Dog Day Morning

Like catchers, M. Night Shyamalan and lame pick-up artists, I like signs. Funny ones, at least. And it seems like there are no shortage of those in Chicago. This morning, while walking through Wrigleyville, I spotted another one — several, actually — plastered on the front doors of apartment buildings. In one line of hand-written […]

Devin Hester’s playbook is ridiculous

On Wednesday — when he should have been at training camp — the Chicago Bears’ kick-returner-extraordinaire-slash-wide-receiver-in-training Devin Hester was instead on the horn with the Chicago Tribune, telling reporter Vaughn McClure, “I can’t go out and play this year making $445,000. “Come on, man.” After all, that would be … ahem, ridiculous. Now, while I think most people can eke out a […]

Spellbound

Forwarded by my mother (a retired English teacher) to me (a “semi-retired” journalist) … Spell Chequer Eye halve a spelling chequer, It came with my pea sea, It plainly marques four my revue Miss steaks eye kin knot sea. Eye strike a key and type a word And weight four it two say Weather eye […]

A new California angel

Longtime Wisch List readers dating back to my days in Ottawa – or those of you who own my book – likely will recall the columns I wrote in 2003 about my irrepressible pal Mark Wiebe, a wheelchair-bound high school student who weighed just 40 pounds but carried more weight than an army of men in […]

I’ve been busy …

I’ve been busy. Busy working, yes. But also busy with Happy Hour (hello, Durkin’s). And busy with Cubs games (goodbye, White Sox). Busy with concerts (on Southport). And busy with movies (at Village North, a quaint little place in Rogers Park). Soon enough, it’s likely I’ll be busy with street fests, North Avenue Beach and who […]