4th of July Fireworks from ralph braseth on Vimeo.
I’m not sure if they are the best in the country, but Winnetka certainly has the best firework display I’ve ever seen. Really wonderful viewing area filled with families. No drunks. Lots of kids. Lots of smiling. What a great experience. Experience courtesy of Herb Ritchell, a colleague and friend from Loyola School of Communication.
Throughout their lives, we say goodbye to our children. The first day of school can traumatize an otherwise healthy adult. We say goodbye at the gates of summer camp. We say goodbye to junior high as they transition to high school and it feels like it’s a biggie at the time. We say goodbye the first time they board a plane without us. We say goodbye as they turn around and head for their dorm room in college. Saying goodbye in New York is far different than any other goodbye. As Bailey hopped in a cab heading to his room while I hopped in a cab heading back to LGA Airport, I said goodbye to a 2O-year-old kid who will spend the next ten weeks at a CBS internship. The internship will provide him with some growth opportunity, the ten weeks in New York without a parent in driving range will turn him into an adult. A transition will have started that cannot be reversed. He will learn not to call when faced with a problem. He will get lost and figure it out by himself. He’ll meet some great people and some not so nice people. He’ll begin to assess motives, unspoken language cues and he will start the process of figuring out where he belongs in the big world. As a parent, I hope I’ve done my job by preparing him to leave me. He will always come home after these 1O weeks, no question about that, but he’ll never be coming home to stay. It’s time to check out those wings that up to this point have been used, but only within pickup distance. I know he’s ready, I have to believe that, but what about me? Am I ready? That’s the adult part I was talking about. It doesn’t matter if I’m ready. Coming, going, leaving, staying is no longer my choice. It belongs to the kid who just hopped into a NYC taxi cab.
A four-star, French-owned, hotel in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.
left, James Cafarelli, House of Blues, right, Bertrand Goldman, Marina City, middle, father and master of modern architecture, Mies van der Rohe.
This would have been an average I live in the city and don’t give a damn about anything shot, but it’s a complete BS shot. The lady on the ground does not like the two CTA employees who work this stop, when she sees them, she lays on the ground acting to be passed out. Otherwise, she sits on the bench listening to the El musicians or chatting with any stranger willing to speak.
playa del carmen, mexico, may 2013
It could have been the lat. 
e 60s in California, but it’s Playa del Carmen, Mexico, may 2013, carribean, old vw bug
The John Hancock Building dominates the Chicago skyline. Although I knew it, I didn’t know WHY the John Hancock has a timeless nature and will continue to be relevant and inspiring architecture 5O years from now. It took viewing it from afar without other large buildings blocking the sight of its splendor. Although it not three sided, it is in the shape of a pyramid giving a huge nod and tip of the hat to the Golden Age of Egypt. As a rule, and based only on my polling, men like the building far more than women. More power. Less grace.
The Bellingham Sun 