Diary of a Newspaper Hawk

There are too many whiners in this world. Criers, I call them. They won't use words like "I'm crying." They will use words like, "I'm annoyed," or "I'm offended." Oh yeah? What's really annoying? Water dripping incessantly from my faucet. My neighbor's dog barking when I'm sick. A paper cut between my finger and finger nail. That's all annoying. Ideas you don't like? Get over it. That's not annoying. That's crying because you disagree with them, or, you are judgmental. Pick your neurosis . What's really offensive? Garbage behind the butcher in the alley after a hot day. Someone insulting you over your religious beliefs (yes, even those of you who aren't deity worshippers can be offensive, so get off your high horse). Walking by a homeless guy while eating your third sandwich. That's all offensive. What is not offensive is being upset your guy isn't the president , or that someone wants to pass a b...

Richard M. Daley wins sixth term as Mayor of the City of Chicago The News This ought to sell a few papers in the morning. Why don't you stop by and buy one? Save it for your kids and grandkids. This is headline stuff, record breaking news. It was expected, but is news just the same. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070228/ap_on_re_us/chicago_election Breaking News Mayor Daley wins his sixth term MAYOR DALEY, COMED ANNOUNCE NEW POWER UP FUND TO RESTORE ... Daley re-elected to his sixth term Richard M. Daley's next 4 years Casting a vote (1 in a series) against Daley Richard M. Daley deserves four more years

Chicago is a four season city. Whether it is a four star city can be argued, but as weather goes, we get weather. Lots of it. Today is February 27. Spring starts in less than one month. It is a great time for papers. Spring sales, baseball season is starting, high school basketball (college too) is finishing, the NBA is gearing down, school is finishing in a few months -plans need to be made, elections, plus whatever crops up across the world. The News No one needs to tell Ronny he's not in. Ron Santo is once again not a member of the Hall of Fame. Who needs to tell him he's earned it? No one. He knows it. But there it is, the denial of truth. While steroid cheap skates slime into the Hall on snake oiled charm and leisure-suited ethics, Ron, a man's man, played honestly. I won't belabor you with numbers . See his bio on Wikipedia . And, Santo for Hall While Ron's movie ( This Old Cub - The Movie ) was only so-so, it did show his heart. He's loaded with good-guy ...

Mondays begin much like Tuesday through Friday, only earlier. Not such a big deal for me. I've been getting up with the robins for years. The new kids coming to work seem to struggle with it. Salt was everywhere today, and the snow kept coming. The plastic on my papers made the day slow. People see plastic and think buying a paper will take longer. It won't, but that's what people think. I commented on a journalism blog: Strange Attractor . Naturally, I am concerned as the newspaper business evolves. See Rethinking video, rethinking journalism, rethinking priorites . The News Daley's in the news. While his dad's legacy will likely be stronger, just as his infamy will, it looks like the current mayor is on track to last longer: Daley May Eclipse Dad as Chicago's Biggest Boss With Sixth Term . Mayor Daley (pick 'em) has been good for the city of Chicago.

Sundays are strange days in the newspaper business. The papers are the biggest of the week. When I was a kid, these were the beasts on my back. Now, I don't sell any. The paper costs more, but, with coupons, is worth more. No cuts coupons, but that is an anecdotal observation, not a professional one. My corner is in the heart of the Loop. On Sunday mornings, it is a desolate, lonely place. People who lived in the towers around used to, in my younger days, go to church, and I could sell a few papers before heading out myself. Now, everyone sleeps in. Hard to know what to make of it. Sleep is needed when we are sleepy. Is everyone so tired? What are they doing making them so tired? I hope when they are older, they'll say it was a nap worth spent. I'm not sleepy. I'm just tired. The News The ice storm last night created a glaze on the streets. Accidents everywhere. Two cars skidded and hit each other right in front of my place. My power was out for a half hour last night. ...

Friday, February 23, 2007 3:11 p.m. Someone should mention that the steel of taxis and flesh of people do not mix. The commuter figured it out. The taxi driver drove on, but not until after having his hood pounded by a very angry woman. They were both guilty. One was an iPoder, blind to the moment. The other was chasing time, barrelling too fast for Adams Street. Speaking of Adams. I miss Bergoff's . 107 years of good food. I just heard they have reopened in some way. Trader Vic's is gone too. The News Chicago’s Bid For 2016 Olympics Heats Up in US Home Stretch That's big news. Big, big news. If Daley and company pulls it off, I think we'll see him as mayor for life. We'll also see some city pride that does not involve a baseball team. I can imagine the Olympic Marathon running on Michigan, Wacker and Ohio. Would they take it around all the town, including the Projects? the NYC Marathon does that, through all boroughs.

