145 Moffett Road, Lake Bluff: $2,500,000 | Listed May 7, 2020
This 6,737-square-foot Lake Bluff mansion has six bedrooms and six bathrooms. The family room features a three-story vaulted ceiling, a wall of windows, a fireplace and custom built-ins. An island, a butler’s pantry and an eating nook with a second fireplace make up the kitchen. The first-floor master suite features another fireplace, along with walk-in closets and access to a screened-in porch. Additional amenities in the home include walnut flooring, Adler woodwork, a sunroom, a laundry room with a dog wash and a loft. The walk-out lower level offers a bar and a second family room. Completed in 2018, the outdoor patio features heated floors, sitting walls, a fireplace and a kitchen.
Listed by Liz Anderson of Baird & Warner, 847-913-3482
They say you miss 100 percent of the shots you didn’t take. And that our biggest regrets in life aren’t over the mistakes we made but, instead, the moments when we were too timid. Didn’t take any risks. These chapters were never written because we met life with a fragile No instead of a trusting Yes.
And a lot of that is probably true. But for me, my biggest regrets (so far) aren’t really over my No’s. Instead, it’s the chapters that actually started out with a big bold yes; but the yes was mostly to myself.
The darkness of these chapters creeps up because it feels like you’re courageously heading into the light. “Betting on yourself.” “Chasing a dream.” “Making a leap of faith.” But, disguised behind all of these freedom mantras is actually not much freedom at all. There’s a course I’ve already charted out. A set finish line I have in mind. And an expectation for how things will ultimately play out–or at least how things should play out.
These chapters continue to deceive as you’re heading down the wrong path (which, of course, feels like the best and only path). Again, none of it feels like a bad thing. You’re working harder than ever. Waking up early. Staying up late. Going after a dream. And a lot of times you do end up getting what you’re going after; which only affirms that all of the sacrifices were totally worthwhile.
So what’s wrong with this road? Running back the list, the equation looks fine. Started with a leap of faith. Check. Worked incredibly hard. Check. Loved what I was doing. Check. And here are the accomplishments. Check. Am I missing something here? Why wouldn’t this process be a good thing?
For the last year and a half, I was deceived by one of these paths. And the feeling when you realize it isn’t so much one of regret or shame, it’s more of an embarrassment. Like falling for the classic hey-you-got-mustard-on-your-shirt-finger-to-the-nose trick. You get to the end of one of these chapters and wonder, “Wow, how am I still that gullible?”
Things that take a year and a half can’t really be explained in a sentence and a half.So I want to tell a story. It’s a story that will feel like it’s headed in a bunch of different directions and won’t really make sense until the end. It’s a wandering tale that involves: New York City, bagels, Kramer from Seinfeld, healthcare, Chicago, a dream, and a pink gorilla. Yep. A pink gorilla. It’s a story that unfolded quietly in the background of life, gently guiding me into the light. And as I look back on it, my only regret is not appreciating the little things more or seeing all of the little connections. But I can’t kick myself too much. As Søren Kierkegaard once said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
So, let’s begin the story back in 2010. With a guy who’d never lived outside the state of Michigan.
Holland, Michigan
My dad went to the University of Kansas. So did both of his parents, his uncle, and all three of his siblings. My older brother too. But at 18-years-old, I wasn’t ready to move 12 hours away from Midland, Michigan to Lawrence, Kansas. It was too big of a leap.
So I held onto what I knew and made a much smaller leap of faith, going from the east side of the state to the west. Midland to Holland. And while it may have been a yes to something new, there wasn’t much of a leap. I was holding on tight and my feet were still planted on the ground.
The story I was planning to write was to keep playing basketball. And I’d study political science because, well, I was into student council in high school. That seemed like a logical path. The first semester came and went and I realized, “Crap, the big guys are bigger, the guards are faster” and the 2012 election–which seems tame by today’s standards–showed me I wasn’t really interested in politics.
My structured storyline was now over and I woke up in the darkness of a January winter wondering, “Where do I go from here?”
Seinfeld
There’s an episode of Seinfeld called The Strike. This is the one where George Costanza’s dad, played by Jerry Stiller, reveals his beloved self-created holiday “Festivus for the Rest of Us.”
