[Welcome to our annual Guest Writer Series. Meet articulate contributor #10...] I know this sounds ridiculous. Especially in a country and culture where beauty seems to be the most valuable commodity of being human. I come at this from a weird perspective. Let me give you some background for context.
[Welcome to our annual Guest Writers Series. Meet articulate contributor #9...] I don’t know about the rest of the world, but those of us living in Chicago have been subjected to a daily barrage of fact, fiction, opinion, rhetoric, and various other forms of clickbait over the past several
[Welcome to our annual Guest Writer Series. Meet articulate contributor #8...] I’ve been an Anglophile for decades and recently became so enchanted with Scotland that I’m hoping to find a way to rent a house over there soon. I’ve been watching as the United Kingdom encompassing England,
[Welcome to our annual Guest Writers Series. Meet creative contributor #7...] Who wants to be a disciple? This question sprouts in my mind every time I read the New Testament. The disciples came from humble backgrounds, followed Jesus Christ, and then died in a variety of gruesome ways. They abandoned
[Welcome to our annual Guest Writers Series. Meet articulate contributor #6...] Hey folks—me again, the foreigner who still believes that America is a noble experiment of a country that should be admired. I didn't say perfect—just noble. I arrived in the U.S. in the early
[Welcome to our annual Guest Writers Series. Meet contributor #5...] I can’t remember not being able to read. Books have always been my companion. My bed had a headboard to which a lamp was attached. I would pull the covers over my head and it, so my parents could
[Welcome to our annual Guest Writers Series. Meet articulate contributor #4...] When did the United States of America become the UNunited States of America? With certainty, I can tell you it wasn't overnight. It has been a steady and slow progression over the past 25+ years as media
[Welcome to our annual Guest Writers Series. Meet contributor #3...] On June 12, 2026, SpaceX held an initial public offering, allowing ownership shares to be sold on the stock market for the first time. By the end of the day, the company’s market valuation was about $2 trillion. SpaceX’
[Welcome to our annual, excellent Guest Writer Series. Meet contributor #2...] Just like words that play on a reel in my mind, music has always coursed through my veins. I’m not sure why it is that way. Maybe it is because words and music go hand in hand. Or
[Welcome to our annual, excellent Guest Writer Series. Meet contributor #1...] I am currently studying a new modality as a therapist, and it has some amazing insights into the human psyche. The book, Gifts from a Challenging Childhood By Jan Bargstrom introduces these concepts as “the 6 birthrights” that every
As I’ve said before, and no doubt will say again, there are some things I get flat-out wrong. There are also places where my perspective is pretty limited. And then there are the grander moments — the ones where my opinion is off, my view is narrow, and I
So much to say. So many angles. So much that makes up this day, this weekend, these hundreds of years. So let me stay focused—one thread, one refrain—something that helps keep what’s most important, most important as we mark 250 years of this ongoing, imperfect, beautiful experiment…