Splendor in the grass cuttings
I married a domineering man 20 years my senior. We have two college-age kids. I’ve spent the past 22 years (half my life) navigating his ill-temperedness and high expectations, and my life is often chaotic and unhappy. For nine months, I’ve been infatuated with my super-hot 25-year-old co-worker, “Dax.” I’ve tried to distance myself, but…
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Presidential race bloopers trickle down
There’s not a lot that a state legislative candidate can do when his or her party’s presidential nominee starts to tank. The presidential race drives turnout to the point where down-ballot candidates must struggle mightily to rise above the noise and get their messages heard by distracted voters. And since there are no statewide races…
two by elspeth at age ten
I love kissing kittensunder their arms it’s so lovely tosniff a cat who’sbeen rollingin strawberries
Neeson caters to his audience in Taken 2
Having stumbled upon a new career path with Taken, Liam Neeson has become the action star of the moment, parlaying the success of that film – which grossed a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide – into a series of uneven action movies (The Grey – good, Unknown – not so much) that have elevated…
Pleasant surprises abound in Boom
The last thing I expected when walking in to see Kevin James’ latest, Here Comes the Boom, was to be surprised by it. Wouldn’t you know it – I was – and pleasantly at that. The film is unabashedly patriotic without overdoing it. It speaks to the all too prevalent problem of underfunded public schools…
SAVING AFTER-SCHOOL
After a missed grant deadline raised the possibility that several schools in Springfield wouldn’t be able to host a popular after-school program, the Springfield-based Family Service Center stepped up to save the day. The Boys and Girls Club of Central Illinois was apparently late in submitting its application for grant money to fund the 21st…
Hell in a hen basket
Seven months ago, when I met my boyfriend, I had no idea he had so many female friends. I’m 26; he’s 30. I understand having opposite-sex friends to get perspective on dating, but he’s like one of their girlfriends. He gabs on the phone with them constantly, and they treat him like their little teddy…
Affleck’s engrossing Argo
If there’s a recurring theme in the three films Ben Affleck has directed, it’s that he’s fascinated with how characters react when they’re trapped. Gone Baby Gone dealt with the long-term ramifications of an act done in kindness that ultimately results in inescapable and tragic consequences. The Town concerned itself with people trapped by their…
Minute perception and the cosmic
Shadows and Starlight by John Knoepfle. 84 pages, $16.68. Indian Paintbrush Poets, 2012. Few writers remain active in their ninth decade, but John Knoepfle is one of those few; his Shadows and Starlight, a new collection of poems, places all of his poetic qualities on display, melding invention, humor and insight into a compelling perspective…
America Behind Barbed Wire
America has a dark little secret. We imprisoned 120,000 fellow citizens during World War II in U.S. concentration camps or, as some call them, internment camps. Artist Roger Shimomura tells this troubling tale through his art. As an American, albeit a Japanese-American, he lived the nightmare. As a small child, Shimomura, a third-generation American, and…
Old mother in a barrel: vinegar
Every fall I remember what it was like to come as a child to this place that’s been my home for almost 30 years: the venerable Spaulding Orchard farmhouse. It’s the first home my husband and I bought, and probably our last. It wasn’t our first choice, but after being entwined in this place for…
Coming clean
Under pressure from Illinois Times, the Village of Jerome has acknowledged that it is under federal investigation for suspected misappropriation of funds and has signaled that it will release records in the case. In a Sept. 28 letter to village trustees, Mayor Harry Stirmell wrote that federal investigators are concerned about nearly $70,000 in spending…
Volunteering doesn’t pay…or does it?
