January 31st. 2021

 Be prepared to fall down today! I learned from a penguin to walk like a penguin on the snow and ice... thanks Sister Francis Irene!

It’s National Hot Chocolate day and that is perfect timing since we received a boatload of snow overnight!

Marshmallows for the kids and schnapps for the adults!

Great way to end January and challenge us with the start of February... Let’s Roll.....

2020

Cloudiest January in 22 years! I’m getting tired of drawing clouds! So you need to look at them as Rows and flows of angel hair And ice cream castles in the air and feather canyons every where

I Look at clouds that way!

Now you’ve been earwormed on a Friday!

2019

Look at these days of bitter cold as a rest stop to repair ourselves in preparation for Spring! This will be a memory and in twenty years an outdated news story on channel 9 marking the record breaking cold of late January 2019..... little Billy Shakes quote today!

Common sense gets us into the weekend! Start your engines!!!!!!!

2018

End of the month

January 30th, 2021

 The end of January is going out with a winter wonderland kind of forecast... Shepkids and sleds this weekend!

141 days until summer if the cold and snow have you down... it will be here sooner than we think!

2020

Christopher Cross was lucky he became famous right before the dawn of MTV

He had a face for the radio!

2019

I’m wearing a kilt today! I hear my Dad yelling at me, “use common sense Candyass!!!”

2018

Let’s get it on!!!

January 29th, 2021

 Soon the flowers will spring from the cold winter cover. Beautiful every year!

When you see your child’s face at their first scream or a piece of the world only imagined.... beautiful from that moment on!

Even The expression on someone’s face the last Time you saw them... a beautiful reminder that they are forever.

I mentioned last night I went through my old picture box. I saw your picture from a year gone by and you were beautiful. Keg parties, football games, trips from vacations and even pictures of the two I once loved.... all beautiful and all forever!

The pictures we take today on our phones will someday be as memorable as those we picked up at a photo hut. Because beauty is the joy that makes our hearts beat.....

2020

2019

January 28th, 2021

 I drew the circle with the smile and this is the first sunset after 5:00pm since October.... it’s a crisp morning with a bright moon hanging over the western sky. Let’s Roll.........

                        Percy Bysshe Shelley

2020

Today is the first sunset at 5:00pm or after since November 2nd!

Matthew Benson pointed out that yesterday could have been the Last sunset ever before 5pm in Illinois! IF lawmakers vote to end Daylight Savings!

2019

Monday’s tend to suck! Don’t let this happen to you... the sunset is at 5:00pm and that’s a good sign! It’s blueberry pancakes day and I might have to get some at Ceres this morning! I’m excited to live through this historic weather event this week!

A gorgeous winter morning in Riverside waiting for the 5:30 train into the city! You can’t enjoy the snow if you don’t get out in the snow! The streets are perfect for skitching! Vivaldi “Four Seasons” on Spotify and strong hot black coffee... just like I like my men’s, Strong, hot and Black!!

January 27th, 2021

 Did you start a Covid hobby? A new job? A new relationship? The good ones are tough at first, but get easier with practice and experience!

Gorgeous snowstorm on a picture perfect afternoon yesterday!

2020

The intersections of life! People we meet are traffic lights! Stop and meet, keep on driving or use caution with this person!

Today is Monday and it’s chocolate cake day.... do I have to tell you what you need to do today? Enjoy.... maybe a glass of milk too!

2019

Snow overnight before the coldest temperatures felt in Chicago history.... don’t believe the hype.... just use common sense!

Today is National Chocolate Cake Day.... USA 7’s won their third silver in a row early this morning in New Zealand... the news sucks this morning.... I suggest watching movies all day!

2018

Sunset today is 5pm! Enjoy the weekend my Facebook family!

January 26th, 2021

 Snowstorm in Chicagoland... who cares! The past 33 years if there was a snowstorm I depended on the CTA or Metra! Today I get to drive to work!

Before you know it we will be using the air conditioner! In the meantime keep the shiny side up and the greasy side down!

2020

It’s Sunday already!

