Bye, bye Mickey D

     

Thanks McDonald's. You may have broken my junk food habit. 
      I try to eat healthy when I am at home, but when I am on the road I reward myself with the tasty, high-fat offerings of McDonald's. I look forward to it.
      Today I was driving home to Grand Rapids from Ann Arbor, and even though my friend Kym had sent me off with a fine breakfast of granola and fresh fruit, about an hour into the rainy trip I was searching for golden arches. I spotted a billboard and took the next exit. But just as I was about to pull into the lot I slammed on the brakes. It was closed for remodeling. As I turned around on the street that held no other traffic, I saw two other motorists make the same mistake.
       I was angry. They advertise to get us to pull off the highway. Don't they have some obligation to mark that billboard "Closed for Remodeling" instead of pulling us off the highway for nothing? My ire was fueled by the fact that I had a similar experience in July as I was making my monthly jaunt from Grand Rapids to O'Fallon, Illinois. The McDonald's in Joliet where I usually stop was closed for remodeling. I figured the work would be finished when I took my August trip but no, it was still closed.
         I guess I should be glad that the company is trying to keep their locations up-to-date, but I hate to be inconvenienced. That's why I like fast food in the first place!
        So I was grumbling to myself this morning as I continued my rainy trip. A few exits later I saw another sign for McDonald's and took the exit. Again I slammed on the brakes. It was closed for resurfacing of the parking lot.
        "That's it," I shouted as I pulled into the Subway across the street. I ordered my first ever breakfast sandwich from Subway with options to choose green peppers and pepper jack cheese to spark up my morning ham and egg. The double whammy of closed McDonald's has sent me in search of a new purveyor of travel treats to merit my business.
          Brand loyalty is influenced by many factors. Over the years I have abandoned several merchants after fairly small slights. For decades I purchased all my clothes at JC Penney. About nine years ago, after a credit card dispute, I vowed never to return and I haven't. I discovered Younkers instead. The quality of the clothes is better and the "Yellow Dot" sale supremely satisfying. I became a big Younkers fan. Unfortunately my purchases were not enough to save the Younkers store at Rivertown Mall, and I am very sad to see it close. But I have no doubt I will find another store worthy of my money.
          And I will find another reward to nibble on the road. No more McDonald's for me. A customer's loyalty should never be taken for granted.

Sparky lights up World Series

 
     Chicago writer Patrick T. Reardon is one of those stylists who can't answer a simple Q&A for the Writers-World Series. He has to turn it into a feature story. And when you read the list of books under his belt, who's to argue with success? Here's a little introduction to the work of "Sparky" Reardon.  His talents are more numerous than his monikers.

Stats:

Name:   Patrick T. Reardon, aka the Paulina Palooka, the Billikin Bomber, the Count of Clout, and Sparky.
Home team: Chicago  
Position:  Utility writer — historian, poet, literary critic, essayist, novelist, reporter, theologian, book reviewer. 
Batting average:  The Loop: The “L” tracks that shaped and saved Chicago (forthcoming from Southern Illinois University Pres   Requiem for David (Silver Birch Press) , Faith Stripped to Its Essence: A Discordant Pilgrimage through Shusaku Endo’s ‘Silence’ (ACTA)   DailyMeditations (with Scripture) for Busy Dads (ACTA),   Woven Lives: 100years in the story of the St. Gertrude faith family (St. Gertrude),    Edith Wharton:Illuminated by ‘The Message’ (ACTA), Starting Out: Reflections for Young People (ACTA) Catholic and Starting Out: Five Challenges and Five Opportunities (ACTA)  Love NeverFails: Spiritual Reflections for Dads of All Ages (ACTA)

Website: patricktreardon.com

Opening Pitch:

 

    Throughout a long career, “Sparky” Reardon has demonstrated the ability to play virtually every position on the field, including editor-manager, and produce a high wins-above-replacement figure. 

     The Count of Clout spent more than 30 years in the Journalism League, nabbing several Peter Lisagor Awards for investigative writing and art criticism and several nominations for the Pulitzer Prize.  In fact, in 2001, he was a member of the Chicago Tribune team that took home the Pulitzer for explanatory journalism.

     In the Author League, the Billikin Bomber published Requiem for David, a book of poems that focused on his childhood and the suicide of his brother.  He has authored several meditation books, and an in-depth literary-theological study of Shusaku Endo’s famed novel Silence. As an essayist, he has hit home runs for Crain’s Chicago Business, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune and National Catholic Reporter, as well as Reality in Ireland.

      Interviewed recently after an exhaustive session of revising his long poem “The lost tribes,” to appear in June in Under a Warm Green Linden, the Paulina Palooka was asked if he’d prefer playing every day at the same position, such as historian or essayist. 

      “Not really,” he responded wiping the sweat from his face.  “I enjoy the challenge of playing all these different positions, and I think, in a real way, I bring the skills of all the other ones to any position I’m playing.  For instance, there’s an element of poetry in my writing of history, and almost a conversation between my essays and my poems.  And meditations?  They’re basically a hybrid of poems and essays.”

      The free agent market has been good to Sparky, landing him a contract with Southern Illinois University Press for his groundbreaking book about the impact of the elevated Loop on the fortunes of Chicago.  He also has several smaller manuscripts under consideration from publishers, including a novella.

      “I love being on the same playing field as my present-day heroes, Robert Caro, William Cronon and Haki Madhubuti, all of whom I’ve had the chance to meet and get to know,” Sparky said. 

       “And just the history!  Taking the field in the same stadiums as Slammin’ Saul Bellow, Edie Wharton, Mark-the-Shark Twain and Wild Bill Shakespeare — well, who could ask for more?”