Thursday, February 22, 2007 10:25 a.m. The warm weather has created gray slush, but all this is good news. It is above 30 already, and the melting continues. I slept well last nice and my head cold seems gone. A good day. It is a strange site to see miniskirts, or what they are, starting to come back. Women in gym shoes and huge boots wearing skirts that I am surprised is tolerated in offices are showing up. Mind you, not all the sights are awful to this old man, but how professional they are amuses me. Salary girls are what they are. I haven't done the math, but it looks like L riders dress more this way than train riders. It could be an age thing. Younger women live closer to the Loop, and older women live in the suburbs. Is that true? It looks that way. The salary girls seem less likely to be suburbans. The News Daley's bragging about Chicago's money. He should be careful here. A city with money with schools that need money should not brag. They schools probably don'...

Wednesday, February 7, 2007 8:19 a.m. I'm getting old, and the papers keeping coming new every morning. My head cold is still bothering me, and my back hurts for no good reason. Jim told me last night while grabbing a brat at a joint on Washington that he's got his Metra job back. He's proud. He says its because he stuck it to the man, but I think it it because he was tired of being a deadbeat. He'll start next week. We argued about Ron Rivera losing his defense coordinator job for the Bears. Rivera's with the San Diego Chargers now (the Bears promoted Bob Babich from linebackers coach/assistant head coach), but that's not the point. It is the same old Chicago story. Get them winning, get them out of town. Jim was trying to tell me that Rivera screwed up, and so we lost the Super Bowl. No defense, no offense is what he says. Grossman screwed up. He was an average QB trying to play against a great team. OK, the Colts beat us fair and square, but Bad Rex showed up...

Tuesday, February 20, 2007 6:46 a.m. Head colds are not helpful when it comes to standing outside, even when the weather breaks favorably. It is not pleasant for me, nor for the customer hearing the wretched sneezing and nose blowing. Rather than Kleenex, I have brought by a roll of toilet paper for the job. People are in early today. It seems that way. Warmer weather might be the cause. Newspaper sales come in waves, just as commuters flood in and out of the Loop. When the trains come, people come a few minutes after. Similarly, a few minutes before the hour, the rush begins as hurried employees try to get to work by 9:00. The News The big news is that the Chicago Bears dumped defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. Maybe the Bears have Chicago Cubs disease. As soon as things look up, trade. Non-news was that American Idol Jennifer Hudson sang at her old church. I'm guessing it was one of the swan-song deals when the person grows up in church, learns to sing in church, and then, never r...

Monday, February 19, 2007 12:09 p.m. Icicles are everywhere. These beautiful spears are waiting to slice from atop skyscrapers to the sidewalk. Watch out! A pleasant day for paper hawking. People are getting over the Bears Blues, and are looking toward March in two weeks. Speaking of spears, Britney Spears shaved her head. The Sinead O'Connor look might clear the way for a good thought to come through. Cute kid, but has the street smarts of Paris Hilton. Even Hollywood streets need better smarts than what she's working with. Being bald is not the issue that she's dealing with. If so, it makes Chicago's own Michael Jordan as messy. When Telly Savalas did it, his sexy-factor kicked up two notches. Women thought he invented steam. The News Foie gras is in the news . Seems we can't have it. I didn't know. It is food, or part of food, and it is on the list of taboo foods. It is part of a duck (or is it a goose?) -- its liver. I don't know why it is illegal, but D...

Friday, February 16, 2007 10:04 a.m. This a two-fisted coffee day. 0°F in the Loop right now. Two fists, wrapped around the biggest coffee I could buy. It is as much for holding as it is for drinking. Big news, though, is something the Cubbies did. Pick a Chicago sports talk show, and there you go. Story goes that when Opening Day hits, our boys will be looking at under arm deodarant ads in right and left field. No one can accuse the Cubs of selling out. They need to survive, and the owners feel it is easier to plaster a billboard on a wall that fork up cash to retain good players (We all know the Greg Maddux story), this is what they do. Fans are money makers, and, as long as they will fill the bleachers without a winner, there is no point in finding better players. It won't make any difference. Instead, they sold the wall. Will Martha Stewart be doing a show on how to trim the ivy? Will Home Depot or Lowe's start commercials for building better bleachers? Maybe the Cubs did s...