A lifetime ago since the Bears only SuperBowl victory on this day in 1986!

Making blueberry scones today...

*use this quote often

SCONES

So the Riverside Farmers market featured a lady who made gorgeous scones! Every Wednesday I’d buy 3 scones from June to October...

Well I’ve been thinking about those scones since...... last autumn!

So I made blueberry scones this morning!

2019

Rugby on television, pot roast making flavor in the crock.... today I think of Bob Grilliot, Walter Payton and 46-10!

Dress warm and keep your chin up! You can’t enjoy life if you don’t get out in the cold!

2018

Happy Friday

January 25th, 2021

 The quote today comes from a girl who was hiding in an attic. Hiding for her life, but still able to see the beauty in the world.

The last year seems like we’ve all been forced to hide in an attic. Maybe not from nazis, but from a pandemic... it’s changed how we look at things. If anything I hope it has forced us to see the beauty in the world!

2020

Happy Saturday!

I’m laying on the couch thinking about how heavy those dining room chairs were at my parents house. How Saturday was the only day in the seventies that you could build a fort in the living room. How great My invention of Captain Crunch Peanut-butter and Honeycombs tasted and how CBS cartoons were better than NBC, but ABC had Schoolhouse Rock!

I always had to dismantle my fort by 11:00am to make room for my dance floor when SoulTrain started on WGN!

I can still hear my mom in the kitchen saying, “I don’t know where John learned to dance so well! He wants an Afro!”

Life is simple!

“Happy New Year Chang! The Donger need food!”

2019

So it’s cold! This is the price we pay to live in Chicagoland.... we have the best people who bind tight when times are rough... we have the Chicago hotdog... we have two great baseball teams.... the best skyline.... blues music and gorgeous, voluptuous women.... I love this weather and plan on embracing the next four weeks!

2018

When this month started the sun went down around 4:30! Tonight you’ll notice the hot rock doesn’t set until close to 5pm...

January 24th, 2021

 A wintry January Sunday!!! The days are getting longer... I hope your football team wins today!

It’s going to be a nice day to prep for a week of challenge!

Sunday is the day to work on building your FOUNDATION with FAITH and FAMILY and FRIENDS!

2020

Short weeks are always tough! Enjoy your winter tonight and tomorrow! Your beer will be getting warm under the sun before you know it!

2019

Happy Thursday... Some call it Deja Vu, but I think it is God's way of explaining The Miracles of our Faith!

*that was a long and painful 649 days!

2018

Humpday! Try and throw some sun on your face and energize for the rest of the week and the month for that matter!

January 23rd, 2021

     The old thermometer on the kitchen wall says 10! Fifty days and we change the clocks... this week we have our first sunset after 5:00pm and life is moving along... this is the perfect weekend to make a roast in the crockpot and snuggles in the bed!

2020

Get ready to deal with snow! You got this! It is National Pie Day today! I like a good blueberry or pecan or Hoosier or strawberry rhubarb! What’s your favorite?

2019

This weather is interesting, but Friday is what I’m looking forward to! I broke the news to my Long Johns that they will be keeping my thighs warm at the end of the week! They are sad!

Counting the days until I give the cold weather up for Hurricanes! July 24th, 2031 is when I make the move to New Orleans!

*3,834 days until I move to New Orleans!

2018

*Didn't have anything to say three years ago?!?!

January 22,2021

 This week we all wished that we were going to win the big lottery. Daydreaming of what we would do with millions of dollars. I joked that I had a better chance of making love to Julia Roberts than hitting all the numbers in PowerBall!

So back to the grind and to what got us here. Hard work!

I laid in bed thinking about all the mornings I’ve gotten up to go to the Board of Trade... then thought... in reality at my age I only have twenty five to thirty summers left and I lost one last year to a pandemic.

All this hard work isn’t going to afford me the dreams of a lottery ticket, but it does set an example for the Shepkids. Work hard and treat people fairly and you might have a decent summer here and there!

2020

Happy Wednesday... take a minute to be better.... today I will go over 469,500 hours of Living since I popped up on a hot summer day in Chicago!

