Today, we celebrate the 21st trip the Earth has taken around the sun since Micheal joined us back in 2005. Given his health situation, I don’t see much celebrating in his future, but we do mark the occasion with a phot of him outside Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, TX, where we saw the stage production of Clue last spring.
Tag / MDM
2025: The Year In Live Performances
After a slow 2024, things rebounded a bit in 2025 for live performances, including a comedy show, a play, a live podcast taping, and a concert.
I kicked off the year on Valentine’s Day, heading downtown to the Chicago Theatre to see comedian Taylor Tomlinson’s Save Me tour. I became a fan thanks to her gig hosting the revived @fter Midnight on CBS and was thrilled to see her perform live, my first comedy show since 2023. After two opening acts, Tomlinson came out and commanded the stage. Once she wrapped things up, she came back out with her openers and did a round of crowd confessions, where they riffed on stories the crowd had texted in earlier. During the show, a snowstorm started to roll through town, which made getting out of the theater and getting home dry and in one piece a bit tricky.
In March, I made my first visit to Texas in 20 years to take Michael to see the stage version of Clue. He was sick when Angelina, Danny, and I saw it in Chicago back in 2022, so the experience was a new one for him. We travelled from his dorm in Dallas to the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth on a Saturday afternoon to enjoy the show based on the movie. Sadly, that was pretty much the total of our interaction, as he kept mostly to his dorm room the remainder of our visit.
I returned to the Chicago Theatre in September for a live taping of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast. Following the podcast taping, featuring Celebrity Jeopardy! champion W. Kamu Bell and Jeopardy Masters finalist Juveria Zaheer, Ken Jennings came out to play an interactive round of Jeopardy with the audience. Sadly, a limited signal prevented me from playing along on my phone, but it was still a good time.
My final live performance of the year came in late September when Garbage performed at the Salt Shed, which was my first ever visit to the new-ish venue. Proclaiming that this was likely to be their final headlining tour of North America, the group put on a great performance that left the audience begging for more. They have some European dates on the schedule for this summer that I would absolutely attend had I won the billion-dollar Powerball, but this might have been the end of the road for me seeing my favorite band.
2025: The Year In Travel
As we ring in the new year, it’s time to take a look back at the few trips out of Illinois that I took last year. Things got off to a quick start in early February when I made my second ever trip to the state of Iowa to take in the Purdue men’s basketball team take on the Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It was an easy win for the Boilermakers, who topped their conference rival 90-81. After a night in Davenport, I returned home early the next morning.
My next trip came at the end of March, when I headed down to Texas for the first time since 2005 to visit Michael at school. After getting a tour of his dorm on Friday, we travelled to Fort Worth on Saturday to see a live production based on the movie Clue. That night, he rested while we picked up groceries and brought him dinner and his laundry.
My final trip of the year came in October, as I made my annual visit to Boston to celebrate birthdays with Angelina. She got out of work early, so we met up at my hotel and caught up before heading to dinner. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel, where she gathered her belongings, and her gifts, before heading back to her apartment.
And that’s it. Here’s hoping 2026 has a little more adventure throughout the year.
Roasting On An Open Fire
We wrap up the year with a photo of Michael posing outside Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue, which we saw last February at the Broadway Playhouse.
Back To School Time
With a lack of Michael pictures to choose from, we start September once again featuring all three kids posing prior to Danny’s graduation dinner at Fair Oaks Farms in Fair Oaks, Indiana. This time, Danny is the only one in a caps and gowns, fighting the wind to keep himself presentable.
Fitbit XI – Week 31
My 30,000-step week streak reaches fifteen weeks, the longest I’ve seen since before the COVID lockdowns of 2020. Things got off to an ok start on Sunday, coming just 14 steps shy of 4200. A walk around the block on Monday pushed me up to 5400 steps. A small decrease on Tuesday left me with 4700 steps as we said goodbye to Michael before he left for school. Another strong day on Wednesday was 22 steps away from 4600. A big drop-off on Thursday left me an even 30 steps short of 4000. Friday turned out to be my low point of the week, finishing with 3700 steps. A return to Rate Field on Saturday finished up the week strong, coming just 6 steps shy of 5800.
Total steps: 32,424
Daily average: 4632
Fitbit XI – Week 28
My 30,000-step week streak continues on, reaching twelve weeks by the skin of my teeth. The week got off to a decent start on Sunday, scoring 4500 steps as I enjoyed the environs of the Rate Club with Michael. Another White Sox game on Monday saw a nice improvement, coming 38 steps shy of 5400. Tuesday and Wednesday tied for the worst days of the week came, finishing with the exact same total that was 39 steps away from 3700. A break in the weather on Thursday led to a walk around the block, which pushed me up to 5000 steps. Another walk on Friday left me only 9 steps shy of 5000. Saturday fell back down again, scoring just 2 more steps than Tuesday and Wednesday’s total.
Total steps: 30,902
Daily average: 4414.6
Fitbit XI – Week 15
A nice week, finishing over 30,000 for the first time in four weeks and having my highest total since going to see Michael in March. The week got off to a decent start on Sunday, finishing with just over 4100 steps. Monday saw a nice improvement, jumping up to 4700 steps. A very small falloff on Tuesday left me 11 steps shy of 4700. My worst day of the week came on Wednesday, falling down to 3900 steps. A day off with a baseball game put me 34 steps away from 5200 on Thursday. A night out on Friday helped me to my best day of the week with 6800 steps. Another trip to see the White Sox at Rate Field on Saturday ended the week with 5200 steps.
Total steps: 34,731
Daily average: 4961.6
No More Teenagers
Today, we celebrate Michael completing his 20th complete trip around the sun, using a photo of him surrounded by Angelina and Danny from last spring as we celebrated college graduations.
Fitbit XI – Week 11
The end of my quick trip to Dallas to see Michael helped keep me above 30,000 steps for the second straight week. The week got off to a good start on Sunday, finishing with 5200 steps after flying home from DFW. Going back to work on Monday left me 26 steps shy of 4000. A small increase on Tuesday put me 28 steps away from 4300. A day filled with meetings led to my worst day of the week on Wednesday, needing 24 additional steps just to reach 2800. A nice bounce back on Thursday had me 12 steps away from 3800. A night out on Friday to celebrate Danny’s new job pushed me up to 4600 steps. Powered by my first visit to Wrigley Field this season, Saturday ended up being my best day of the week, coming in 34 steps shy of 6200.
Total steps: 30,838
Daily average: 4405.4