Google Reader Alternative Needed

Here I thought Google stuff would be around forever - silly me. Now I've got until July 1 to come up with something to take its place. Anybody have a good candidate?

Encyclopedia of Chicago - fini!

 - -

On May 20, 2005, I bought a print copy of the Encyclopedia of Chicago, pub. 2004, for my husband and had it autographed by Ann Durkin Keating, one of the editors. Her mother is a neighborhood acquaintance of mine, so the book has more than one significance for me.

Even though my husband is a lifelong Chicagoan, I was more interested in the book than he was. I began reading one column at a time nearly every day, even the Chicago business histories at the end of the A-Z articles. After almost 8 years, I finished the last business entry, Zenith Radio Corp. It seemed fitting to read that Zenith filed for Chapter 11 in the late 90s and then went into further decline - like so many of the other Chicago businesses in the list.

I've now lived in Chicago longer than any other place. Before that, my family moved about every 4 years on average, so it feels good to know that I've been here for 40 odd years and can call it home. It's so big, though, that I don't have personal knowledge of large parts of the city or all the different kinds of people who live here. That's where the book comes in handy. Take a look at the online version. You can read about everything Chicagoan, from birthing practices to vaudeville.

I'm going to miss spending time with the book on my lap, but it was great reading!

Bridge and Euchre

My dad's parents played Bridge, my parents play Bridge, and I killed time as a commuter in college by playing with other students waiting for their car pools to assemble. Later, I realized I had married a guy who has no card sense, and joined a neighborhood club for young moms who didn't really care about the game, but wanted to get out on their own once a month. That club eventually crumbled and I was left to play bridge against a CD-ROM, which I did faithfully just on the weekends, since I had taken a job.

Now that I'm retired, I decided to test the waters of real person play again by signing up as a sub in a local club. I didn't humiliate myself in playing, but it was pretty embarrassing to realize I had lost all skills handling actual cards. I looked like a 5th grader trying to shuffle and deal. Despite that, it must have been decided that I was good enough to get another call, so I'm going to play again next week.

Enter daughter and fiance who like to play Euchre and wanted us to try it last week. As soon as I saw that it involved bidding, trump cards, and taking tricks, I started to get worried. Is it possible to keep rules and strategies for two such similar games separate in your head??? Anyone know somebody who can?

Winter Drought

Great. My first attempt at a post after many months and I can't figure out how to insert a photo now that Blogger has been upgraded since I was last here. Well, I will publish anyway - use your imagination for a city neighborhood that is empty of greenery and snow - just cold.

I was going to show you my block this morning, January 23. It was only 10 degrees and I was out for a walk wearing a down hooded parka, and 2 pairs each of pants, socks, and gloves. Perfect for walking - no snow or ice! This is pretty unbelievable for Chicago, and all of us who have to walk or bike around town are grateful. My #2 daughter can still ride her bike to work from time to time, and there are no worries about slipping in traffic. The other day I read in the paper that no snow cover in January means that plants are suffering from the lack of cover for their roots. The ground freezes more deeply, and that affects insects and animals, too. The biggest problem, though, is that the lack of snow will result in little moisture for trees and other plants in the spring. Is this another aspect of global warming?

Sunday morning TV

I was awake early last Sunday, and while I waited for the paper to arrive, I decided to tune into the station that carries a half-hour Mass at 7:30 on channel 26. This is not EWTN, so a local priest says the Mass with some local parish providing the congregation. I knew the priest - he used to be pastor at my parish. His dad was a local TV personality, so he is well-versed in media presentations. I was surprised to see that the congregation this time was from my current parish - a dozen older women (of course), and a set of grandparents with their Cub Scout grandson. I recognized several of the women - one is the mother of one of the authors of the Encyclopedia of Chicago. A professional song leader and pianist provided the music, but you couldn't hear anyone singing except the leader. The homily was brief, but memorable, on the blind man who asked to see. The main point being no one can "see" anything or anyone outside of themselves if they are in the dark due to the inner walls they have built around themselves. I noticed several little short-cuts in the Mass, but it was all done in 29 minutes with no commercials except for a pitch at the very end for funding from the director of the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, which sponsors the show.

