Mary Schmich – Page 7

A patron sits at Kusanya Cafe coffeehouse on June 13, 2019 in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.

Column: As the light returns, it’s time to make a list of what we’ve missed, and appreciated, in this dark year

December 18, 2020 at 7:16 p.m.

And now the light comes back. At 4:02 a.m. Monday, Chicago time, the winter solstice arrives. It's the moment we begin the slow climb out of the darkness, like weary...

President Donald Trump gestures while departing the White House in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020, en route to the Army-Navy football game at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.

Column: It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Ov …: A new poem about Donald Trump

December 15, 2020 at 6:58 p.m.

This is the latest installment, and close to the last, of my four-year rhyming chronicle of the presidency of Donald Trump, based, as always, on his words and acts. IT...

Column: This is the best holiday song of 2020 — the year of muddling through somehow

December 11, 2020 at 6:17 p.m.

Today, we announce the Best Holiday Song of 2020, the year of muddling through somehow. If you guessed that "I'll Be Home for Christmas" would win this award, it's a...

Two pedestrians in the 4000 block of West Congress Parkway on Dec. 9, 2020, in Chicago.

Column: Walking through the pandemic. It’ll save your sanity.

December 11, 2020 at 5:00 a.m.

I've been out walking. And walking and walking and walking and walking and walking. In the past nine months, walking, above all else, has saved my sanity. And I know...

People walk through a tunnel of holiday lights during the annual ZooLights display at the Lincoln Park Zoo on Dec. 7, 2020.

Column: Oh the virus outside is frightful, but the Wi-Fi’s so delightful. Holiday lyrics with a COVID spin.

December 9, 2020 at 5:00 a.m.

Humor is a time-honored antidote to fear and sadness, so many people are finding comfort in this COVID-shadowed season by singing and writing parody holiday songs. Here are my entries...

Columnist Eric Zorn plays the violin while columnist Mary Schmich plays piano during a 2015 performance of Songs of Good Cheer charity fundraising event at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Column: Songs of Good Cheer is going virtual. Here’s everything you need to know to join our annual holiday singalong

November 28, 2020 at 5:00 a.m.

This is your official invitation to the 22nd annual Songs of Good Cheer — and the first to be held online. Songs, as we informally call it, is the holiday...

Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago's public health commissioner, talks Sept. 14, 2020, about the city's contact tracing efforts.

Column: Odds are you don’t know it, but Dr. Arwady is a poet

November 24, 2020 at 3:51 p.m.

The night Allison Arwady sat down to write a rhyming poem about COVID-19 — a limited poetic genre — the first lines that popped into her head were these: We...

Margaret Orozco pushes her bike to get tested for coronavirus outside Loretto Hospital in Chicago on April 27, 2020.

Column: It’s not too late to decide to stay home for Thanksgiving

November 20, 2020 at 6:47 p.m.

It's not too late to decide to stay home for Thanksgiving. It may break your heart, and maybe someone else's, not to have the Thanksgiving of your plans and dreams....

Zooming with someone over Thanksgiving dessert is one tip from Make Room @ The Table.

Column: How to enjoy Thanksgiving alone. How to help someone who’s alone enjoy it.

November 20, 2020 at 5:00 a.m.

Let's get one thing out of the way right away: Not everyone who lives alone is lonely. Not everyone who will spend Thanksgiving alone will mind the solitude. Solitude can...

Azalee Irving, 17, takes care of her nephew, Ja'King Jones, 4, at home in Chicago on Nov. 13, 2020. Irving made a three-minute film titled "Little Hands, Big Help" about taking care of her nephew.

Column: This filmmaking program allows young women ‘cycle breakers’ to share what they see in the world

November 16, 2020 at 10:45 a.m.

On Monday evening, Azalee Irving's short documentary will be streamed by the Gene Siskel Film Center's Black Harvest Film Festival. That would be an exciting honor for anyone. For Irving,...

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