Category: Uncategorized

In containers, creeping charlie is not a weed

In containers, creeping charlie is not a weed
“My definition of a weed,” the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Tim Johnson wrote in his Chicago Tribune gardening column, “is a plant that is growing where it is not wanted.” I had started to compose a post that began the same way: The best definition of a weed is anything that grows where you don’t want... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
Monday at 6:50 pm
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Leaving the Catholic Church but not leaving it behind

Every member of my family but me is still Catholic. Some liberal friends remain Catholic as well, considering the church their parish and not the institution. I couldn’t do it. I hesitated to write a post on this topic because I didn’t want to offend anyone I care about, but nothing I say can be... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
September 11, 2018 at 10:01 am
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Hometown prison opened for tours

“When did you get out?” We Joliet natives were used to getting that question. Two prisons weren’t my hometown’s only claims to fame. Joliet had the first junior college in the nation. Basketball star George Mikan, actress Mercedes McCambridge, children’s author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, and singer-songwriter Lionel Richie were among the luminaries with Joliet roots.... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
September 3, 2018 at 8:21 am
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Time for another Chicago to-do list

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about having been to only two of the places on Chicago magazine’s 2018 best of Chicago list. I score better with the self-made list I blogged about in May 2016. Now that I’ve gone to a Chicago Sky game (August 19), all but one of the things on... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
August 27, 2018 at 10:47 am
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Love pizza? Check out pizza museum

How many different types of pizza have you eaten? According to Kendall Bruns, there are 16 styles of pizza, and Chicagoans can sample all but one of them right here. The 40-year-old Chicagoan will rattle off restaurants serving coal-fired or Neapolitan or whatever pizza style you favor. But don’t expect him to tell you his... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
August 21, 2018 at 9:32 am
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What does it mean to know a city?

Best of Chicago features — like that in the August Chicago magazine — make me feel I don’t get out enough. Of the 57 places highlighted, I’ve been to two and heard of three others. More than 90 percent of this year’s Chicago bests are off my radar. How is it possible that I’ve lived... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
August 13, 2018 at 10:58 am
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An indelicate topic: Is cat poop a health risk to humans?

The headline on Advocate Health Care’s daily health email — “Is poop everywhere?” — made me chuckle. I live with a cat that has inflammatory bowel disease. I had just finished walking around with a solution of Nature’s Miracle, a sponge, and a scrub brush when the email arrived. I wrote about Lizzy a couple of... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
August 6, 2018 at 10:33 am
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Living on the Wabash Arts Corridor

The year I moved to the South Loop, 2013, Wabash Avenue from Roosevelt north about half a mile — the very area where I live — was slated to become an arts corridor. Before then the only tourists likely to go to South Wabash were headed to Buddy Guy’s Legends. An excess of parking lots... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
July 31, 2018 at 9:14 am
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A struggle to restore a dead smartphone

This is a technology horror story with blame to go around. For the nearly two weeks I was without a working phone, I must have spent half of that time trying to figure out what had happened to my Moto G4 Play and to bring it back to life. The ordeal started on July 4. Sitting... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
July 17, 2018 at 2:28 pm
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Did red yeast rice lower my cholesterol?

I suspect that most Americans’ attitude toward Chinese herbal remedies is similar to mine: We won’t pooh-pooh curatives backed by centuries of testimonials, but we wouldn’t turn to them first for treatment of a serious condition. At least that was what I thought before my total cholesterol dropped 23 points in a year, and the only change... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
July 9, 2018 at 4:18 pm
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