We were driving on a super-highway, pedal to the metal, when suddenly we were forced to slam on the brakes and come to a grinding halt. At first, we stifled our annoyance but as time passed, we leaned on the horn to signal our exasperation. But the jam didn’t yield, and it became apparent we were going to be parked in place for some time to come.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the country’s pell-mell pursuit of stock market highs, cute cat videos going viral and unprecedented expressions of self-indulgence to a sudden stop.

For some, ignoring the life and death consequences, the cessation of business as usual has scratched their skin raw and led them to devising every possible way – however devious – to get back on the highway.

For others, waiting for the light to turn green can lead to an option diametrically opposite, an opportunity to pause and ask, do I want to live the rest of my life as a mad dash?

That is the big question. And here is the interrogation that must take place before you address it.

Can status and wealth fulfill you if your pursuit of it totally preoccupies you? Surely, the Dow Jones pushing 30,000 cannot be the index that defines happiness. There are men and women of enormous wealth who bemoan their lives and those who labor for minimal wage who glow with joy.

Are you “living an act,” counting Facebook ‘Likes’ to appear to be the type of person popularized by social pressure, rather than being faithful to your actual ethic and aesthetic? When did you “give in” and become someone you are not?

Have you looked honestly at the events of the past that reveal your less than admirable behavior and continue to cause you discomfort and emotional pain? Have you moved beyond berating yourself with “if only I had done this, tried that?” and instead, made amends, taken responsibility for your actions and completed the closure necessary to move forward with your life?

When you realize that the limits of the life you are resigned to, are self-imposed, what fears keep you from walking over the threshold to a life re-defined?

It’s best if this inquiry is held in front of a mirror. Look behind the reflection for the answers.

Since my last weekly update 2 weeks ago the Chicago real estate market has continued to slowly work its way back to normal. This is week 11, which is the week ending May 16, and it appears that the market for single family homes is doing much better (for sellers) than the condo market. There are different theories about what is going on but one of the more popular ones is that, being cooped up in their homes for weeks on end, people are seeking larger spaces. Another theory is that they don’t like the idea of sharing space with other people that may be infected.

Here is how the data looks:

Detached Homes

• New listings were down 38% from last year to 318 homes
• Contract activity has improved since the last time that I looked and was only down 8% to 263 contracts written
• Inventory in absolute terms was down 17% to 2735 homes
• In relative terms inventory is also down from last year but this is the first time since the whole coronavirus mess started. The weeks of supply of homes was at 10.4 weeks vs. 11.5 weeks last year.
• For the homes that closed in that week it took 91 days for them to go under contract, down from 99 days last year. However, keep in mind that homes that closed then actually went under contract 1 – 2 months earlier so we’re always looking back in time.

Attached Homes

• New listings were down 35% to 642 homes which is a slight improvement
• Contract activity was down 30% to 328
• Inventory in absolute terms was down 15% to 4957 homes
• Inventory in relative terms was up from 12.4 weeks of supply to 15.1 weeks
• Market times only shaved off one day, dropping from 76 days last year to 75 days – barely a difference.

Illinois Real Estate Showing Activity Is Back To Normal

One of the key metrics that can tell us how strong the Chicago real estate market is is the number of showings. Unfortunately, I only have access to the Chicago specific data at the monthly level but I really need much more timely information. I do have access to Illinois data on almost a daily basis in the graph below, which is a little bit funky. All the data is shown relative to the first calendar week of the year. However, it’s close enough for government work and seems to indicate that after a huge drop in mid-March it has returned to about the same level as last year.

Showing activity should get even better starting Friday since we were just notified that they are lifting the ban on showing tenant occupied units then.

Illinois showing activity seems to have returned to normal despite less inventory available

#RealEstate #ChicagoRealEstate #Coronavirus

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.

WTEVE and Bebop Heartthrob have quietly been making moves on the Soundcloud rap scene for years, but have always flown under the radar despite their unwavering consistency. With their new single, “FADING,” they sound sharper than ever, once again demonstrating why they deserve to be a household name within indie rap circles.

