and rarely miss this inspiring show.

The NEXTFEST exhibition was part of the greater Art Chicago show for 2010. The event website describes the show as "the annual international fair of contemporary and modern art, brings together the world’s leading emerging and established galleries. Art Chicago offers curators, collectors, artists and art enthusiasts a comprehensive survey of current and historic work, from cutting-edge to modern masters in a wide variety of media including: painting, photography, drawings, prints, sculpture, video and special installations".

There were many unique installations blending media of all types for amazing visual stimuli. One of my favorite pieces was this sculpture of a man in a wheelchair. Underneath the book in the lap of the man is a projector that cast an animated face onto the blank space where the face would be. It made for a mind bending visual of an animated real looking human face on an inanimate sculpture. To my less than trained eye this was very impressive but I bet some of the more discriminating art enthusiasts enjoyed this one as well.

Another fast favorite of mine was the exhibit by Christophe Roberts from the Lyons Wier Gallery. Taking discarded Nike shoe boxes and creating unique sculptures is both environmentally friendly and crazy creative. For some, this was garbage before and after the process but it is art that I can relate to and admire.

I really applaud Christophe for his works and attracting new masses to the ever emerging urban art landscape. See more of him here.

There were so many talented artists exhibiting. The thing that pops for me are the pieces that take familiar shapes, colors and/or icons and makes a statement with them. Social commentary is a big part of any artists work and boy does this piece make a statement.

The reaction is what the artist is going for and they got one out of me with this piece. If I could have I would have torn this down and shat sat upon it. I understand that the shock value is worth something but can’t some things be sacred? This hippie Virgin Mary really rubs me the wrong way but out of respect for the creative process and fear of a trip to 26th and California I kept my hands and opinion to myself.

This sculpture by Min Hyung is made of many tiny pieces of wood asembled to form the larger shape. It wasnt my favorite but it was remarkable. Imagine the time taken and presence of mind to put this all together.

Seriously, what would you do for a giant Klondike bar with a gold nugget center? I don’t get the connection but Timothy Berg and Rebekah Myers‘ peice called "Something for Nothing" certainly made me smile.

This talented artist from the ADA Gallery in Richmond VA. came up with a creative way of selling his sketches. The dispenser has sketches on the paper and each sketch torn off is $20.

I don’t know who was responsible for these works in wood but they were very interesting.

Don’t move or I’ll sculpt.

Last but not least was this piece by Kyle Trowbridge. The installation brings to mind an old coin operated juke box panel but it is loaded with books not music. The irnony that made this special to me was that each book contains the complete ascii text output of a mpeg file called "Rock That Ass". I asure you the video in its native form is NSFW but presented in book form as ascii text, loaded into a contraption that dates back to the malt shop days mixes so many eras of communication that it makes this a great piece in my book.