Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 226
I am sorry to report Hinsdale once again has fallen short of the North Shore. One of those fancy "W" towns - Winnetka - beat out Hinsdale for the No. 1 spot on the latest list published by HomeSnacks. What is HomeSnacks, you ask? We're not entirely sure, but it produces lots of lists - safest states, most dangerous states, even dumbest states. You can read all of these lists on its Facebook page (which contains no information about who is preparing them or why). And what does...
When I heard of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, I mentally ticked off the same list many others did - Lincoln, JFK, RFK Jr., Reagan. Then I heard a news report about an attempt on former President Teddy Roosevelt's life as he sought another term. I was surprised to hear about an assassination attempt that I didn't remember learning about in school. Then I did a little research online and discovered the list of assassination attempts on presidents...
“Hope you and the family had a terrific holiday weekend,” Susan O’Byrne emailed me Sunday along with her column to run in today’s paper. “We became the new home of three pet rats and a rather large rat cage,” I responded. “Not sure that qualifies as terrific!” Susan was much more enthusiastic about the pet rats than I was, although I have to say they are growing on me. Ainsley brought the rats home July 3 after she and a friend got them for free from a lady outside a pet s...
A lot of Facebook posts will tell you what books you should be reading right now. I tend to look at these posts the same way I used to look at summer reading lists when I was in high school. I wanted to read all of the books so I could be as prepared as possible for the first day of school. But I’m not in school anymore, and so I don’t have to be tortured with the incomprehensible prose of William’s Faulkner’s “Light in August.” Nor do I have to find regionally appropriate...
Church has been a part of my life since before I can remember. And since I haven’t had to move from town to town over the years, I’ve been able to attend only four churches since I was a kid. The one I spent the most time at, and the one where I experienced the most spiritual growth, is the First United Methodist Church of Western Springs. I attended my last service there last month. Actually it was the final service for the church at 4300 Howard Ave., which started in 188...
I am sorry to report Hinsdale once again has fallen short of the North Shore. One of those fancy "W" towns - Winnetka - beat out Hinsdale for the No. 1 spot on the latest list published by HomeSnacks. What is HomeSnacks, you ask? We're not entirely sure, but it produces lots of lists - safest states, most dangerous states, even dumbest states. You can read all of these lists on its Facebook page (which contains no information about who is preparing them or why). And what does...
The newspaper business, like many others, is seasonal. Our schedule mirrors the school year in many ways, with our busiest times occurring while classes - and high school sports - are in session. And then summer rolls around, and with it comes a slightly different to-do list. One of my responsibilities each June is to thank a group of contributing columnists who have been writing for us for the past two years and to invite interested writers to apply for one of the openings....
I can't make up my mind most days whether I find cicadas fascinating or disgusting. I can't deny, though, that they provide a great writing opportunity. I wrote my first cicada story in 1990 for The Doings. My father-in-law, John Litster, was a letter carrier in town and had recorded interviews with homeowners on his route about the emergence of these rare insects. Their comments were hilarious. Seventeen years later, in 2007, before this paper had even turned a year old, I wr...
Amy Owens had undergone a cancer diagnosis, a total mastectomy and chemotherapy when I first met her in 2007. She had generously agreed to meet with me once a month for a year as she recovered from a rare form of breast cancer, invasive triple negative ductile carcinoma, as part of our Making a Difference partnership with Wellness House. I talked to her again in September 2009, about a year after my story was published and days before she celebrated her second year of being...
The Mother's Day images we see always show the perfect celebration. Handsome husbands present their expectant wives with a stunning piece of jewelry. Gorgeous young children bring breakfast in bed to their beautiful mom (who looks like she's been up for an hour doing her hair and makeup). Multi-generational families enjoy fabulous brunch spreads in amazing outdoor gardens. We all know that's not the reality many women will experience on Sunday. Some will face their Mother's...
I'll never forget a phone call I got one December when I was a kid. It was an elf calling from the North Pole! My own personal elf, he told me. I asked his name and was surprised when he said "Wee Wee." "Wee Wee?" I asked, wondering if he had a bed-wetting problem. He explained that was his name because he was a wee little elf. He told me a bit about Santa's preparations for the big day and after a short talk, hung up. I was too little to know that Santa's real elves don't...
I couldn't help but notice the headline of a Poynter article in a recent "E&P" digital newsletter: "AI is already reshaping newsrooms, AP study finds." The real shock was in the subhead: "Despite ethical concerns, nearly 70 percent of newsroom staffers recruited for an Associated Press survey say they're using generative AI to create content." As I'm sure you might guess, I fall into the 30 percent who are not using generative AI. Apparently, others are using it to create soci...
