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What it’s like to be unemployed
However, I do appreciate the fact our government provides a temporary safety net during tough economic times. In fact, I want to personally thank the state workers at the local employment security office who have been nothing but professional, kind and helpful.

My life as a guide at the Lincoln law offices
I was out of school, out of work and out of ideas when the new owners of the Tinsley Building hired me. It was 1968, and they had just restored the building at Sixth and Adams, believing it prudent to preserve the only remaining Springfield building in which Abraham Lincoln maintained a law office.

Healthcare hypocrites
Try this: “H-Y-P-O-C-O-N-G-R- E-S-S.” The hypocongress consists of those Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats who have risen up on their hind legs in recent weeks to snarl and howl at any mention of a government role in meeting America’s health care needs.

newsquirkpoem #1
you know you could write a poem a week from any item in the quirky news column of illinois times take that funeral home burglar when the cops came he lay on a viewing room table played possum but they saw him breathing now when we were little and...

LETTERS
On Monday, Oct. 26, my husband and I went to the Capital City Bar and Grill in Capital City Shopping Center for their $1 hamburger, fries, beer and Monday Night Football. What we got was an earful of racial slurs from two drunks, an accepting demeanor from the other patrons at the bar and no reaction from the employees.

Reformers capitulate on campaign finance
The Republicans are badly outnumbered in both the Illinois House and Senate, they don’t raise as much money as the Democrats, their party has been on the outs with voters since Gov. George Ryan went down in flames and President George W. Bush alienated most of the state.

New tool could clear wrongfully convicted
Springfield private investigator Bill Clutter says the two men may be innocent. A member of the Downstate Innocence Project, which investigates criminal cases in which Illinois inmates may have been wrongly convicted, Clutter is hoping to exonerate...

COMPUTER MEMORY
This week the Illinois State Museum introduced a solution with its new Audio-Video Barn Web site. The two-year Oral History of Illinois Agriculture project showcases audio and video interviews with more than 130 people involved in the state’s agriculture industry.

JOGS ON ICE
The Frost Toes running group is a band of Springfield runners training for the Springfield Frostbite Festival’s 10-mile foot race on Dec. 6.

Overflowing the overflow
Springfield’s temporary overflow shelter for the homeless opened its doors to those in need on Sunday, but local homelessness agencies project it, too, will overflow regularly this season.

Bike council gets down to work
Sykuta, the executive director of the Illinois Petroleum Council, was named on Sept. 21 to the nine-person volunteer committee. The group’s main tasks are to analyze and provide recommendations for bicycling routing, operation and safety in Springfield.

Dodging silent killers
When Roy Wilkerson saw an ad last summer offering four screening tests for stroke and related illnesses for a total of only $120, the 83-year-old Springfield resident thought: “Why not?” Although his father died of heart disease at the age of 85,...

Writing of the state. The state of writing.
Close your eyes and think of Illinois. Take your time. Free associate. I’m not a mind reader but I guess you see fields of corn and red barns against blue skies. Now think architecture. Of course, Frank Lloyd Wright. History — who else but honest Abe? Politics — no not our ex-governor.

Lincoln brought politics into the war? Really?
Apparently there’s still more to say, and Work does so in some 234 pages with an index and end notes that stretch for another 50 pages. The book is jampacked with information and research, so much so that the reader can have a hard time connecting with the large of cast of characters who served, and often confounded, the commander-in-chief.

Trees made him worth his salt
The 19th century witnessed America’s transformation from a rural, agrarian economy and culture into a restless, 20th century industrial giant and imperial power.

Behind the bowtie, a politician of uncommon integrity
Fast forward to the long political career of Paul Simon and one can easily see a real-life incarnation of Jefferson Smith.

A poetic roller coaster — hold on for the ride
If you think you don’t like poetry, you should try Kevin Stein’s. He’s a poet for hip, cynical, post-modern, morally ambiguous times. Perhaps these poem titles are a clue that his work is nothing like your forced sixth-grade recitations: “Middle-aged Adam’s and Eve’s Bedside Tables”; “On Thinking of the Second Time They Shoveled Up Mr.

A portrait of the landscape in barns
In 1885 Lester Teeple built his beautiful 16-sided barn with a cupola in Kane County. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Just a week after Kanfer photographed it, the barn collapsed from high winds. This barn, which suburban Elgin has grown around, is on the book cover.

The first First Husband is the president’s private eye
Joseph Flynn, a Springfield writer, is the author of a number of well reviewed novels. In this, his latest thriller, the plot is familiar — the bad guys go after their target by going after the person our hero cares about most. In this case that person also happens to be the first U.