The main storyline in the episode is how Cosmo Kramer has been on strike for 12 years from his job at H&H Bagels. He gets a phone call that the strike is over and heads back to work. But when Jerry Stiller tells him about Festivus, Kramer is immediately excited and asks for the day off. The owners deny his request and Kramer goes back on strike.
Taste of New York Bagels and Deli
Kramer is a fictional character, but H&H Bagels is a real place. The bagel deli was started in 1972 by Helmer Toro and his brother-in-law Hector Hernandez. The two bought out Midtown Bagels at Broadway and 80th Street for $5,000 cash and a $50,000 loan.
Even in the 70s, that amount of money didn’t get you much space in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, which meant Helmer and Hector weren’t able to have a big commercial kitchen on-site to bake all of the bagels. To keep up with the demand, they turned to the Asous family who, under the radar, was proudly baking some of the best and well-known bagels in New York City. And unlike Kramer, they weren’t dropping bubble gum in the bagel dough.
Off to New York City
Things started to turn around at Hope College when I began saying small yeses without any idea where the road would go.
First small yes: I decided I wouldn’t visit Midland until spring break. Second: I went to a fraternity rush event, invited by someone I knew from the student council days back at Midland High. Third: I joined this fraternity that was basically the fraternity of guys who aren’t really “frat guys.” And it seemed like a puzzling move. Why would I do this when, less than a year ago, I chose not to go to Kansas and join my brother in his fraternity (the same one my dad and two uncles were part of back in the day)? How did this new chapter make any sort of sense?
But I kept walking forward. And I wasn’t in any sort of zen peaceful state when making these small yeses. I was still trying to regain control of a narrative. I put out a transfer application to Kansas. One to Central Michigan too. I was constantly trying to figure out what my major would be. Fighting to become the author again. In control of the story.
Ever so slowly, I was starting to let go. Met a girl named Ashley from our sister sorority. We knew each other a little bit our freshman and sophomore year, but what we didn’t know is both of us had said a bigger yes to a “study abroad” semester in New York City. We started dating our junior year and come January of 2011, I was finally ready to leave the state of Michigan with the woman I’d eventually marry who — at that point in time — was just Ashley from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago.
Took me awhile, but I had finally said yes to living 12 hours away from home. I hopped on a plane without knowing what was ahead. I looked down at the clouds and, at least for that moment, I let go of being the author of my own story.
This post will end up being partially a profile of the New York Bagel & Deli restaurant in Chicago, part reflections and philosophy. If you enjoy this type of style, you might enjoy the four-part series I did featuring Tango Sur and some Kierkegaard.
And, despite the name, Medium Rare isn’t normally a food blog. But for the next several weeks, every Tuesday, I’ll be featuring great local restaurants around the Lakeview neighborhood in hopes that readers support these spots with pickup & delivery orders now and go in-person later this year. Other posts in the seires include:
I was born and raised in Midland, Michigan and moved here to Chicago a couple years ago after graduating from Hope College. I live in the city with my beautiful wife Ashley.
A little bit about me – I go to bed early, I enjoy greasy food and would wear sweatpants everyday if I were allowed to. I just signed up for a year-long Divvy membership, but could very well be the slowest bicyclist in Chicago.
I write the Medium Rare blog and will have a new post up every Monday.
Sometimes keeping old technology going has great advantages. When I wrote “Onward” in a message this morning, I remembered a song in a movie I saw as a child, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” It was the first story by Ian Fleming — yes, that Ian Fleming, Mr. Bond — I ever saw on the screen. It’s a fantasy about a flying car. The old technology, not Chitty’s (the car’s) new stuff, comes in because I got the soundtrack album as a present, and I still have it. It’s playing now.
The song that came to mind, the words I need to share, came in a scene when Chitty (the car) has been captured and bumbling scientists are trying to copy her for the villain. Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman wrote the music and lyrics. With a spot of help from stlyrics.com (although I’ve known them most of my life), here are parts of the lyrics. Regardless of where we are, what we’re doing for healing (from the riots or the virus — remember that), finding peace and rebuilding a better city, onward and upward we must press!
