Chicagoland is experiencing the first sunset after five o’clock in almost three months today. Next week we will be watching for the groundhog and a shadow. In just five weeks the Forest Park Saint Patrick’s Parade will float across Madison Street.
Four years ago I was marching in that parade with a dear friend who was running for a political office. We had about thirty people in our group and I proudly wore my kilt.
We didn’t know it at the time, but that was the last public event that we would ever participate in before Covid. The next week everything closed down and people locked themselves into crawlspaces.
I was hugging and kissing hundreds of people along the parade route. Not once did I hesitate or fear that I could get The China Flu.
Oh and I called it “The China Flu” on the Morning Chalkboard that spring and one of my lib lab friends got all unglued. She was so mad that she defriended me. Someone that I had known for over thirty years was offended because I called a mysterious illness that originated from a lab in China, “The China Flu!”
Maybe it was my reply when I told her I’d rather call it “The Oriental Illness.” That probably took it over the edge.
The next week after that Saint Patty’s Day celebration, they shutdown my trading floor. It was probably a good thing that the floor finally closed. It was time to shit or get off the pot. The pits were nearly empty those last few years and the glory days were gone just after the turn of the century.
I quoted some advice drawn up by Billy Shakes this morning. I think it’s pretty clear what his point is.
1. Show people love until you realize they are an assclown.
2. Trust is earned… it isn’t a participation trophy handed out like pâté at a cocktail party.
3. Don’t go out of your way and be a jagoff to people.
Take Shakespeare’s advice and everything should be copacetic.
I bookended the Summer of ‘24 in the grabber section. The days are getting longer and sooner than later the grass will be green again.
Those Chalkheads of the Soul Persuasion get an extra day for African American History month in 2024. Besides awesome hair and sweet dance moves… you’ve got February 29th as well.
Oh shit! That last paragraph is going to weed out a couple more lib labs this morning! Too bad for them when they miss the James Baldwin and Maya Angelou quotes next month.
Maybe William should have said, “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none, don’t apologize for something you didn’t do.”????
It’s Sunday Funday… many of you will be watching the scripted football games today. I’ll be watching the “America’s Test Kitchen” marathon on PBS Create this afternoon.
Let’s end January on a high note this week. Please drive for your friends that participated in Dry January. Also, be ready for the alarm clock to go off with that annoying Sonny and Cher song.
Sorry I can’t put a smile on your sun today. These cloudy days are the current trend. We missed the Wolf Moon last week because of this. Don’t worry, it will be back next January.
Go Baltimore, win one for Johnny Unitas. Go Detroit, win one for Barry Sanders.