Thursday, February 15, 2007 9:03 p.m. Radio in Chicago has its ups and downs. The downs I'll get to, but the ups are what I'm listening to. On my feet, or on my crate all day, and keeping it low-key at night, I listen a lot to WGN. Milt Rosenberg (Extension 720) might be my favorite. He's smart, and where is he isn't as knowledgeable, he's done his homework. I can tell when Charlie Rose hasn't read the book he is interviewing the author about, but not with Milt. His guests aren't just some wannabe, but real authors. He's upfront about his biases, but I get the impression he tries to remain objective and ask questions that his all sides fairly. Charlie's less open about his biases. Spike O'Dell gets a few listens a week, though he's on when I'm busiest. John Williams and Steve Cochran are more my style, though. Funny guys. Of all those on WGN, I'm bound to listen to Kathy and Judy the least. They are fun, but witless. I feel like with ...

Thursday, February 15, 2007 10:03 a.m. Each day seems colder than the previous. If weren't for the promise of the summer, I might be miserable. Instead, all I am is cold. Bundling up is a start. Drinking heavy amounts of coffee helps, but requires trips back into the coffee shop. I do not need to tell you it is only 1°F. You know it is cold. Tomorrow looks to pick up a few degrees. In sports, the Hawks lost, the Bulls won, and the Bears, Sox and Cubs did not play. With Richard Daley running for mayor again, changes in the city are becoming more visible. In the last six months, Loop sidewalks are being fixed. Now, with the tremendous snow, we've got plows running nonstop. No one will call Richie "Michael Bilandic" as long as he can help it. See here what the Trib has to say about it. It's the Big Dig, Chicago style Chicago Tribune, IL - 4 hours ago City Hall went the extra mile this week, issuing a rare "Phase 3" snow removal plan, which dispatched armies...

Wednesday, February 14, 2007 12:14 p.m. The snow fell, blew, and moved on. The ground is covered with it, and my street was not first on the list. It is still impassable. Luckily, I can walk to the L. I looked around this morning and think I saw fewer commuters. Although the weather, the traffic, and all were much better than yesterday, more stayed home. Not me. I'm doubled in my socks, wearing the most unstylish hat, and warm so long as I stay put. Tomorrow is said to be colder, and Friday even colder. It is amazing to think that the middle of February is so close to the beginning of spring. The most important thing is baseball season approaches. Put me in coach, I'm ready to play. Let's play two. Soccer is starting to become a sports I understand. I hope to catch a game or two this season. As a lifelong fan of baseball, football, and basketball, and even enjoy watching the Olympic Marathon, and not understanding hockey, I'm starting to get soccer. The Spanish TV stati...

Tuesday, February 13, 2007 9:07 p.m. How wrong I was. People bought papers. As I stood with a stack wrapped in plastic, people came to buy. They trickled in steadily into work late, leaving early. My Sun-Times change bib is usually orange. Today, it was a stark white, plastered with snow. The wind blew fast, making the tiny snow flakes hit like bullets. It made my beard look more salt and peppered than I am really am. I went home around 5 p.m., earlier than usual, but got home a half hour later. Everything was slower, and slowest of all was me. Each step caused sweat. Two pair of socks today. Telemarketing is in the news. Harrassment. I personally think very little of telemarketers. They are like bill collectors, but with less integrity. This essay is out there on the web. Pretty funny. Read Great Literature to a Telemarketer Humorous essay to show how to answer a telemarketing call by reading the classics. Rich Daley's election campaign is up against the unions. He is a good Democ...

Tuesday, February 13, 2007 12:56 p.m. It snowed. This is not New York snow. It is Chicago snow. You know about New York snow. There, they measure it in feet. We measure it in inches. Just the same, it was too much for all but my most committed regulars. No amount of calling out the news of the day will draw in a frozen, wet commuter to pick up a copy of what can probably, in all reality, wait until later. He can buy the thing in the train station, or at a kiosk deli in his building. What days we live in when mere snow shackles our doings. It is snuffing out my fun, that's for sure, but I think everyone is not enjoying it. Not downtown, at least. Not in the Loop. Chicagoland has places that snow is an asset. I have slid a time or two down Swallow Cliffs , after trudging over 100 awkwardly shaped steps, dragging an old rented toboggan. Hot chocolate never tasted as good as it did after a few hours of that terrible, awful, fun hill. The view from the top of Swallow Cliff was a sight m...