Every bursted bubble has a glory!
Each abysmal failure makes a point!
Every glowing path that goes astray,
Shows you how to find a better way.
So every time you stumble, never grumble.
Next time you’ll bumble even less!
For up from the ashes, up from the ashes, grow the roses of success!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses!
Grow the roses of success!
Oh yes!
Grow the roses!
Those rosy roses!
From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success!
…
So when it gets distressing it’s a blessing!
Onward and upward you must press!
Yes, Yes!
Till up from the ashes, up from the ashes grow the roses of success.
From the ashes of disaster, grow the roses of success!
I moved to Chicago from the south suburbs in 1986. I have diverse interests, but I love writing about what I’m interested in. Whether it’s a personal interest or part of my career, the correct words to get the idea across are important to me. I love words and languages — French and Scottish words enrich my American English. My career has included years as a journalist and years working in museums, and the two phases were united by telling stories. I’m serious about words and stories. So here I am, ready to tell stories about words and their languages.
ChicagoBulls (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Chicago Bulls’ broadcasts will sound different next season.
When Chicago Bulls‘ basketball returns to the United Center for the 2020-21 season, it will sound quite a bit different than it has for the past 30 years because they’re about to get a brand new voice. No, we’re not talking about a new voice on the sidelines — though that would be nice (hint, hint Arturas Karnisovas).
Rather, the new voice will be broadcasting across the airwaves to those watching their beloved Bulls at home on television.
Recently, Adam Amin tweeted a heartfelt message thanking his ESPN family for the opportunity to break into the sports media business. His farewell announcement has been inevitable since he agreed to take on the role of broadcasting NFL and MLB games for the Fox Sports network.
However, until very recently, we didn’t know that Amin was in line for another gig that is obviously near and dear to his heart. And that gig is as the television play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Bulls.
Amin will be replacing the legendary Neil Funk, who has mentioned earlier, has been the voice of the Bulls for nearly 30 years. As fans, hearing a broadcasters name or voice conjures up indelible moments from our childhood or youth and brings us back to that moment in time. After a while, they become inextricably linked to your fan experience.
Growing up a New York Yankees fan, I still get chills when I hear the voice of Bob Sheppard. When I think of Phil Rizzuto, I think back to warm summer nights with the windows open watching the meddling Yankees teams of the 1980s.
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For generations of Bulls fans, that’s what Neil Funk will represent. And now Amin will attempt to step into those humongous shoes and try to be that for the next generation. Amin seems uniquely situated to do just that. He’s young (at only 33-years-old) and is a native of Chicago. He has demonstrated over his brief career that he has the ability to draw in and connect with the younger crowd.
While he has called a few games for the Bulls on NBCSportsChicago, he will now be given the keys fulltime and will be expected to connect the fans to the game in an intimate way. If he does, years from now, someone may get chills when they hear his voice again.
(Photo by Francois Laplante/FreestylePhoto/Getty Images)
The ChicagoBlackhawks have a special captain in Jonathan Toews and he will be one of the key pieces in their series with the Edmonton Oilers.
Recent events have made us miss the leadership of Jonathan Toews on the ice. Well, he has recently shown that he is a leader off the ice just as much as he is on the ice and in the locker room. To bring it back to sports, that might help the Chicago Blackhawks in their play-in series against the Edmonton Oilers. This series will be a short one but proper leadership might be able to help propel them to get what they need out of the right people.
The Oilers have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl at the top of their forward group and they were the league’s top two scorers in 2019-20. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a great player as well so those three are the ones to be the most worried about, especially the former two. If the Blackhawks shut them down, winning the series is a real possibility.
Toews will be a big key to that. He is one of the best defensive forwards the league has seen in a generation and he will be relied upon to help shut down Edmonton’s stars. Chicago’s defense is bad but the forwards helping them out might be able to help them in this series. It starts and ends with Jonathan Toews in that part of the ice.
Toews is also one of the best captains this league has ever seen. The commissioner has handed him the Stanley Cup three times and he has shown time and time again that you can’t teach what he does for his teammates. He knows how to galvanize the troops in ways that not all captains have been able to in his NHL career. He has won the Mark Messier leadership award for a reason. It just makes it that much better that he has been an elite player on top of it all.