Channel 26 aired one commercial for an attorney specializing in cases of nursing home accidents or mistreatment (nursing home residents are the early Sunday morning TV audience, no doubt), then went right to the next show, a service from the Apostolic Church of God on the south side of town, so I stayed to watch that, too. This one had a full gospel choir (everyone in matching robes) with several soloists and a 10-piece band in front of hundreds of people (all dressed to the nines) in an auditorium-style setting. After several rousing numbers, the pastor, an older man who had appeared in the beginning by himself for a brief appeal to all the "sisters and brothers" to be sure to vote on Election Day (didn't say who should get their votes, but that's pretty much understood here), turned over the pulpit to a young deacon for the sermon. He was nervous, sweating, and stumbling over his words until he got into his message on the story of the Good Samaritan, then he roamed the stage, talking a mile a minute. By the end he had everyone talking to the people around them to make sure that no one remained a needy stranger. I felt like applauding his effort!

After another commercial from the nursing home problem-chaser, Joel Osteen came on the air from his mega-church in Houston. I bought his best-seller books for my library, back when I was still working, so here was my chance to see him in action. He was slim and polished to a T, with nary a look at any notes (must have had a teleprompter somewhere). The congregation was immense - probably a thousand or more. Certainly not as well dressed as the Apostolics, though. I heard a baby crying somewhere off in the crowd, which lent the whole thing a little honesty, I thought. Joel's sermon was about not letting hard luck keep you down - that God will reward anyone who keeps the faith through thick and thin. The word "reward" kept reappearing. That made me uncomfortable, as though he was promising ultimate happiness in this life for anyone who had to suffer for awhile, as in the story of Job. His prime example was about a young man who had been on dialysis for over ten years, and finally found a friend who wanted to donate a kidney to him, so now he's healthy and happy. We all know that not every story has a happy ending, but that's what Joel seemed to promise, if you only keep smiling and praising God.

At the end, I had to admit that Osteen and the Apostolics were very entertaining. They both made big pitches for funding at the end of their shows. Joel Osteen's pitches reminded me of Disney World commercials. The best thing I can say about the Catholic Mass is that it certainly was humble.

The End of Halloween for Us?

It is now 7:39 pm on Halloween night. The weather is cool, but clear. I have had a carved pumpkin with a battery light inside it on my front porch since 2:30 this afternoon. My porch light is on and there are lights on inside the house. We have had NO trick-or-treaters at the door. I actually saw some kids in costume running down the opposite side of the street around 5:30, but they never came to this side. And, there are school kids on the street - both sides! None of them know us very well, though. We're too old even to hang out with their parents.

I can only assume that Halloween has reached some sort of watershed around here for kids and parents. No more roaming the neighborhood, ringing doorbells of strangers to get candy loot. Even though I can understand it, it makes me sort of sad. How well I remember running around after dark with hundreds of other kids dressed as bums and ghosts (the cheapest costumes, after all) getting a huge bag of candy. Then the real fun - sorting all the Tootsie Rolls from the Three Musketeers from the chintzy suckers, etc. Trading with your siblings for your favorites. It's hard to think that that was more than 50 years ago.

As it is, I might decide that this is the last time I get out my knife and newspapers for a pumpkin, the last time I debate whether to buy a healthier alternative to Hershey bars (nah!), the last time I hang monstery decorations on the front door. There's still time to keep me in the game, kids!

Frederick Buechner, Extraordinary Soul

Since I just finished The Sacred Journey, Buechner's wonderful spiritual autobiography of his early years, I must share a few excerpts that I love. He was born in the same year as my dad, and much of what he tells about his life in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, made me see my dad's early life in a new way.

"God's coming is always unforeseen, I think, and the reason, if I had to guess, is that if he gave us anything much in the way of advance warning, more often than not we would have made ourselves scarce long before he got there."

"To journey for the sake of saving our own lives is little by little to cease to live in any sense that really matters, even to ourselves, because it is only by journeying for the world's sake -- even when the world bores and sickens and scares you half to death -- that little by little we start to come alive."

I'm looking forward to reading the second volume that continues the story at the point where he, at the age of 27, enters Union Theological Seminary in NYC.