Today I go over 478,296 hours of life!

2019

So our weather forecast calls for..... January in Chicago! We got this! Every morning around 3:30 WBBM runs a commercial for Adriana Furs. Every morning I’m earwormed with their jingle! Kinda want to get one of those 1970’s man furs!

I’m gonna try and go out there today and do something remarkable..... maybe the trade war will end! Maybe the government will reopen! Please don’t let your son leave the house today with a MAGA hat! It screams for negative attention....

January 21st, 2021

 I’ve lost Practice drawing that circle with a smile! Throughout these cloudy mild days of January 2021 I’ve been upbeat.

It’s easier said than done, but positive is always greater than negative! My son Fritz tells me this all the time.

2020

Back to work! Another week and the sunset will be after five in the evening! Small goals.......

January 20th, 2021

 The change we are looking for doesn’t happen with the inauguration of Joe Biden.

We are the ones that need to work on the split in the nation, ending the rise of hatred and most Importantly the growth and health of our children. They have lost a year of their fragile lives.

The change we need starts at home!

Today on the inauguration of Joe Biden I quoted Socrates. A Greek philosopher who died in 399 BC. 2500 years later Socrates is respected and held high as the Father of Greek Philosophy.

He was actually hated and feared in Athens. He was outspoken and criticized Democracy. He was a member of a group that overthrew the government and was sentenced to death for his crime. A crime that also included corrupting the minds of the youth.... Does this sound familiar?

I didn't take a picture of the 2020 and 2019 chalkboards....

2018 Chalkboard is a good example of how far this project has evolved. I have gotten away from the checklist or itinerary of the day and focused more on a daily quote.

On this day "Go Girls" was a shout out to all the pink hats gathering downtown. I did have the Shepkids that weekend. We walked over to the Riverside Library that day and had pizza that night.

The quote in 2018 listed things that lasted for infinity.

The Summer I was on Television everyday!

 I received an email from the Chicago White Sox around Christmas of 2011. They wanted to know what fans did that was unique during a White Sox game. So I told them how I made White Sox games special. That next February nine guys from WGN invaded my garage and for about an hour they put together a thirty second commercial.

That summer I was on WGN everyday. My fifteen minutes of fame! I can't wait for the pandemic to end so I can walk into Sox Park and get the real smell of hot dogs and onions cooking in the concourse.

John WGN White Sox commercial

January 19th, 2021

 It’s colder this morning, but still a mild winter going into the second half of January. Great weekend with the Shepkids... it was a hard ride home. Short work week with big changes! Tread lightly!

2020

We are all on different boats these days.... time to come on shore and figure it

Out..... together!

Football championship game day! I give a shit! I have NO interest in any of these teams! If I had to.... I’d back the Houston Oilers!

In 1994 I sat in a hot tub in Vegas with the Houston Oiler's Cheerleaders. It was a lovely late night/early morning! What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

2019

My weather picture is supposed to be windy snow... Fritz asked to do the quote this morning.... +>-

Spring is two rent checks away!

January 18th, 2021

 Monday Dr. King Day 2021... born in 1929, assassinated in 1968. His legacy has failed these last fifty years since he left. Maybe not Individually, but as a society more split than ever.

All I have for Dr. King is my contribution through my actions and my children. My Father told me a parents job is to replace yourself with a better you in your children. So if I do my job properly the Shepkids will be Color Strong and good people.

I plan on dying in the 2050’s to a better place than the current shitshow... this can only happen if everyone has MLK in the heart and in their mind.

Also, make chili in the crockpot and love in the bed!

2020

The vomiting cloud is meant to depict a windy blustery day with falling temps!

It is Winnie the Pooh day today! I often quote him!

2019

...And the media makes it out like we are going to get F***ed! Grab a shovel, grab a sled and get

Out in the cold!

2018

Shadows are straightening out every day as the sunset takes more time

(side note for 2018) *I didn't get the part in "The Music Man," but I did go to a party with Gnomes and Pineapples as the theme in Clarendon Hills. Thank God for Penicillin!