Monday, February 12, 2007 9:49 a.m. The snow is strong here, stronger than it seemed early this morning, but dare I complain? There's 12 feet in New York state. With headlines like Snow just won't stop in upstate N.Y. , I wound up feeling a little less chilly and wet this morning getting to my corner. They are a tough bunch, those NYers, and I do not mean the city dwellers. City dwellers are never tough when compared to those who need to carve out life a little closer to the bone of nature. Small towns get cut off, and need to be self-relient. Resilient, they are. Hot News on Yahoo Texas DA arrested for blocking police AP - 1 hour, 3 minutes ago Suspect hospitalized in Pa. runaway case AP - 4 minutes ago Snow just won't stop in upstate N.Y. AP - 1 hour, 57 minutes ago Alaskan fight brewing over river bears AP - Mon Feb 12, 4:18 AM ET Regarding the Texas DA story, I have no opinion on his guilt in the major charges. The less serious (but still serious) charge of blocking...

Monday, February 12, 2007 6:04 a.m. Trying to stretch my legs on this Monday morning is easier than last week. The weather is warm, if but by degrees, and I'll take it. It is 26°. I'll take it, I'll take it. 26° isn't 72°, but compared to what we've been having, it is balmy. Some snow, but the boys at the DOT have it under control. Daley is no Bilandic. Sipping this morning's coffee is somehow sweeter, somehow less necessary as a drug for waking me, and more for enjoying. It reminds me of the brisk mornings when I delivered papers from my bike. It was much like now, but I covered more distance. Over each shoulder I had slung a bag. I delivered three paper routes: two Chicago Tribune routes, one Chicago Sun-Times' route. I think I had 103 papers in all. Maybe there was 126. I was in great shape. On Sundays, I dragged a wagon, a red Radio Flyer, a metal one, piled high with papers. and would would the route. I rigged the wagon to hold three times as many as it...

Saturday, February 10, 2007 10:45 p.m. Obama for President & Anna Nicole Smith Dies Why is that so big? It has been a big news weekend. If that were in print, it might be just less than 72 pt. The sitting US president did not die, so it should be less. Either way, it will be big, noisy news all week. Water coolers and taxi drivers have a lot to discuss this Monday. Barack Obama announced what we all knew was going to happen, and Illinois loses a senator. Maybe Alan Keyes is still living in Illinois, and wants the job? Anna Nicole Smith was a celebrity beyond celebrities. She could not do more than they, but she managed to get more press than better and more beautiful actresses. She knew the game better than the rest, and made the most of what she wanted. She wasn't my darling, but to many men, she was all they wanted. I do not know who I will vote for. Each day, I change my mind.

Friday, February 9, 2007 5:19 a.m. Let no one tell you that living is easy. I'm tired, it's cold, and I'm waiting in midnight darkness for my papers. They're late. I'm fighting a cold, I couldn't sleep, and somedays I wish I could afford to skip a day. I have thought about salary girls, $2.00 lattes, and young politicos making money off of someone running for president who probably won't win. They all are sitting inside today, while I'm on my milk crate covered with cardboard. Don't think I'm looking for the easy life. Just an honest one. Enough papers sell, I pay my rent. Just like that. News makes the world go round. What else would the blogs talk about, or the politicos if they didn't read the news. Maybe that's the lure of the Super Bowl. It is bipartisan. I asked about Kathy. She has been staying in. Sitting in her wheelchair in the open breeze all day is just foolish, and she knows it. Someone from a church gave her some money and f...

Thursday, February 8, 2007 2:38 p.m. edit (3:42 p.m.) big news: Anna Nicole Smith dies Also see USA Today . Luckily, the snow has not continued, and it was so cold that it has not stuck. The streets are clear, and getting to my corner has not been difficult. The rushing from here to there is odd as always, watching people try to race walk. Cold is cold, and when it is cold, people hurry. Why don't they run? I do. Walking just keeps me cold longer. Might be their skin doesn't freeze when mine does. The News Blogs are in the news. I was pleased to learn of several important Chicago area blogs (see links on right), including which looks at what people say on the CTA. A story on WTTW (PBS Chicago) highlighted them in a quick roundtable. I did not know about them until the show. Chicagoist CTA Tattler: Seen and heard on the Chicago Transit Authority Gapers Block: Information on news and events around Chicago Politician John Edwards made news when bloggers (Amanda Marcotte of Pand...