Heartthrob’s production is airy and lo-fi, with some ethereal guitar lines and off-kilter percussion creating a nocturnal atmosphere. Things intensify towards the middle of this track, with some heavy bass and psychedelic synth lines carrying WTEVE’s emotive delivery.

WTEVE’s vocal performance makes for a heartfelt, solitary affair. He matches the dark instrumentation with some self-deprecating, reflective lyrics, touching on loneliness and fatherhood from the lens of a man still struggling with the scars inflicted from past mistakes. If anything, “FADING” is a scathing self-critique from an artist who desperately wants to get out of his own head, but has no escape route.

“FADING” is a shining example of what happens when artist have a desire to paint with darker colors, and are allotted a canvas to do so. The pain is real here, both in the eerie production work and the sense of complete dejection in the lyrics. Despite having been together for so long now, WTEVE and Bebop Heartthrob continue to evolve together as a duo, reaching new heights with their newest release.

“FADING” is now available on Soundcloud. Stream it here: https://soundcloud.com/wtevebaker/fading-prod-bebop-heartthrob

With most sports around the world on pause, revisit iconic sports moments from the past to help fill that void.

Appearing on the Sports Uncovered podcast, ‘I’m Back,’ Tim Hardaway, Rod Higgins and Chris Mullin talk about the time Michael Jordan joined the Golden State Warriors’ practice in secret before his big return to basketball.

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The sports world has been put on hold since mid-March, but optimism of returns for many professional leagues in America is growing. The first one to officially announce the dates of a return was the NWSL.

The league announced a month-long tournament set to start on June 27 on Wednesday. The tournament, dubbed the NWSL Challenge Cup, features all nine teams heading to Utah to play at the Real Monarchs’ Zions Bank Stadium in suburban Salt Lake City.

Seeing the German Bundesliga return has been a fun return to live sports and seeing live sports from American clubs would be a big step. The NWSL is hoping to get extra attention as the first American league to return. Commissioner Lisa Baird has been bullish as she has made the media rounds following the announcement.

"𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣'𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧."

Hear @NWSL Commissioner @lisainog's full conversation with @TMeola1 & @BrianDunseth on #CounterAttack starting at 5:00pm ET! pic.twitter.com/u8qHatghje

— SiriusXM FC 157 ⚽️📻 (@SiriusXMFC) May 27, 2020

Baird signed on as NWSL commissioner on Feb. 27. She was really thrown into the fire with  a crisis scenario in her first month on the job. Making this tournament happen will be a feather in her cap if it materializes as planned.

Being the first American pro sports league to start up is going to be a nice boost, although the soccer world will be humming along before the NWSL starts up. Not only will the Bundesliga be wrapping up its season, but La Liga is planning to come back around June 11, the Premier League is set for June 17 and Serie A is on track for a June 20 return.

The soccer calendar will be packed by the time the NWSL returns on June 27. While they will be the only game in town as far as American pro team sports and the only major women’s league to return, soccer fans won’t be short on options. How much of a boost the NWSL will get from being relatively early to return remains to be seen.

One main factor in how the league was able to start quickly is that there are just nine teams. It’s a smaller operation, which means fewer housing options and training facilities were necessary, among other things.

The tournament format includes a four-game “regular season” to seed teams for an eight-team playoff. That means every team is guaranteed four games and only the last place team won’t make the playoffs. The final is set for July 26, which means the finalists will play seven matches in about a month. That’s going to test the depth and fitness of these teams. Maintaining fitness during this stoppage won’t have been easy.

It should be fun to watch, even if just for the World Cup-like format.

On the less serious side, let’s start the Sam Kerr to the Red Stars loan push now. Kerr left the Red Stars after the 2019 season to join Chelsea. The Women’s Super League in England canceled the rest of its season and wouldn’t start back up until September under a normal schedule.

