Something bad happened today, but it gave me back punk rock.

I'm not going to give you details or even a rough outline of what happened, but I can say that I was polite and civil afterwards. Hell, I was genteel.

But it happened and it pissed me off, so I did what any hot-blooded youth would do. I got in my car to drive to Rockford to visit my sister who just got out of the hospital today.

A few weeks ago I sat down with Mike Stephan and Andy Hermann of Outside the Loop Radio, Chicago's Almost Above-Ground Audio magazine.

I had a great time chatting with the boys, and it's been a long time since I've been in a studio. What seems like centuries ago -- also known as freshman year -- I hosted a radio show with a friend in a dorm basement. I was much more impressed with them, though. Unlike me, they actually can work their mics.

Riding the wave of a popular new album, Frenchman M83 (Anthony Gonzalez) is in the midst of a 14 city American tour including a two show performance May 29 at The Empty Bottle in Chicago. As a fan of both '80s music and electronic music, M83’s new album Saturdays = Youth is right up my alley. But still, the live show far exceeded my expectations, making it an early contender for one of my favorite concerts of 2008.

There are plenty of people out there who will tell you how your pregnancy should go. They include doctors, family, friends, acquaintances, and random strangers who want to rub your wife’s belly at Target – which is another story all in itself.

But it’s good to take matters in your own hands. One of the things we did was take prenatal classes at Prentice Women’s Hospital. My wife, Bea, and I recommend them.

I recently met a man with social ideas much like mine, with an investigative mission much like mine and a heart on fire for the underprivileged, again, much like mine. There are two differences between us though:

1) He’s much older than I am (159 to be exact, if he were still alive);
2) My work is words scratched in beach sand compared to his.

A group of crazy Texans (aka, college buddies) invaded Chicago this holiday weekend. We made some of the obligatory sightseeing trips--Uno's deep dish, Lincoln Park Zoo, The Bean.

One thing we did while Bea was pregnant was to read at least a book a day to Matthew. We’ll continue that now that Matthew is born, but one book we’ll be leaving out is the story of a somewhat psychotic mother.

I've been dying for some fresh seafood lately. Anything but that frozen, farmed junk from my local grocery store that I've been eating lately. I've been craving some in Chicago since I came back from visiting my family on the Gulf Coast about six weeks ago. I know we're a long way from a big, salty body of water, but I knew there was some way to get what I needed in Chicago. A little bit of research and asking around led me to one place: The Fishguy Market (4423 N.

Last Friday, the Lakeshore Theater went from comedy club to dance club as the Pnuma Trio made a tour stop in Chicago. Playing their unique brand of electronica-jazz fusion, the Colorado-based instrumental band had the crowd dancing for two straight hours with no set break. The show was originally slated for the brand-new Bottom Lounge, but the venue wasn’t ready in time.

If there’s one piece of sage advice you’ll let me give you as your trusted dating blogger, it’s this: Don’t date An Actor. That’s right. You heard me. The idea for this post came the other day while I was riding the L. There was a cute guy… talking to himself. Upon seeing no bluetooth lodged in his ear, and noting that he was relatively free of schizophrenic ticks, I concluded to myself that he must be (drumroll please) An Actor!

The other night I was hanging out and playing pool with some of my friends – a typical Friday night activity. One friend and I were discussing the difficulties we’ve been having with our job hunts. Then she raised an interesting issue. She said she had an easier time finding a job years ago when she had longer hair than she does now. She doesn’t wear a lot of makeup and prefers pants to skirts. Even though she is a qualified and educated candidate for a job, she thinks it is her appearance that is deterring future employers.