The summer of 2008, I lived in a small but tidy apartment in Chicago.  In addition to being a songwriter, I was working for the City of Evanston as an event coordinator. I paid my limited bills on time, took…

When I was a kid, I used to hate money.  I remember wishing we could just go back to the barter system.

As an adult, I still hate money, and I wish we could just go back to the…

Albert Einstein once said, "The only source of knowledge is experience."

That man was onto something.

Reader, I'm going to keep it very short tonight.  (I spent a long weekend in Chicago at a bachelorette party at a…

I'm missing out on today by missing what's gone away.

That's the mantra I made for myself yesterday.  Rhyming helps me remember things.  Super nerd, here.

This week, I found myself reminiscing until it became painful.  I longed…

A doozie of a rainstorm moved into town on Saturday morning while I was working the outdoor market. In the middle of it all, I looked across the market to a neighboring vendor's tent, and I caught the eye of…

Last week, I had a hard time getting things done.  I felt lethargic and uninspired.  I didn't write much music, and the food I made at my restaurant was mediocre at best.

I blame the pollen count.

Lucky…

A few months ago, my old friend Jimmy asked me to teach a songwriting workshop at The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.  Which is a huge honor; the school is my happy place.  

But putting together…

Yesterday morning--with a hundred better things to do--I rented a 12-person van and drove my restaurant staff into Chicago.  On the drive in, we wore matching Farm & Fleet shirts, drank coffee, and sang The Cure way too loud (funny…

This week, I let a lot of small things get to me. 

I hate when I do that.

Not only because it's a waste of time, but also because those things are just not going to matter in…

I wrote a blog last week, but for some reason, it didn't post.  I guess it was gobbled up by the internet.  Alas, those deep thoughts have been lost for good.

Such is life.

Anyhoo, the big news…

When I was single and living in my studio apartment in Chicago, I used to dream of one day owning a place where I could pair food and music.  In this magical place, a musician would play a concert, and…

On Wednesday night, I dreamt that I was sitting at the piano and wrote the most beautiful melody I'd ever heard.   I woke up at 2:37 am with the tune still stuck in my head.  So I snuck downstairs and…