If Toews can lead the team in the way we know he can, this could be a good series for him and his team. He, of course, will have Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and Corey Crawford there to help him lead and that isn’t a bad group to have with you. It is especially nice to have a group like that leading the way when the rest of the team wasn’t good enough to be higher than 23rd in the league standings. Toews is the perfect guy to lead the team in a situation like this.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 08: Lauri Markkanen #24 of the ChicagoBulls is pursued by Taurean Prince #2 of the Brooklyn Nets in the second half at Barclays Center on March 08, 2020 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
Past teams have proven the Chicago Bulls have simply lucked into strong rebuilds. Can they do it again?
The Chicago Bulls organization has revamped their front office, most notably removing former general manager Gar Forman, while adding highly-regarded names, Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley to respectively take on the vice president of basketball operations and general manager role. While these are excellent first steps towards getting the Bulls back on track to winning a championship, the reality is that all it really takes is nailing a transcendent player or two.
When The Last Dance aired, we all got an awesome glimpse into Michael Jordan‘s career with the Chicago Bulls. His greatness was on full display throughout all 10 episodes, but plenty of credit for the Bulls’ six championships deservedly goes to general manager, Jerry Krause for constructing the team effectively for all those successful seasons.
The reality is that Krause was an excellent general manager for the most part, who saw the talent in Scottie Pippen when drafting him to ultimately co-star with Jordan. He was an aggressive deal-maker who made a number of excellent trades and signings to keep a steady supporting cast around Jordan. Krause even hired Phil Jackson to lead the Bulls, back when he was a largely unknown guy among the head-coaching ranks in basketball.
Krause’s work behind the scenes in reshaping the Bulls roster back in the late 1980’s and throughout the 1990’s exemplifies why it’s important to have a general manager who knows exactly what he’s doing when constructing a championship contender. Furthermore, from ownership down, the Bulls’ front office at the time when they were on top of the world knew how to effectively scout players, both through the college ranks and in the pros.
Fast-forward to today, and the Bulls, who are coming off another mediocre season led by Jim Boylen, are effectively hitting the reset button once more. Only this time, it feels as if there is now light at the end of the tunnel, given that GarPax is now extinct.
There was a time when Gar Forman and John Paxon were both highly respected among league circles at their respective positions within the Bulls organization, most notably back in 2011, when the Bulls had the best record in the league, and advanced all the way into the Eastern Conference Finals with MVP Derrick Rose leading the way.
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That’s how the NBA typically works though: you’re team’s typically as good as your best player, or best two to three players nowadays. Teams that are terrible can become championship contenders the following season if they sign or obtain a star player or two in the offseason. Think of the 2007-08 Boston Celtics, or the Miami Heat during the LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade era, or most recently, the Los Angeles Lakers, when they acquired Anthony Davis to pair up with LeBron. Those organizations were lucky those transcendent players were available to them at the right time.
Furthermore, a team that literally has hit rock bottom can have their misfortunes turned around in a hurry with the right stroke of luck in the NBA Draft. The New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzles immediately come to mind. Both organizations landed game-changing franchise players in the 2019 draft thanks to ping-pong balls, and now they’re set up for sustainable success barring injuries.
The Bulls were awesome and relevant back in 2011 because of Derrick Rose, who at the time was a top-five player in the league. Injuries robbed Rose and the Bulls of much success after that memorable season, but it just goes to show how luckily obtaining even one game-changing player can make all the difference in how a team quickly becomes a contender.
Jerry Krause deserves credit for constructing the Jordan-led rosters, and the people that made of the front office deserve their credit as well. But it all started and ended with Michael Jordan. Without the main piece to the puzzle intact, there’s no way the Bulls with six, let alone any championships in the 1990’s, no matter how good of a front office the Bulls had back then.
This leads us back to today, where the Bulls’ revamped front office looks to reconstruct the team, starting with the likely end of the Jim Boylen era. The new members in the front office may do a great job making new coaching hires and player deals, but unless they nab a transcendent player or two in upcoming drafts or free agency, it’s hard to imagine the Bulls winning another NBA championship anytime soon.