Let’s get Kerr back on the Red Stars for the month-long tournament. She’s probably anxious to get playing and the Red Stars would surely have her. Plus, she can be back to Chelsea by the start of training camp, and potentially be in better shape for the start of the next WSL season. Just sayin’…

For that matter, if there are players who opt out of the NWSL tournament for whatever reason, let’s seek out some notable internationals who want to play. Let’s get some ringers in here.

A couple years ago I wrote comprehensive NFL uniform reviews and made a tier list to put them in.

Part 1 of these NFL uniform reviews will be explaining the criteria and the visual concepts of football uniforms. Then we’ll review teams in the awful and bad categories. I even got some help from Noah Qehzy will also provide a second opinion and show off some of his NFL uniform concepts.

Part 2 will release with the teams in the close and good category in about a week.

100,000 Americans are dead.

Donald Trump on January 22~“We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”

I don’t blame Donald Trump for the coronavirus. I do blame him for not taking it seriously on that date. I do blame him for ignoring the guideline left for his administration on how to combat a pandemic. I do blame him for not listening to medical experts on the subject.

Donald Trump on February 15~“And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”

I don’t blame Donald Trump for the coronavirus. I do blame him for thinking that it would just go away. I do blame him for not knowing how a pandemic works…how it spreads. I blame him was wasting time before doing anything to stop the pandemic. I blame him for the thousands of lives that could have been saved.

Donald Trump on April 17~“LIBERATE MINNESOTA”, “LIBERATE MICHIGAN”, “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd amendment. It is under siege!”

I don’t blame Donald Trump for the coronavirus. I don’t blame him for wanting to get back to normal and having people get back to work.. Everyone wants that. I do blame him for tweeting out “liberate” one day after his administration set the guidelines on how to open up the country safely. I do blame him for pressuring states, especially southern red states, to reopen weeks before they’re ready. I do blame him for the spikes in illnesses and deaths in those states. I do blame him for the illnesses and deaths in those states yet to come.

Donald Trump on May 15~“I just want to make something clear. It’s very important. Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back. And we’re starting a process.”

I don’t blame Donald Trump for the coronavirus. I do blame him for people not wearing masks. I do blame him for the large gatherings of people in places like Lake Geneva and the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. I blame him for making people think that this is over and we’re back to normal. I blame him for people going out and putting their health and lives at risk. I blame him for those people putting more vulnerable people’s health and lives at risk. I blame him because he said we’re back…and we’re not…not even close.

Donald Trump on May 26~For all of the political hacks out there, if I hadn’t done my job well, & early, we would have lost 1 1/2 to 2 Million People, as opposed to the 100,000 plus that looks like will be the number. That’s 15 to 20 times more than we will lose. I shut down entry from China very early! One person lost to this invisible virus is too much, it should have been stopped at its source, China, but I acted very quickly, and made the right decisions.

I don’t blame Donald Trump for the coronavirus. I do blame him for his lies. I blame him for not taking responsibility for anything. I blame him for his lack of leadership. I blame him for everything he did and didn’t do that has led to all these deaths. I blame him for what is going to happen when the second wave hit and we won’t be ready to handle it. I blame him for not thinking one hundred thousand lives lost is a huge thing. I blame him for not having the empathy to console those who have lost family members or friends. I blame him for the future thousands of needless deaths.

I don’t blame Donald Trump for the coronavirus, but….

100,000 Americans are dead.

Related Post: “Let’s take a road trip to Lake Geneva”

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Hey, there! It’s late Wednesday night and I’d hoped by now that I’d a nice big list of all the Illinois-side-of-the-line brewers and bars doing the socially-distant reopening this weekend. But then I had 3 extra hours of work from home tonight. Gotta watch my priorities: writing about beer while drinking beer, or making extra money which can be used to buy more beer… Hmm…

So I have a start on the establishments that have announced their weekend plans. I’ll keep adding to this list, though I’m sure I’ll miss some. Many places may not be opening because they have not got space for outdoor seating, or they’re still working with their home towns and guidelines. So if you plans on going out to these places, please do check their websites for all the restrictions they might require, especially if they can only seat people who reserve in advance.

And please follow the rules about wearing your mask. You might be able to take it of while eating or drinking. Don’t be a dick and ruin it for the rest of the state.

