Winter in Chicago

I've been here 15 years and I've never seen it come this early. Horizontal snowfall, sub-zero wind chill. You know the drill. From the Belmont L stop looking east. Shot this past Sunday, Dec. 12.

Keep the X in X-Mas

For a while now it has seemed to me that Christmas keeps coming earlier and earlier. That is the trimmings, trappings and excessive garnish that is Christmas and not Christmas itself. Christmas still is the 25th of December, though you wouldn't think it's that far away in time. I wanted to keep a close watch to see if this is true. Here's what I've noticed:

• 31 October - Christmasland in Menards in Wisconsin already up and running, selling Christmas trees and other decorations.
• 05 November - First Christmas t.v. commercial observed (I don't watch too much t.v. so this is the first one I've seen).
• 15 November and 16 November - Christmas decorations and lighting going up on Michigan Avenue and the side streets of The Miracle Mile
• Also 15 November - roughly 20 percent of t.v. commerials have holiday themes

Finally, realistic warnings about the dangers of nicotine addiction (otherwise know as cigarette smoking) that will be required to run on cigarette packs. The FDA is seeking public comment on these but I didn't see mentioned how to comment. They will be prominently featured. See examples:

• Cigarettes are addictive (really graphic)
• Smoking can harm your children (what a cutie!)
• Lung disease (that toe tag, like a cigarette, is a really suave accessory)
• Cancer (love the way the bold letter "I" in the second example turns the phrase into "I Cause Cancer")
• Strokes and heart disease (more graphic realism)
• Smoking during pregnancy (a pacifier is to a baby as a cigarette is to an adult but you would think that adults would know better)
• Deadly (Wow! I can't believe Phillip Morris couldn't squash this through their well-paid lobbyists)
• Fatal lung disease in nonsmokers (for those who think 'the world is my smoking lounge and ashtray')
• Quitting reduces risk (so does not starting---love the toilet bowl)

Why does it feel like somebody's watching me?

The sculpture across from the Harold Washington Library in the Loop. The eye is appropriately bloodshot due to the atmospheric conditions downtown and irritation from the wind in the Windy City.