That doesn’t mean the Bulls can’t become solid playoff contenders in the upcoming years with this new leadership in fold. They can easily become a team like the Toronto Raptors, a regular playoff contender but always falling short of a true championship run until they acquire that star player (Kawhi Leonard).
This cold-hard reality in the NBA is something the Bulls front office must keep in mind at all times.
The Chicago Bears have issues at more positions than you think.
Heading into the 2020 season, Chicago Bears fans might think the team’s biggest issue or question mark is at the quarterback position. And frankly, why wouldn’t they? After all, it is the most important position in all of professional sports and was a major reason why the offense underperformed last year.
However, it might be going a bit unnoticed that they actually have some question marks at three other positions on the offense that could come back to bite them this year.
When you take a more critical look at these positions, you realize there might be a little more sizzle than steak to them, or at the very least, not the depth you’d like to see.
The Chicago Bears’ tight end position is more quantity than quality
The running joke on Bears Twitter is the number of tight ends currently on the roster. Everyone likes to poke fun at the fact that the team, at least as of this moment, has nine tight ends on the roster. The reality is, they are not breaking camp with nine tight ends on the roster, so while it’s easy fodder at the moment, the narrative has grown tired.
What is a legit concern, is once you peel away the excess, and get down to the tight ends that will likely be on the roster, you realize it’s still a questionable group next year. By far, the most reliable option will be veteran Jimmy Graham. However, his receiving yards, targets, and receptions have all declined in each of the last three seasons. Last season, he ended up with only 38 receptions for 447 yards. Not exactly lighting it up.
After that you have rookie Cole Kmet, who while high on potential, is not likely to make meaningful contributions, as historically rookie tight ends do not. After these two, it’s slim pickings, and you can see how tight end production may end up being down in 2020 as well.
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The wide receiver position is top-heavy for the Chicago Bears
Every Bears fan knows how valuable Allen Robinson is to this team. Despite a down year offensively, Robinson still managed to shine, catching 98 passes for 1,147 yards. After that though, there’s a pretty steep drop off.
Anthony Miller is talented but has struggled through injuries which has limited his effectiveness. The hope is he can stay on the field this year and enjoy a breakout year with better quarterback play.
Cordarrelle Patterson is listed as a receiver but has been used by Matt Nagy as more of a gadget guy. Ted Ginn Jr., was signed this offseason but is 35-years old and likely brought in for one reason — to try to take the top off the defense.
After that, you’re left with rookie Darnell Mooney, Riley Ridley who struggled to get on the field last year, and Javon Wims.
The Chicago Bears are very thin at running back
A lot of folks are expecting big things out of David Montgomery this year, myself included. But for a position that takes so many punishing blows game after game, the Bears don’t have much depth behind him. Sure Tarik Cohen is listed as a running back, but again, he’s used more on tosses and sweeps and as a wide receiver. He’s not the kind of player who can give you 20-30 carries a game — he’s simply not built for it.
While there is still technically time to add another running back to the roster, at this moment, they do not have someone who could step in for Montgomery, if need be, and take the majority of the carries. That will have to be remedied or the Bears could be in big trouble at the position.
The Chicago Cubs should avoid these three players with the 16th overall pick.
No matter how much due diligence or research goes into a potential draft prospect, busts are going to happen. For whatever reason, failing to materialize, lack of ambition, off-the-field issues, it’s unavoidable. The Chicago Cubs have missed on several first-round picks through the years. Josh Vitters and Tyler Colvin immediately come to mind as big-time draft prospects that simply didn’t pan out.
In the upcoming draft, the Cubs hold the 16th overall pick. With the draft being shortened to just five rounds due to the coronavirus pandemic canceling high school and collegiate baseball seasons, Theo Epstein and company need to get every pick right.
Let’s look at three players to stay away from in the first round.
Aside from scouts viewing Crochet as an eventual bullpen arm, he wasn’t particularly good against SEC competition during his time at Tennessee. As a true freshman, the lefty made 17 appearances – including six starts – and struck out 62 batters in 63.2 innings. However, he allowed a .267 batting average while spinning a 5.51 ERA. Flash forward to 2019, and he was utilized in a similar fashion, 18 appearances – including six starts – allowing a .268 average and 4.02 ERA.
