The wailing and gnashing of teeth continues unabated at the Strib and other print publications these days. A report from ABC, the company that audits the circulation of the Strib and most other daily newspapers, just noted that most daily newspapers’ circulation was down again. The Strib was down over six percent. Editor Nancy Barnes … Read more
I bought this Roadtrek II, “the motorhome that drives like a van,” from a private seller (I want to say his name was Dan) three years ago. As transportation and sometime residence, the Roadtrek II has performed yeomanly. It is only because my mental health seems to be calling with some urgency for full-time non-vehicular … Read more
Things changed. National Guardsmen roamed the subway terminals now in their fatigues and black berets, brand-new assault rifles cradled in their arms. The homeless were suddenly visible again. Irony had reached the far end of its arc—Johnny Cash was covering Depeche Mode’s homage to Johnny Cash. It was a confusing time for me, after my … Read more
She says, everything happens somewhere. Directs those eyes like lighthouse beams someplace west. Doesn’t find what she needs. Looks at her feet. What she is out here: alone. It’s not so bad. When he landed he was only sixteen and piloting a light craft. One wing bent earthward and the old man slumping. Alone among … Read more
A long time ago, a lifetime ago, really, I rented a lovely summer house by the sea. Not exactly by the sea, but close enough, and it had a big pool, and five bedrooms and a sunroom and an English box garden and you could see the ocean from a widow’s walk on the roof. … Read more
Every Christmas when I was a child, much of my extended family would gather at my grandparents’ farm outside a small town in Illinois. My own family would usually arrive early in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, and many other relatives who lived nearby would come out to the farm for dinner that night. My … Read more
More than a composer, Mary Ellen Childs devised a neat trick to lure skeptical listeners to her contemporary chamber music concerts. The Northeast Minneapolis resident is known nationally in avant-garde music circles for supplementing cutting-edge sonic experiences with any number of visual hooks. With Dream House, for instance, which premiered at the Southern Theater in … Read more
Imagine you have a medical condition that causes you to lose weight. And miraculously, the more you eat, the more you lose. Pastry for breakfast, pasta with clam sauce for lunch, a five-course dinner with crusty bread and any dessert you like, plus snacks in between — the sweeter the better. Follow this diet and … Read more
Special thanks: Concept, productions, and styling by Janine Ersfeld Photography by Aaron Smith Art direction by Jessica Coulter and Kristin Harper Layout and design by Kristin Garcia Editorial by Christy DeSmith and Julie Caniglia Hair and makeup by Details Salon and Mimi Luberscheimer Men’s makeup by Leilani Baker Assistant to Ersfeld: Anne Parr Locations: … Read more