Wednesday, February 7, 2007 5:04 p.m The sun is lifting inches each day when twilight comes. That's not right. It is lowering slower. Either way, the brighter the night, the better my evening papers sell. Snow mitigates this and last night's snowfall has chopped into today's sales. Half of usual. It doesn't matter. There is no real news. The Bears' haven't won since the Super Bowl and however many articles are written, the score never changes. The editorials are routine, the same old bitterness about keeping abortion legal (this time the support of surgical and chemical abortions), blatherings about school funding (as if another buck will induce the kids into learning) and someone complaining about severence pay that a CEO got. Radio voice Bob Collins is back in the news with some non-news. Physician: Radio star not impaired before fatal crash The personal physician of Bob Collins testifies that the WGN-AM 720 radio star was examined the day before he died in a...

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 9:38 a.m. This morning's commuters are still licking their wounds like a a dog that lost a wrassle for a bone. For all the blood and howling, the bone never has much meat. Papers are starting to return to normal. The stories today are still football, but less than last week. The News The Bears turned down a parade. Good for them. They played hard, but they lost. Winners get parades. Losers get to watch parades. It is how it should be. Give a loser a parade, and the thrill of the parade is reduced to a participation ribbon. Why not give an aluminum medal to the guy who takes fourth in the Olympics? Because he lost. Barack Obama, the probable president after Hillary Clinton ends her likely reign, has admitted he is a tobacco addict , and is trying to quit. Is that news? George Bush is George Bush, for better and for worse, but one thing he has done that is beyond argument was set the level for health in the White House. The story is Bush was living a wild l...

Monday, February 5, 2007 2:06 p.m . Ain't no sunshine when they lose. It is cold as cold gets here in the streets. It is -5 with a wind chill three degrees below death. It is never colder than when the Bears lose. Another game -- any other game -- and the sting the city feels might have washed away with the morning coffee. This game was the Super Bowl. Not since 1985 have the Bears' dared make it that far. We all knew this was a different team, but still we hoped. The sting won't leave until 2008's Super Bowl if we're there. The commercials were no thrill. Two were disgusting. I turned the channel during the candy bar one and the car wash one. I didn't need to see that trash. I caught some of Charles Bronson instead on one of the Spanish stations. Hester -- His salary just landed in a better negotiating category. You'd think the Colts would've reviewed the tapes from the Bears' regular season and were ready for the Hester train. However, whatever th...

Friday, February 2, 2007 12:15 p.m. It is sunny today. It'd be brighter if I weren't next to skyscrapers and L-trains. Sunny days don't matter when you live life in the shade. It is just as well. I need some new shades. My last pair were decked from me when a bike messenger ran into me, and crushed by his bike. Can't hardly blame the guy for hurrying. He works twice as hard and makes twice as less as I do, and takes twice the heat when he's late. First, he gets it from some corporate wannabee who is, at best, an account exec, who thinks five minutes is going to make or break his deal. Then, he takes the heat from his supervisor at dispatch. It is an awful job. I tried it a few months when I was younger, when my legs had some muster. These guys are tough, ruthless and going nowhere. I needed stability. I don't make a lot from my papers, but I can do the math. Certain kinds of days are worth certain amounts of money. Rainy days, sunny days, hot, warm cold, freezin...

Thursday, February 1, 2007 10:27 a.m. I got here late this morning. Some mornings, it gets so early I can hardly remember that I went to bed. New gloves today, the kind that have fingers which come off. Easier to grab the papers. I'm still getting a few stragglers. Mostly now, it is the clique-ish girls new to the workforce, still spending more on clothes and taxis than working hard, grabbing smokes and coffee on company time. They don't buy my papers though. They buy business magazines with artsy covers they never read, trying to look like they have. Guess that's the life of a salary girl. Call me a cynic, but I think nice legs still get good jobs. Seems the experts think so too. Either way, the salary girls are turning heads while turning a paycheck. Looks like yesterday and today aren't so different. I guess this is what all the protests in the 1970s came up with - nothing. What do you think of this 1955 Pinup? Me? I get paid by the paper. Every paper adds a little ...