Grace Smith

Vol. 1: Jay Leno Called Me on My Phone My original intent in going to LA wasn’t to stalk Jay Leno; it hadn’t even crossed my mind. I usually try to refrain from stalking anybody. All I wanted was 11 fun-filled days of warm weather. The highlight was to be a weekend stay in Hermosa […]

I told you last week I was going to Speed Date, and I did. ONE DAY BEFORE SPEED DATING: What questions do I ask? A friend said she’d rattle off a list — Pepsi or Coke? Rolling Stones or the Beatles? Beer or wine? That sounded good. But I thought about it, and decided the […]

I wasn’t going to write about dating. I feel that there are more interesting things to talk about other than relationships. And besides, people don’t want to hear about them, do they? Yeah, I realized they do. So here goes: I had my first date when I was 16. I had to drive, because he […]

If “Friends” at 10 p.m. is a re-run I’ve seen more than eight or ten times, I’ll watch the Channel 20 News. And when they get to Gus Gordon, I have one tiny pang of regret in my heart. No, I don’t yearn for Gus. He seems quite talented and cheerful, but this is something […]

How’re those resolutions coming? Diet going well? I thought I’d do some actual research this week and count the diet books at the bookstore, but I quickly got bored. There were about 300 different selections. Some of my favorite titles include Life Without Bread (I, personally, don’t think life would be worth living without bread, […]

I guess it’s a good time to reflect upon the past year. It was an OK year for me, all-in-all. I didn’t get killed when my mom tried to capsize her fishing boat by crashing into a tsunami and I fell backward and hit my head on the bottom of the boat. I organized all […]

Springfield painters Thom Whalen and Kevin Veara met 15 years ago when they were both Fine Arts undergraduates at Eastern Illinois University. They got to know each other, driving back and forth together to college, but took different career paths after they graduated. Starting in January, they’ll be back together in a classroom, teaching at […]

I think Christmas is really all about treats. Not that this is a bad thing; on the contrary, I would be most happy on an all-fudge-and-eggnog diet. I attended a (very glittery) party last night where they had an open bar, and many people were imbibing many delectable cocktails. But I found a box of […]

Mom says one good thing about cold weather is that the bottle of water she keeps in her car stays icy-cold. Who wants icy-cold water when you get into the car after being in the icy-cold coldness, is my question. My biggest fear about moving back to Spfld. after years and years in warmer climes […]

The only family Christmas tradition I remember vividly from my childhood is piling into the car and driving around looking at lights while my brother and I fought in the back seat. I can’t remember what we were fighting about, but I’m sure it was all his fault. We’ve never been so big on tradition […]

Not many days left till Christmas, have you bought anything yet? Way back in September, my friend Pam was talking about gifts she’d already purchased. Christmas was nowhere on my radar back then. But I’m starting to panic a little bit. It didn’t used to be like this. When I was a kid, I’d make […]

For the past few weeks the house has been filled with the chaos of construction: clouds of dust, floor littered with debris, no room to set anything anywhere. Powdered sugar dust, that is. Sticky floors, candy scattered hither and yon. We’ve been busy, Mom, my niece Mercedes and I, creating the perfect gingerbread house. A […]