On a blustery Friday, an endless stream of people ambles into the United Way office, filling the small space with white T-shirts bearing the words “Live United.” Moments later, they’re filing back through the door and fanning out across Springfield to tackle a variety of tasks. It’s a record-breaking “Day of Action” for the United…
Scrumming in Springfield
It is easy to imagine the Springfield Celts as third-graders. These are the guys who loved dodgeball, the ones who laughed and screamed “Whoa!” when balls found their mark in particularly violent fashion, the ones who pleaded for one more game before recess ended, the ones who didn’t notice when classmates cowered or developed sore…
LINCOLN DOWN UNDER
Abraham Lincoln’s signature has shown up again in Australia, recalling a tale of piracy and what were likely the last shots of the Civil War. The news that the war was over had not reached Down Under by June 22, 1865, when the Jireh Swift, a whaling ship registered by Lincoln, was destroyed in the…
Has another public project gone off the rails?
We’ve all seen it dozens of times in movies. A railroad train is barreling down the tracks. There might be enough time – just – to bring the lumbering machine to a halt before it crashes, but that’s the only way to avoid disaster, because it’s a train, and trains can’t change direction once they…
WWI up close
The Illinois State Military Museum hosts a Great War Encampment to tell the story of the First World War.Experience trench warfare and a day in the life of the men who lived in the trenches during WWI. Reenactors in uniforms will demonstrate raids and skirmishes each day. Indoor and outdoor exhibits will amaze you if…
Mix ’n’ matching
First, let me thank Dan Usherwood of the Pleasant Plains Historical Society and all who helped make our first Clayville Folk Festival in 25 years a good beginning for many fests to come. Other than the chilly weather making viewing and performing a veritable challenge, the fest was a huge success. In a twist of…
Prescription war escalates
Citing a mental health crisis across the nation, some psychologists in Illinois want the ability to prescribe drugs. But some psychiatrists and physicians aren’t on board. It’s a battle stretching back almost two decades, but this year could be different, says RxP Illinois, a group of mental health professionals led by the Illinois Psychological Association.…
Letters to the Editor 10/11/12
UU PERSPECTIVEAs a former Catholic, I was not surprised by Bishop Paprocki’s recent public statements. In my youth, I heard similar admonishments from the pulpit. Indeed, that is one of the reasons why I left Catholicism. In hindsight, I owe that tradition much, for Catholics taught me to love like a Universalist, and Jesuits taught…
Autumn ambience
Springfield’s long love affair with the Indian Summer Festival continues this weekend, Oct. 13 and 14. Two fun-filled days are planned, and it is certain that all ages will once again flock to the fields and forest at Lincoln Memorial Garden for mouthwatering food, autumn ambience, loads of music and enjoyable activities such as pumpkin…
Talking show
Anecdotes will fly, perspectives fling as Henry Rollins joins you Thursday night, Oct. 11, at the Hoogland Center for the Arts to talk politics, mostly about the upcoming presidential election. He’ll do all the talking. You just sit back. His show, Capitalism, is not comedic, yet he will probably make you laugh. It’s not spoken…
Top dance
Savion Glover offers a tribute performance, titled Sole Sanctuary, to the art and legends of tap on Oct. 14 at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS. Dancing great Gregory Hines touted, “Savion is possibly the best tap dancer that ever lived.” That pretty much says it all. We don’t need to say that he is producer, choreographer and actor.…
Porkpie & the Northend Allstars
Born of a jam session as good bands often are, Porkpie & the Northend Allstars began when Hipbone Sam introduced Kirk Lonbom and Craig Wood at a last-Friday jam at Abe’s Southside Pub back in Sept. 2011 and suggested they play some songs with “drum junkie” Jeff Bechtel. Wood, a veteran of St. Louis blues…
Organic subsidiaries out parent conglomerates
One of the most important elections being held on Nov. 6 doesn’t even have a Democratic, Republican, Green, Libertarian or other partisan candidate on the ballot. Imagine! Yet, this statewide contest in California will likely have a huge impact on national policy and on grassroots efforts to rein in the arrogance of corporate power that’s…
For state pensions, use a scalpel not an ax
Does it make sense to slash public pensions of the lowest paid, or to cut excessive pensions at the top? If the top 70 university, legislative and judicial pensions are fatter than the state employees and teachers, why would politicians look to cut the two leanest pension systems first? I’ll tell you why, because they…