Friday, May 29

Saturday, May 30

Sunday, May 31

As the horns section hums out the harmonies in a cumbia, my mother asks me in Spanish with a wonder that makes her smile, “How is it that music is made?”

I wonder why she doesn’t ask me in English if this is the language she and I usually use.  Instead she asks, ¿Cómo harán la música?

The conjugation in her old question about music makes the answer seem imminent.

I shake my head, keep driving, listen to the cumbia.  I wonder how so many pieces fall in place together.  Some of the music we hear goes back so far; my mother contemplates how musicians learned the melodies by ear. 

Last year this time, I told my mother I bought a guitar.  My grandfather, who died when my mom was ten, played guitar and sang.  He lived the life of a musician, unfortunately.

“We’ll see if my grandfather’s musical genes skipped me,” I joked.

I want to play a bolero or “California Dreamin’.”  But the finger picking goes too fast. I need to stare at the guitar’s neck so my finger lands on the right fret, on the right string, at the right time. Instead, I want to look carefree.

“You’ll learn.  Just practice and practice,” my mother says motioning her hands as if strumming a guitar.  She smiles.

When my mom needs a break from caring for my father, I’ll take her for a ride. “C’mon, Mom,” I always say in Spanish, pa’ que te dé el aire.”  So the air, literally, gives to her.

During the pandemic, we can’t go many places.  So we drive: on the expressway, up and down Lake Shore Drive, through the South Loop past the spot where she dined on steaks, big salads, and baked potatoes with my father in the 60s.  Through DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus.

I point to buildings I learned in.  Some, like my graduate school building, replaced by expensive architecture.  I think about how I almost cancelled my opportunity to start that master’s program because of a bad financial decision I made at twenty-six.  I sat at my mother’s kitchen table.  I tried to hold everything in, close to me like a guitar.  But I let it go; I cried.  

My mother hugged me and hugged me and said she would take out as many loans as she needed to help me through.  Thankfully, she didn’t have to. I found a way out. 

In that kitchen, my mother taught me how to dance: to cumbias, to norteñas.  She played cassettes at night and danced with me when I was ten.

My mom says she misses the hugs during the pandemic.  “I know, Mom,” I say and pat her shoulder while wearing my mask in the kitchen of her new home.  Sometimes, I give in.  While wearing my mask, I hold my breath, and give her a quick embrace when I say good bye.

A few years ago in this kitchen, she showed me what she wrote after seeing a photo of her mother: “Sometimes, when you see a photo of someone you lost, don’t you wish you could jump in and give one more hug?”

At night, I play guitar. 

Mostly a string at a time, a simple melody in some classic song the guitar app helps me strum.  The rhythm of my right thumb sometimes lands a half beat late or early.  The high string tings; the low one hums.  Each note, I tell myself, must resonate, must fade into the other the way memories flow in that space behind our eyes, each one elapsing into the next.

I catch myself tensing, not breathing when I practice. Then I relax, remind myself each note must release itself like breath. 

The chords, I strum back to back, one beat in between.  G major reminds me of parties where my mother sang.  C major sounds like the start of something.  E major announces a change.  F major sounds like something needs to follow.

With the capo on the fourth fret, I strum the chords and think of incantations—soothing ones, not wicked–like a lullaby that soothes us to our soul, something sung in our mother’s voice moments before we fall asleep.

Strumming the guitar, its sounds vibrating at my core, I fall back into the earliest memory of my mother.

She must have been around thirty, dressed in a long gown, a red one, her wrist adorned with a broad bracelet.  Her hair swirled up and, maybe, she pinned flowers to a curl.  At the end of the night at a some party, when I was maybe four, I must have scratched my ear and moped.  I crawled into her lap where she swayed me in her arms.  

She continued talking.  She agreed.  She laughed.  She shared her words.  With my head resting against her bosom, the vibrations of her voice, her joy soothed me until I disappeared into myself with sleep comforted by a rhythm I sometimes hear in music made from some memory long ago.

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