He was limited by an injury to start the 2020 season, so he made just one start before the shutdown. However, a closer look at his game logs from 2019 reveals he rarely went deep in games when starting. Crochet’s longest start was against Kentucky, going 6.2 innings and striking out eight batters. Great, right? The next three games were against Arkansas, Missouri, and Florida, and he tossed a combined 16.1 innings while allowing 16 earned runs.
Outside the division, Crochet struck out nine batters in back-to-back appearances against Appalachian State and Indiana. I am not convinced he will transition into a starting rotation at the next level, and the Cubs already went heavy on relievers last year.
Mlodzinkski may end up slipping to the second round, so that’s reason enough to pass on him with the 16th overall pick. Add to that that his numbers at South Carolina were not overly impressive. As a freshman, he made 19 appearances – including seven starts – striking out 43 batters in 45.2 innings. But he also walked 21 batters and allowed a .278 average while spinning a 5.52 ERA.
The following year, he transitioned in the starting rotation for the Gamecocks, making three starts but still demonstrated the inability to command the strike zone before breaking his foot. His season was ended prematurely, but in the three starts he made, he struck out 11 batters while also walking 11 and allowing a .289 average and a 5.91 ERA.
Mlodzinkski was off to a better start this year before the shutdown. He made four starts and struck out 25.1 innings. However, some of the same issues resurfaced, walking eight batters and allowing a .258 average. Along with his command issues, there’s not enough of a sample size for me to feel comfortable with the Cubs taking him in the first round.
Any of the catchers
I’ve seen several mock drafts with the Cubs utilizing their first-round pick on a catcher. There’s no denying that this catcher class is extremely deep. Once Patrick Bailey is off the board, that leaves a whole slew of top-tier talent still on the board in the first round. Tyler Soderstrom has been linked to the Cubs in recent mocks. Arizona’s Austin Wells and Ohio State’s Dillon Dingler also figure to be first-round picks.
However, Willson Contreras is still 27 years old and entering his prime. The Cubs also have Miguel Amaya coming and they addressed the catcher position last year with the nation’s top high school catcher, Ethan Hearn, being taken in the sixth round.
Then in July, the Cubs gave Ronnier Quintero a substantial $3 million signing bonus as the top international free agent catcher in the class. Unless they plan to trade a catcher for an asset down the line, taking one with the 16th overall pick would be a puzzling decision.
Open mikes have gone dark amid the pandemic, but creativity has taken to a virtual stage. For local poet Caroline Watson, who runs the monthly poetry open mike Grandma’s House at the Martin, sharing work from the poetry community feels essential to this moment.
Since late March, Watson has visited various Chicago neighborhoods to record poets reading new material from their porch for her new Grandma’s House video series that debuted in April. With help from her boyfriend, Watson has recorded, edited, and produced six episodes so far, honoring the six-foot-distance rule by way of a large boom mike that separates them to catch the outside sound. “The idea of me with this giant boom mike, which visually shows the distance, was the best option,” Watson laughs. “It’s been fun to be my little one-man sound crew, and I’m learning I do not have the arm strength to be a boom-mike operator.”
Watson says her project provides a creative space and serves the community in a time when artists are struggling and can’t perform in public. It’s transformed Grandma’s House into each poet’s house, giving them the stage to share their work, much like the physical open mike would. In a time when creatives are taking to social media and Zoom calls to host virtual shows, she wanted to make sure her project didn’t add chaos to digital quarantine-related content but instead be in person as much as possible to maintain the spirit of her open mike.
The poets in the series have been featured at Watson’s shows in the past, but she says getting to see where they live has been a special experience. “Getting to go to their homes and seeing a little slice of their lives, in a way that I would otherwise not have done, has been a warm and joyful spot in all of this nonsense and madness,” she says.
Watson, who lives in Uptown, has traveled to the west, south, and north sides of the city to spotlight poets such as Billy Tuggle, who lives in Park Manor in Greater Grand Crossing. Also a teaching and performance artist, Tuggle shared his untitled poem for his daughter Carmendy on the fourth episode of the video series. Carmendy, whom her father calls “a performance kid” and who is on a competitive dance team, is in the video, sitting at the window listening to the poem.
