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“I cleared off a table in the basement to do jigsaw puzzles. It turned out to be too small to do a 1,000-piece puzzle. So I laid down posters on the floor, white side up, to have a surface. I can’t start a puzzle without finishing it. It’s the same obsessive nature that helps me write — I have that focus putting together the pieces of songs. With puzzles, sometimes that means 16 or 17 hours of sitting and standing. I would get pretty sore. Now I have a table by Bits and Pieces with room for a 1,500-piece puzzle. It has thin drawers for sorting pieces by color. My friends Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally are crazy puzzle people. I joked with Nick when I first started: ‘Do you start in the middle and work out?’ And he told me that was correct, and work clockwise. That’s puzzle humor.”

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I’ve never been that interested in personality tests. Probably because I’m one of those people whose personality can be summed up in a single word: loud. I voice my opinion in meetings. I sling jokes at happy hour. I ignore the glares of my fellow brunchers at M.Henry when I’m loudly telling a story about how my dad used to needlepoint religious art while my mom drank sherry and passed out. See, when you’re a known loud person, there’s not a whole lot of mystery. People don’t leave encounters with me thinking, Huh, I wish I understood Adrienne more. Why do I need to be sliced and diced into another subsection of society when I’ve already got “divorcée” and “basic bitch” on my résumé? But because I’m barely surviving this endless quarantine with my wits intact, I realize perhaps I could benefit from a new framework for understanding what makes me tick.

The Enneagram is a system made up of nine personality types that reveal how people interpret the world and manage their emotions. I meet over Zoom with local therapist and Enneagram coach Priscilla Dean of Evergreen Counseling to get “typed” (Enneagram-speak for identifying which of the nine personalities I might be). Priscilla explains that the Enneagram is a combination of spirituality and psychology. It’s about mindfulness and inner observation — watching your behaviors, motives, thoughts, and feelings. And before I can even express any skepticism about putting people into boxes, Priscilla says that the Enneagram doesn’t put you in a box, because whether you know it or not, you’re already in one. The Enneagram helps you step out.

Well, then.

Priscilla asks me a series of questions, and it feels like a pleasant therapy session. Quickly she identifies that I like to be focused on tasks and goals and not be slowed down by feelings. Who doesn’t? (Apparently eight other personality types don’t.) We talk about how I want to be recognized for what I do, not who I am, and I legit do not understand that there’s a difference. She points out that when people get in the way of my goals, it makes me angry, and I’m like, YES, GIRL, I’VE BEEN MANAGING HOMESCHOOL SINCE MARCH OF COURSE I’M ANGRY, and that might be the point when I’m typed as a 3, a.k.a. the Achiever.

Hallmarks of a 3: ambitious, competent, energetic, status-conscious, overly concerned with their image and what others think of them, problems with workaholism and competitiveness. Ew! But also, sure, sounds about right. Just like Scarlett O’Hara, I focus on my image and the task at hand and only break for feelings when they’re misdirected at an unsuitable love interest! Priscilla wants me to get on a growth path and says to do this I need to get more in touch with my feelings. “Shame, grief, and loss — this is where your authentic felt experience is,” she says. “Your real life is here.” Something about this rings true, because immediately I’m filled with an uncomfortable shame, and I wonder if loudness is a sort of mask concealing my authentic self, who is, apparently, a 3. And if maybe, just maybe, quarantine is a perfect time to get quiet.

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Social psychologist and Loyola professor Devon Price challenges the idea of laziness in a productivity-obsessed world.Read More

Can a members-only wellness club help me trade my beloved pizza for seeds?Read More

The Chicago Bears opening at the Defensive Coordinator position does not appear to be an attractive job for potential candidates. The reason for the lack of interest is because the job is essentially a death sentence. Barring a run to the Super Bowl next season, or at least, an extended run in the playoffs; it […]

Chicago Bears: Mike Singletary a candidate for Defensive Coordinator opening – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More

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Support local secondhand shoppers without stepping foot outside.

Whether you’re decorating your lockdown living space, buying unique clothes only your COVID bubble will see, or trying to replicate that long-gone thrift shopping high of snagging a one-of-a-kind piece before anyone else, Instagram start-ups are a surprisingly simple and engaging way to shop secondhand from home.…Read More

A man wounded in a shootout with Chicago police officers earlier this week was on parole for two gun cases, Cook County prosecutors said Wednesday.

Tramaine Harris was allegedly holding guns in both hands when he fired at officers chasing him down an alley in Lawndale Monday evening, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.

Officers shot him once in the torso, but investigators believe he may have also shot himself in the foot as he slipped and hit the ground, Murphy said.

Harris, 29, remained hospitalized for those injuries at Mount Sinai Hospital and wasn’t at Wednesday’s bond hearing for his attempted murder, aggravated assault and armed habitual criminal charges.

Before he was shot, Harris ran from two officers after the car he was traveling in was pulled over for seatbelt violations near Lexington Street and Springfield Avenue, Murphy said.

Harris bolted down an alley while holding a gun and took cover at a garage before he shot and the officers returned fired, Murphy said.

Private surveillance video shows Harris shoot one of the guns and then slip to the ground, possibly shooting himself in the foot, Murphy said. He allegedly got back up and fired at the officers three more times in the 3800 block of West Polk Street.

Harris was arrested moments later hiding under a porch.

Police recovered two guns, one with a laser sight and one with an extended magazine, Murphy said. Four shell casing were found near where Harris fired the guns, Murphy said.

The two other occupants in the car ran away and were not in custody, Murphy said.

Harris was on parole for two 2019 gun cases for which he was sentenced to prison. He was sentenced to boot camp in 2016 for an aggravated battery to an officer.

Harris is married with three children and worked for a delivery service, his defense attorney said.

Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Harris held on $2 million bail.

He is expected back in court Jan. 28.

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This week’s featured gig poster was designed for the HotHouse by graphic designer and photographer Shelley Hiam.

The Reader’s first gig poster of 2021 is a tribute to jazz, Cuba, and collaborative concert organizing by a designer with roots in alternative weekly papers.…Read More