Grimly determined to create Happy Holidays

ChicagoNow’s Evening Blogapalooz-Hour!Here is tonight’s challenge:“Write about something you believed as a child or in your youth that turned out not to be true.” “It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” Growing up, I was sure I was going to be The Best Christmas Mother Ever. I would be baking seventeen kinds of cookies to share... Read more »
By Tricia Janosy,
November 30, 2016 at 10:06 pm • 

Ghosts of Thanksgiving Past are Present

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. As a kid, I’m sure primarily because it marked the halfway point of the endless marathon of time between Halloween and Christmas, but even as I aged out of the Santa system it remained intrinsically special. The parade, the prep, the gathering, the tryptophantastic nap in front of the... Read more »
By Tricia Janosy,
November 18, 2016 at 10:27 pm • 

The die has been cast. What's your role?

Almost six days post election, time is marching on and the reality is setting in. The weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth is causing migraines and not much else. The day after the election, nursing the worst non-alcohol induced hangover of my life, I wondered what I could do that might bring some sense that... Read more »
By Tricia Janosy,
November 13, 2016 at 11:37 pm • 
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Old College Avenue merges into Memory Lane

Blogapalooz-hour: “Pick a song (or songs) that has special meaning to you and explain why” My first thought is “Thunder Road”, which has about the best opening line of any song, ever: The screen door slams  Mary’s dress waves  Like a vision she dances across the porch  As the radio plays… I mean, come on.... Read more »
By Tricia Janosy,
October 27, 2016 at 10:30 pm • 

Artlessness Imitating Reel Life

Hillary Clinton’s latest campaign ad compares Donald Trump to a series of movie bullies by pairing disparaging lines from the actors with comments Trump has made throughout his career. While last week I wrote only about Trump and bullies from the 80’s, Clinton’s ad spans from “One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest” Nurse Ratched to Regina George from... Read more »
By Tricia Janosy,
October 19, 2016 at 8:37 am • 

It's the 80's, Stupid

In a 2015 interview with the The Daily Beast, Back to the Future Part II writer Bob Gale confirmed that Biff Tannen, sweet Marty McFly’s arch nemesis, was based on another badly coifed buffoonish character, Donald Trump: “He’s been handed the keys to fortune, he’s unrepentantly used that fortune exclusively for himself, and he’s even become a public advocate for... Read more »
By Tricia Janosy,
October 9, 2016 at 8:09 pm • 
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A Moment Captured

Blogapalooz-hour: Write about a time somebody made you feel special.  Well shoot. How lucky am I that I’m sitting here trying to whittle it down to just one time? I’ve spent the last ten minutes playing a greatest hits montage of lovely moments where someone has, by word or deed, given me that gift. When I... Read more »
By Tricia Janosy,
September 21, 2016 at 10:10 pm • 

What's in Your Basket?

Much ado has been made of Hillary’s “basket of deplorables” comment and while I for one am a little disappointed she didn’t take a page from her opponent’s well worn play book and pass it off as sarcasm,  I am more than a little confused about the kerfluffle it’s caused.  It sounds so harmless; how... Read more »
By Tricia Janosy,
September 13, 2016 at 11:24 pm • 

Word to the Mothers

Blogapalooz-Hour Challenge: “Write about something in your life you’d like a second chance at” One thing? I’ve got an hour (well actually 40 minutes, because I was making school lunches when the 9:00 start time hit) and I can only write about a something I get a second chance at? What about the 999 others?!... Read more »
By Tricia Janosy,
August 31, 2016 at 10:06 pm • 
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Who Says It's Not the Heat?

You’re sitting at your desk, entering your pick for a due date into the pool about Tony in Legal’s new baby, when you start to feel the wave of warmth creeping up your neck. You reach for the desk fan you recently purchased, fumbling for the on switch while trying not to make any sudden... Read more »
By Tricia Janosy,
August 30, 2016 at 10:03 pm •