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Buried deep in your cellular contract is a little-known clause requiring you to speak loudly into your phone, as if it were a tin can connected to another tin can with twine. See, you thought loud-talkers are rude. Not so. These are law-abiding citizens. I was surrounded by a few of these good people on [...]

I rarely respond to online advertising, as they seem to target singles or mortgage owners looking to refinance. But two weeks ago I saw an ad promoting the new-ish Flock browser. “I’ve heard of that,” I thought to myself, and downloaded it on a whim. An hour later, I was still playing. The aptly monikered [...]

Warning: this post is all about cats. When my mother-in-law agreed to spend her fall semester leading a teaching program in Germany, we insisted on taking in her one-year-old kitten during her absence. We’ve thought about getting another cat to complement the one we’ve got, so here was a chance to take a test run; [...]

I kept the inevitable at bay for two years. I’m proud of that record. Polar ice might have melted more slowly thanks to my diligence. That’s all over now; last weekend we bought our first car. Renate has been ready since our first Chicago winter, and I have stalled like a champ. Trouble started brewing [...]

I readily admit that a proper blog should not go untended for a month. Fortunately I have a handful of excuses at the ready: We took in a second cat and the Resident Feline is not happy. Which means no one is sleeping fitfully. We drove to St. Louis to watch the niece celebrate her [...]

That right there is the dazed face of victory. It poured as I walked my (Dad’s) bike into the transition area at Foster beach this morning. After thirty minutes the rain had stopped, and the race marshal sent us in waves down the bike path next to Lake Shore Drive. We were supposed to start [...]

I’ve been tagged by Chicago’s own/Boston’s former Mike Maddaloni. Here are eight random facts about me: I met Harrison Ford and Bill Clinton in separate events, and managed to look like a complete twerp in both photos. Realizing it was the coolest nickname ever, I signed my first grade assignments “Chip Myler” for at least [...]

In a few weeks, I’m supposed to let my dentist shave my back molar to a nub and glue a fake tooth on top of it. I hate dental work. I even clench my fists during routine cleanings. “You doing okay?” the hygenist calls out over the shriek of the bandsaw aimed at my teeth. [...]