BARRE BOOTCAMP! The phrase screamed at me as I entered my health club shortly after 5 a.m. last week. Written in blue marker on a whiteboard, “barre,” for those not familiar with ballet, is the horizontal bar dancers grip while performing certain exercises. As I trudged into the locker room, wiping sleep from my eyes,…
DetailsImagine treading water wearing a business suit. Blue jeans. A sweater. Or whatever you chose to wear when you left the house that morning. Unless you’re at a pool party, and alcohol aided your decision to enter the water, you’re not there of your own free will. You slipped, you tripped, you misjudged the distance…
DetailsMy cell rang about 2 p.m. on Nov. 5, some three hours before election polls closed on the East Coast. “What network are you watching tonight?” my friend asked. “I’m watching CNN. In fact, I put it on when I left for work this morning just in case I want to rewind anything when I…
DetailsHey, it’s my birthday today! The sun is shining and the day should be full of nothing more than fun and possibilities. I’ll start my own personal celebration just as soon as I run a few errands. Let’s do it quickly. I just have to drop this mail at the post office. Why drive on…
DetailsI am struggling to keep my eyes open as I write this column, having just completed an overnight stay in North Carolina, which included a night of restful sleep. That’s correct; I slept great. The exhaustion occurred the following morning as I was preparing to leave the spare bedroom in my relatives’ home. Always striving…
DetailsI have tried, since I first heard the term, to stay away from artificial intelligence. The problem is, artificial intelligence won’t stay away from me. If AI is not recommending an alternate restaurant to the one I was planning to dine at, it’s offering to rewrite my social media posts. It’s either driving my car…
DetailsOhio, thank you for contributing to my upcoming chicken wing free diet The Buckeye State already has taken center stage now that J.D. Vance hopes to exchange the title “Ohio Senator” for “U.S. Vice President,” even if it means cozying up to a man he once called “reprehensible” and a “total fraud.” Now comes another…
DetailsThe man sat in the half full subway car as the Chicago skyline whizzed by on a humid Thursday morning. Oblivious to the heat or the scenery, he was only interested in discussing his problems with the unseen and unheard voice at the other end of his phone. Between the Midway Airport and Roosevelt stops,…
DetailsI celebrated our nation’s birthday by taking in a ballgame at Wrigley Field, a ballpark known for its rich history, neighborhood location and, with the exception of 2016, long-suffering Chicago Cubs fans. Also, its silence. Oh, sure, Ian Happ brought the Cubs faithful to their feet on July 4 by going four for four and…
DetailsI sat in my doctor’s office, weary from fatigue and yawning mightily as he entered. Noting my healthy color and firm handshake, he seemed perplexed. “So, what brings you here today?” he asked. “I think I’m suffering from CFS,” I said, rubbing my eyes and resisting the urge to lie down on the examining table.…
DetailsIn Atlanta last week to visit relatives, I was fortunate to witness rock-and-roll immortality, courtesy of the Rolling Stones. Just a typical night hanging out with 80-year-old men. OK, two 80-year-old men in particular: Mick Jagger, the Stones’ ageless frontman, and lead guitarist Keith Richards, his bandmate since the Stones formed in 1962. At 77,…
DetailsIt was the sound I’d been anticipating, as I began a late afternoon May stroll on a golf course somewhere in East Tennessee. Thousands of cicadas, their wings furiously rubbing together, signaling that yes, they had emerged from their nymph-like states, climbed trees, shed their skins and were ready to state their existence for the…
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