Nine cabins at the Prairie Lake Campground have electricity but no plumbing. Each cabin sleeps six and is within walking distance of the campground’s shower house. Go to www.reserveamerica.com to make reservations for the cabins or camping sites. ALL PHOTOS BY BRENT BOHLEN A long name but a short hop from Springfield, the Jim Edgar […]
Community & Lifestyle
Posted inArts & Culture
Golden pond scum
I went to meet my girlfriend’s 90-year-old father. They have a conflicted relationship. He doesn’t “agree” with his daughter’s homosexuality, generally looks down on women, and believes they should be helpful, nice, pretty and married to men. When we got to his upscale senior living facility a few hours away, I jokingly asked my girlfriend […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Tease for two
I’m dating a wonderful guy I’m totally in love with. He’s always looked up to his older brother, a very attractive guy who’s a real lady’s man. I’ve found myself behaving in some unsettling ways when we hang out with his brother, like fixing myself up beforehand like I’ve got a big date. I realized […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Social notworking
My 40-something younger brother has been “friending” my hot female friends on Facebook, women I have befriended in real life whom he’s never even met! I said nothing at first. Then, one of these women posted a photo of herself, and I commented on it in a flirtatious way. Up pops my brother, commenting on […]
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Office despot
I just started a new job. My boss and I were having a meeting, and he started asking me about my personal life – whether I have a boyfriend, who I live with. No biggie. He then began grilling me as to why I don’t have a boyfriend and whether I’ve ever had one. I […]
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Another brick in the wallow
I’ve missed countless opportunities because I fail to speak up in the moment. A pretty girl smiles at me on the bus. Ten minutes later, I will wish I’d stayed on the bus and struck up a conversation. The same thing happens with business opportunities. At the critical moment I need to act, I go […]
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Magical Spring Green
In the first act, an evil-looking insect perches on an actress’s arm. Later in the play, bats take flight during a heated argument and finally a small plane drones overhead as the actors reveal a terrible secret. At the American Players Theatre, the outdoor setting is part of the drama, in this case a performance […]
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Going code turkey
I broke up with a boyfriend a few years ago because I wasn’t getting what I wanted from him. I’d give him subtle cues, and when he didn’t respond in the ways I was hoping for, I blamed him for being thickheaded. I’ve ended many a relationship because of this. The dudes didn’t have a […]
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Buy meets girl
My previous relationship was passionate but was with an emotionally abusive man. I’ve been dating a new man for five months. I wasn’t initially attracted to him, but he ended up sweeping me off my feet because he’s the most generous man I’ve ever met. He’s all about me. He goes out of his way […]
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Till dead end do us part
I’ve been separated from my husband for two years. (Our divorce isn’t yet final.) A terrific man sought me out when he was breaking up with his girlfriend, but then he got back together with her and said we could only be friends. We still get together at times, and he told me, “I’m just […]
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Springfield’s first hanging
Nathanial Van Noy holds the dubious double distinction of being both the first murderer in Sangamon County as well as the first person to be hanged in Springfield. But it wasn’t the murder itself that made him infamous; it was the bizarre and gruesome spectacle of his hanging, when Van Noy tried to cheat death. […]
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When hurry met Sally
I planned a cross-country trip to introduce my girlfriend of five months to my family. She just sprang on me that she wants my family to meet “all of” her, which includes her 9-year-old daughter. My family knows she has a child, and I really enjoy her daughter, but I’m really not ready to introduce […]
