strange

I was just watching something on YouTube that had people from anywhere other than the Midwest trying to pronounce Midwestern place names. As you might imagine, it was pretty humorous to watch folks take on names that we're fairly familiar with, but they had never heard of.

Maybe you're an expert Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kind of person. You know, the sort of individual that just has the skill to handle any and all projects. The sort of person who snorts when someone says "I Googled how to do ________." Or, maybe you're like me (and millions of others like me) who head straight for the world's foremost authority on everything to help you when you can't make head

In the interests of full disclosure, I must tell you that I am married to a woman of Swedish decent (how did I find someone like that in Rockford?). Around holiday time, I've come to expect things like krup kakar, lutefisk, vörtbröd, and, if I play my cards right, glögg. At no time, however, in 25 years of marriage, has she suggested we set fire to a goat.

I don't want to be one of those bitter, old, "back-in-my-day-everything-was-better-than-it-is-now" kind of guys, but...it seems that there used to be a lot more creativity in Halloween treats than we have today.

So many things in life come with the question, "But, what's the catch?" A Tucson, Arizona man probably should have asked that when he saw a sign offering a "free puppy."

As a kid, I saw a lot of museums. I've said before that I've seen most of this country from the back seat of my parents car, but we did stop the car occasionally, and when we did it was often in front of a museum of some sort. If you want museums, Illinois is your spot.

Ever since I was a kid and saw the Academy Award winning documentary "Scared Straight," I've had a pretty simple goal: Don't go to jail. Period. Full stop. However, it's difficult to avoid trouble with law enforcement if you aren't aware of the goofy little things that can be illegal in one municipality but not another. Illinois has several of those goofy little laws.

If you take the time to look over the books in any given state or municipality, you'll probably find a bunch of laws or statutes that just don't make a lot of sense. Illinois is no different.

When our country was young and ever-expanding, we looked to international cities for inspiration in naming our new cities and towns. Sometimes, we just added a "New" in front of an old-world city name, like New Amsterdam, New York, and  New Orleans. Sometimes, we just took the same name, stuck it on our map...then began mispronouncing it. Here in Illinois, we've got several places like t

I know what you're saying. "Gosh, where can I go to get my hair lit on fire and then cut with a sword?" You're probably one of those "old-school" people when it comes to getting your hair cut and styled. You go to a place where they use old-timey things like scissors, combs and brushes, or maybe a razor...