Tuggle’s poem, which he wrote the first day that Chicago Public Schools closed in March, is a response to the current moment and how it has affected him and his daughter. She is finishing first grade and coming to grips with not seeing her friends, not performing, and not going to the Disney store.
“To look at family, to look at community, and to look at the person first–because everything is happening to the person first–was the most appropriate piece to read,” says Tuggle, who has been in creation mode since the shutdown, writing 63 poems over 35 consecutive days.
He calls Watson’s project a great creative distraction that helps people stay balanced, as well as a display of pandemic thoughts percolating from all over the city that go beyond health and money. “This is a rare time in society, in my almost 50 years on this planet, where we are in this together, and here is the chance for people to acknowledge it,” he says.
Creating space for diversity and these feelings is why Kwyn Townsend Riley was privileged to be part of Watson’s project. Townsend Riley, who performs as Kwynology and lives in Roseland, was featured in episode five and shared her poem about the heaviness the pandemic has brought to the west and south sides, highlighting longtime racial injustices. While she says she initially felt vulnerable reading on her porch and sharing her intimate space with the camera, Watson’s project reminded Townsend Riley that her neighborhood is just as important as more popular neighborhoods.
“I felt proud of where I come from,” the poet says. “Roseland is beautiful if you take the time to actually see it.”
Being part of this series has encouraged Townsend Riley to be creative without feeling guilty if she can’t produce as much. The poet, author, and speaker had a big lineup of events ready until the pandemic cut it down; now, she’s leaning into balancing creation with reflection. “Caroline gave me a visual to reflect on for years to come, and I am honored to have that,” she says.
Watson says the poets represent the resilience that lives in the community and their individual beauty. “I am just a piece of the puzzle in the Chicago poetry community, and I am grateful to be part of the puzzle,” she says.
Episodes are released on the Grandma’s House Instagram, and Watson plans to publish at least six more between now and July. She asks for donations via Venmo to keep the videos going and to support the poets in the series. v
By The Ultimate Circle Table Kid,
Monday at 3:09 pm
There is no question that almost everyone’s lives have changed due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Some people’s lives have changed drastically; with a loss of a job or sadly even a family member. Other people were simply implemented with minor inconveniences such as boredom at home or not having a mask at hand for Walmart.
Though the economy has installed many adjustments to create a temporary “new normal,” what about the other factors that go into everyday life that have been affected by this global pandemic, such as the dating world.
Personally for me, self-quarantining has actually been what initially inspired me to want to download apps such as Tinder and Bumble. Certainly not because I’m genuinely looking for a serious, committed relationship (I wouldn’t go to “the hook-up app” for that anyways) but more-so because my boredom has evoked a curiosity for how it all even works now that my “match” can’t take me out to dinner!
Much to my surprise, the mindless swiping and the corny pick-up lines were the perfect way to pass time during those uneventful first few weekends of quarantine. I actually enjoyed sitting in on Friday nights and talking with these strangers about their experiences during these hard times and even acquired some new FaceTime buddies. On the contrary, I could not believe that despite the entire world being shut down (this was late March btw) that some of the men I had matched with had suggested hanging out and actually wanted to meet me (a stranger) during a pandemic! What if I had the COVID? Do they simply not care? Not only that but there is no place to go. No Red Lobster to justify the one night stand with Ben from the neighborhood down the road. Would they wear a mask? No, probably not considering they’re texting me telling me how kissable I look. These men. I just could not wrap my head around their social distancing mentality. Survival of the fittest I guess. I personally do not believe any vagina is worth the risk of a ventilator but I guess that’s a question we haven’t yet asked Dr. Anthony Fauci.
I’m an 18 year old from the suburbs, trying to figure out where I fit in. Writing has always been my favorite way to relieve stress and speak my mind. It’s not easy being an old soul in this generation of people who care so much about the superficial things . Instead of being crashed on the couch after a long night of partying you’ll find me in bed by 9, preparing to wake up at 4am the next day ready to chase the sunrise…and it’s taken me eighteen years to realize that’s not lame…that’s effin’ awesome!
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