I was really looking forward to having dinner with a friend last Friday night. My husband and daughter were both going to be out, and I was excited for the chance to relax and catch up with her. I was all ready to go when I decided I had time to throw a load a laundry into the wash before I left the house. That way I wouldn’t have to stay up late waiting for the clothes to come out of the dryer. I headed downstairs to the laundry room and was still sorting clothes when I h...
I really wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the eclipse Monday — until I realized my 1:30 p.m. interview at village hall about Restaurant Week (insert shameless plug here — see story on Page 17) would end at just about the right time for me to join the Hinsdale Public Library’s viewing party on the front lawn of the Memorial Building. So I headed outside, picked up an Eclipse Shade (all the actual glasses were gone already) and took a peek at the sun. It was pretty cool to...
I'll never forget the day I went in to meet with Ainsley's fifth-grade teacher at the start of the school year. The teacher asked if I had anything I wished to share, and I provided what I believed to be an honest assessment of my then 10-year-old daughter. "Wow. That was really grounded," she replied. I was surprised. I wondered if she meant that I was an exceptionally observant parent who had offered a particularly accurate portrait of her child. But I think what she really...
My senior year in college, as part of a January "short term" group trip to France and England, we traveled by bus to Wales to read William Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" at Tintern Abbey. I'm not a huge fan of poetry in general or Wordsworth in particular, but the memory of that day has stayed with me. Last week I had a similar experience - this time, set to catchy tunes. Dan and I took Ainsley to Liverpool and London to see the stomping grounds of her favorite band, The...
I first met Cristina Henriquez in 2007. I wanted to do a story on a new mom for the issue before Mother’s Day, and she fit the criteria. As often happens when interviewing Hinsdale residents, I discovered there was so much more to the story. In addition to giving birth to her daughter, Sofia, Cristina had published her first book of short stories and a novella the previous year. Since that time, she has published three more novels. And her latest — “The Great Divide” — recen...
Many Women's History Month pieces focus on women whose names we all know - pioneers like Marie Curie or Rosa Parks. Or they might highlight less prominent figures like Rosalind Franklin, the British scientist whose work led to the Noble Prize-winning discovery of the double helix, the credit for which went to a group of men. I'm taking a different approach and saluting women who, during the time they lived or worked here, left their mark on Hinsdale. And on me. • Ly Hotchkin I...
The 96th Academy Awards will be presented Sunday night. And, as usual, I will have not seen most of the films up for awards. I am a big fan of one of the best picture nominees this year — “Barbie” — which also earned nominations for best supporting actor and actress, a pair of nominations for original songs and nods for costume design, production design and adapted screenplay. I even saw this one in a theater. I appreciated the performances of Annette Bening (best actress...
Signs provide us with all kinds of information. "Slow, children playing" lets us know kids reside on a particular block. (Since kids live on many blocks that don't have such signs, these warnings also might indicate worried parents live on the block as well.) Signs indicating downtown Hinsdale and the Robbins Park subdivision are on the National Register of Historic Places demonstrate the importance of the village's past to Hinsdaleans - or at least to those who are...
I'm not worried about the world ending in a nuclear explosion or an alien invasion. The robots are what scares me. I am not the only person who worries about robots taking over the world, a quick Google search confirmed. I've been reassured by those who say that robots and AI lack the desires and motivations - say for world domination - that humans do. Others point out that robots and AI are programmed by people and operate within those set limits. But we've all seen the...
Which Super Bowl commercials were your favorites on Sunday? I loved Christopher Walken in BMW's "Talking Like Walken" ad, in which everyone from the valet to the guy at the drive through to his tailor offers their own impersonation of his unique voice. "There's only one Christopher Walken and one ultimate driving machine. The rest are just imitations," the announcer says, in his own Walken-esque style. The ad reminded me of one of my all-time favorite Saturday Night Live...
I wouldn’t describe myself as a huge Taylor Swift fan — although I do know all the words to most of the songs on “1989,” as it was the only music we listened to driving through Colorado on a family vacation in 2015. Of course, you don’t have to be a huge fan to know something about her. Sunday night she claimed her fourth Album of the Year Grammy, making history by surpassing the likes of three-time winners Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder. She’s won a total of 14 G...
“If the story you’re telling doesn’t serve you, tell a different story.” I typed that while taking my morning walk and listening to my current favorite podcast, “Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris.” I wanted to remember the quote to share it with someone, which I did. And I thought I might want to listen to the episode again. If only I had written down which episode I was listening to at the time! I can never remember where I’ve heard things. There I go. Telling a story about...
I'll admit it. I joined a Ted Lasso Fans Community page on Facebook a while back. I was hoping the posts would share lots of great inspirational quotes from Ted. And there are some. But many of the posts are from fans - fanatics, in the truest sense - asking what book Trent Crimm carried through the office in Episode X Season Y or explaining the double in/double out rule during Ted's dart game against Rupert or wondering if anyone else caught the nod to "Hamilton." Oh, and way...
