Chicago’s Ribbon. Think of an ice rink and add to it E=MC squared cubed. It’s a secret even the citizenry of Chicago doesn’t know.
Author: N2OO2
Journalist and journalism professor.
Life alone
I’ve written about Phil before on this blog. He refuses to be called homeless although he’s slept outside without exception for almost 18 years. I took Phil’s photo last night in a snow shower while he was sleeping. The boulder looking object behind Phil is his belongings, 18 old lady push-carts under a tarp. 
Mass Transit In Chicago
Mass Transit in Chicago
The train system in Chicago is called the “El” as in elevated which is appropriate seeing the majority of the tracks are above ground. However, it’s weird not calling it the subway because everywhere I get on board requires descending, not climbing. At any rate, one of the busier stops in the city located in the “Loop.”
One of the one-percenters
Minus two degrees on Monday, January 18, just after midnight, leaning against one of the swankiest hotels in Chicago.
Most of the people who pan-handle on the streets of Chicago are not homeless. They may be drug-addicted, alcoholic or just plain broke, but the majority are not homeless. This middle-aged guy sleeps in this neighborhood regularly. It’s one of the richest zip codes in the city (60611). It was stinging cold that night. The warm-air grate he was sitting on is part of the Sofitel Hotel. A luxury hotel my any standards. Most businesses shoo the homeless away, but on very cold nights, the hotel manager lets this guy be. While certainly no grand solution, it’s one person’s way of making sure another person has another day. 
Hurricane Katrina
Unreal. 10 years ago. Hurricane Katrina. 
Chicago pride parade
Chicago Pride Parade
World Cup Champs Supported by 8,000 Chicagoans in Lincoln Park
Although separated by 2,000 miles and two time zones, thousands of Chicago soccer fans cheered on the World Cup American Champions from Lincoln Park. The U.S. Women’s team beat Japan 5-2 for their third world title. New favorite athlete name: Hope Solo.
A Country’s Colors
Lake Michigan. 4 July 2015
Nora Jean Bruso, blues singer with Mississippi roots
Kingston Mines Blues Club. Chicago. July, 2 2015.
Mississippi gave birth to the blues and graciously loaned blues singer Nora Jean Bruso to Chicago for a few decades. Bruso earned and maintains a strong fan following in Chicago. According to her biography, Bruso gets her blues fair and square. Growing up in Greenwood, Miss., her father, Bobby Lee Wallace, was a sharecropper and bluesman and her mother, Ida Lee Wallace, was a gospel singer. “In high school, Nora Jean won the West Tallahatchie High School Talent Show grand prize for singing, and she began to perform in other area schools with small groups. Realizing her opportunities for recognition and recording were limited in Mississippi, Bruso moved to Chicago in 1976 and began her professional singing career.”
Joanna Connor, Chicago Blues
Kingston Mines Blues Club. Chicago. July 2, 2015
One of Chicago’s most popular blues guitarists and vocalists, Joanna Connor came to Chicago by bus from Massachusetts and never went back. In 2014, Connor was named a reader’s choice runner up to blues legend, Buddy Guy. During her decades-long career, Connor has shared the stage with a who’s who list of blues greats. She has a weekly gig at Kingston Mines.
Ralph Braseth Dot Calm 