Jul 03 2008
About ChicagoDads
The avenues are Chicago and Dads. You would think that this blog meets at the intersection. It should, that is, meet at the intersection. But I tend to meander a lot. A very lot. As a result, there will be many days, posts, weeks and series where I quite literally concentrate on a stretch of roadway in the city - such as Logan Boulevard or Milwaukee Avenue, both of which I live nearby. Or I could give a brief view into a trip inside the dirty undergirds of the city’s politics. Or maybe a bit of both.I’m also known to just be feeling around this whole being a dad thing. And I suspect that a lot of other people are too. And I may not be the most secure person on the face of the planet, so my wanderings might take me to the chewed-out crevices of our daughter’s crib, to the sparkle in her eyes as I get down to play with her at her level. Or, more frequently, to the follicles that fall out of my hair as I lay motionless except for the pulling of the hair and convulsions of the body and wonder, yet again, where did I go wrong? How much sugar did I give this baby and why did I bother to do it again?
However, there is a common theme running through these posts like a moral string: Legacy. What do we leave behind? How are we making our families, our communities and our shared world better places to live?
And yet, my hope is that this blog is somehow even more universal. There is a generalist in me that wants to be appreciated, loved and feared by all, not just fathers or Chicagoans. I want people to pull out from my city ideas and fragments of their cities, towns, cul-de-sacs. I want people to identify with aspects of being a father whether they are a mother, aunt, teacher, big brother, mentor, or care-taker. But maybe I’m pulling too many loose strings together.
Truly, I just want to welcome everyone, to open the door to all and let each come to dine at my great banquet of lovely, meaty (or veggy, if you prefer) essays.
And, above all, “I want,” as the great manager Michael Scott once put it, “people to fear how much they love me.”
Yes. I would like that alot.
(You can further get to know me through my personal blog at Left Cheek.)
