Just got back, late last night, from a brief swoop in to my beloved hometown.
The weather: Thursday, wintry; Friday, spring verging on summer. The Midwest.
Spent some time circumnavigating The Shrine Thursday afternoon. Did so w/ a full belly after gorging on arancini smothered in red sauce and prosciutto sandwiches at Nottoli‘s Italian deli.
Here’s a snapshot I’d been dreaming of taking since I was 11 years old:
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My life is now complete.
Visited w/ family Thursday; my bro Joey and I took the salsiccia con baseball tour. Then headed out to the Fox River valley to visit my lifelong pals, the Wasiks, yesterday.
Friday’s gustatory adventures included a swing down to Chinatown‘s Fieda Bakery (this place is so old-school it doesn’t even have a website) for pork buns and the little moon cakes craved by The Loved One. After that, an attack on Ricobene’s on 26th St. for a week’s supply of pizza slices of just about every stripe the joint offers.
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Coasting
Even while I was away, the sprawling megalopolis of Bloomington, IN, got to swoon to the sounds of my baritone. Thursday, as (almost) always, was Big Talk day on WFHB‘s Daily Local News. My guests were Jess Levandoski and Jess Reed, a couple of the powerhouses who make the Middle Coast Film Festival go.
Catch the podcast of the feature here and the (mostly) unedited original interview here.
Stay tuned next week, Thursday, March 30, at 5:00pm for the Daily Local News and my next Big Talk, this time with novelist Annette Oppenlander.
Oppenlander
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Hands On Hiller
Whaddya doing this afternoon? Nothing? Something? No matter. Get on over to the Book Corner to meet and get a signed copy of Nancy Hiller’s latest book, Making Things Work: Tales from a Cabinetmaker’s Life.
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The details: 3:00pm, 100 N. Walnut St. 812.339.1522. See you there.
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