Photographer, rollin’ on the river
Who wants another coffee table book? Another big picture book to clutter things up? Well — we do, this one. It’s us, guys — where we live and breathe and do our everyday living, in central Illinois — along the Illinois River. In late 2005 David Zalaznik, a photographer for the Peoria Journal-Star,.

Good vibes from the ancient art of Reiki
“We are all connected.” So begins Gay Stinnett’s lovely new book about her experiences with the ancient art (she calls it the “wondrous gift”) of Reiki (pronounced raykey). The International Center for Reiki Training defines the practice as “a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing.

Affair in a Chicago heat wave
They agree to call each other every day to be certain that neither has died overnight. To be safe, Robert also has his friend Epstein, a more stable and well-adjusted friend, call him every third morning to ascertain his well-being. Robert’s worst fear is that he will die alone in his room.

The famous architect who was never alone
The earlier publication was based on a series of interviews of 39 “men and women who have committed their lives to the perpetuation of the ideals of community life and all that entails in a fellowship based on organic architecture.” By contrast, Communities of Frank Lloyd Wright: Taliesin and Beyond.

Connecting readers and Illinois writers
Starting in 1984, the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book began to establish affiliate centers in the 50 states. Today, there is a state Center for the Book in all 50 states. The Illinois Center for the Book is located in the Illinois State Library at Second and Capitol Streets.

Getting away close to home
Whether it’s spring when they’re carpeted with wildflowers, the fall when maples form a golden canopy overhead, or winter when snow blankets the ground and frosts the trees; whenever I take a walk in the woods across from our house, I’m struck by the fact that people travel far distances to experience such beauty and serenity.

RealCuisine Recipe
“We start with fresh eggs and heavy cream to create one of the most delightful and smooth breakfast bakes around. Egg Strata is lightly seasoned and full of abundant flavor and taste throughout. This savory egg dish easily adapts to vegetables and/or cheese.

Movie times
PLEASE NOTE: Kerasotes listings are for Friday, Nov. 6 through Thursday, Nov. 12. Bracketed show times are Saturday and Sunday only matinees or Friday and Saturday only late shows. All times are subject to change. For updates on Kerasotes films, call 1- 800-FANDANGO.

Jackson documentary sings an incomplete tune
After we witness heartfelt testimonials from the many dancers who’ve come to audition for the show and see the intensive cattle call they were put through in order to be cast, we see the gloved one tackling “You Wanna Be Starting Something,”...

Beyond the bars
Looking over recent Now Playings I noticed we’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time in the bars and at booze-related venues lately.

PUB CRAWL
Submit calendar listings at www.illinoistimes.com.

BAND SPOTLIGHT
Good friends can make for good bands and Daddy’$ Money does just that. Bill and Lori McKenzie, Troy Roark, Jack White and Chas Blythe all first met at the Jimmy’s Sub Shoppe open mic about 16 years ago while Angela Starr ran into the bunch at another open mic.

MUSIC
No need for your lawn chair at this indoor weekend festival. The concert rooms are fully stacked with seats and a lineup cushioned with the likes of 2009 International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainers of the Year, Dailey and Vincent;...

THE CALENDAR
Submit calendar listings at www.illinoistimes.com.

HISTORY
Pictured sits internationally-acclaimed poet Vachel Lindsay’s home today (located directly south of the governor’s mansion). Celebrate with local poets and musicians who perform Saturday including: The Vachel Lindsay Repertory Group (10:30 a.m.), Walter Lipe (11:30 a.

THEATER
523-2787 $16-$15.

ART
Three Springfield artists and Prairie Art Alliance members have their work featured this November and December. Tiffany Beane paints a striking oil portrait of Obama, titled “Moving Forward with Faith.” She exhibits works in other various media crafted with the goal in mind to produce an emotion in the viewer.

PUBLIC NOTICES
NOTICE UNDER ASSUMED BUSINESS NAME ACT STATE OF ILLINOIS COUNTY OF SANGAMON TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Notice is hereby given that on 20th day of October, 2009 a Certificate of Ownership of business was filed in the Office of the County Clerk of Sangamon County, stating that ANGIE S.

NEWS QUIRKS
A man told police he was eating hot dogs in a park in Worcester, Mass., when another man approached, lifted up his shirt to show what appeared to be a handgun, grabbed one of the hot dogs and began eating it. “In doing so,” police Officer Joseph Francese noted in his report, “mustard spilled onto the suspect’s shirt.

LOCAL BIZ DIRECTORY
Candles, Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, and Arbonne. Home

THE ADVICE GODDESS
What’s with women lately? I try to make friendly conversation at the bar and they instantly go crabby and negative — spewing unimaginative canned lines like “The only guys I meet around here are cops or government workers.” (Meanwhile, we’re sitting in a giant sports bar between a government building and a police station).