East Village

How Long Has this Been on the Market?

Half a dozen of one, six of the other.
That might be the subtitle for the merging together of half of a box of a dozen frozen fish sticks found by an Ohio woman last week.
But instead of tossing the x-shaped trio on the frying pan, Victoria Landis tossed them on ebay where their Easter week appearance [...]


Hope Defines Me - Meeting Barack on a Sunday Afternoon

Lucas turned one last week. And the change is colossal.
He always was a bright child - but now I will wake in the morning to find him transliterating speeches of the aspiring presidential candidates into both Latin and Greek. Nonplussed by criticism of some naysayers that these so-called “dead” languages are pointless, Lucas laughs and utters [...]


Chicago-Style Good Fortune (Cookie)

A beautiful Saturday visited Chicago today, providing Chicagoans from Lincoln Park to Edgewater with a pleasant dose of sunshine to offset too many days of gray and cold. And while the thermometer didn’t hit the season norm here the fact that we were able to cast shadows was a wonderful diversion to our ongoing battle [...]


Single Digits - A Chicago Salute

Two-thirds of the way through February and here in Chicago we seem no closer to the end of the season.
Just two weeks ago the furry critter made famous in Bill Murray’s movie “Groundhog Day” popped out his hole, saw his shadow, and thereby inflicted upon us an additional six weeks of winter.
Oh Punxsutawney Phil , [...]


A New Way of Looking at Things (with New Pair of Glasses, that is)

I can’t remember the first time I walked in the little optical shop on Broadway near Belmont.
I had popped into the eye glass place across the street but they didn’t have what I wanted. But with unrequested kindness and unexpected candor the clerk nodded to the shop across the way and said I might find [...]


From Super Sunday to Super Tuesday - Life in the Chicago Real Estate Lounge

TV sets across the nation were tuned in to Sunday night’s showdown between the Giants and the Patriots. Mine was one even though I had no allegiance to either team. But actually this lack of dedication made watching the game more sporting and festive. Plus it had the added benefit of being a relief.
It was [...]


The First Busy Saturday in a Month of Saturdays

If today is any indication it looks like the Chicago housing market is picking up steam amid the January chill.
Unlike any of the past 30 or so Saturdays, today my schedule was jam-packed from start to finish with showings. 1934 Thomas, a new construction two bed/two bath a block south of Division in the East [...]