Solace in a Book

Thomas G. Fiffer: Finding my resolve

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Finding my resolve “Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant.” – Joan Didion When I first learned I was infertile in the spring of 1996, I thought I could handle it. After all, I had been through tragedy before and come out whole. Tragedy was no stranger to my family. When I was two, my oldest brother had been partially paralyzed in a high-school wrestling accident. Later, he went  to Yale and the University of Chicago Law School, onto a successful career and … [Read more...]

Glimpse of Solace: Ants and peonies

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Last weekend I spent a good part of Saturday trying to make the most of the late afternoon sun and take some interesting photographs. Alas, my efforts amounted to nothing more than experimentation.  As an afterthought, I took a few snaps of this peony bud. Then I went back the next day and the ants had finished their work. It's a symbiotic relationship. Do you have a photo you'd like to share? Hit me up: weighedwords at gmail.com … [Read more...]

Chicago is “lit”

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This is one of Chicago’s big literary weekends with Printers Row Lit Fest on June 7-8. It’s the the 30th anniversary of this celebration of the written word and this year’s featured authors include James Patterson, Marlo Thomas, Walter Mosley and many, many more. NewCity announced its list of 50 Chicagoans who really book. Are you on the list? Maybe not, but it will give you some ideas for new books to read. The Guild Literary Complex threw a 25th birthday bash; one … [Read more...]

Words don’t fail me

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Hiya. It's been 16 days since I last posted. Wish I could say there was a reason but . . . maybe there have been a couple, the first being that I have been unmotivated. Sometimes I feel like I am drowning in blather. FB, Twitter, email all bring me information that proves to be superfluous and sometimes distracting. Kim and Kanye share space with the 200 kidnapped girls in Nigeria. Lately everything seems noisy to me. So I feel disinclined to add to the chatter, especially … [Read more...]