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Author Archives: Mr. Dan Kelly

Chicago writer interested in many things.

Unmaking Christmas

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Note: These daily blogs are intended to help me keep my hand in at writing. Also, notes for possible future articles and suchlike. Don’t look for finished work here. I’m experimenting! Putting away the Christmas decorations is never a sad thing for me. It’s one last whirl of holiday glee. One last whiff of cinnamon, […]

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Remembering Regret

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

When I was younger, I was filled with a constant sense that I had to accomplish certain things, or else I’d regret it. I pictured my fifty-something self, fat and balding, half-mad, half-blind, and filled with hate, looking back and wishing I’d grabbed the gusto in my youth. Well, the view is different from here. […]

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Gorgeosity

Monday, January 2, 2023

One of the benefits of living in Highland Park is its closeness to Lake Michigan. Less well-known is our proximity to a series of 30 lovely ravines. While the shoreline has a number of nice beaches, it’s the ravines that stand out. Snakily winding their way into the interior, they’re large but subtle, left behind […]

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New Year’s Resolution—Blog a Day

Sunday, January 1, 2023

It’s after midnight, but it’s been a busy day, and I spent it finishing up an article I’m submitting to the Chicago Reader. Last year was not a great one for writing outside my job. Hilariously, I’ve never been more productive, but most of my writing of the past two years went toward my current job. […]

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Where Are the Celebrations?

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

In my last blog post in 2020, I wrote about a promise to my son. That when COVID had passed and we were all free to move safely about the country, there’d be celebrations everywhere. Life made a liar of me.

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Where You Can Find Me

Sunday, December 18, 2022

  So, here’s the breakdown on my social media status.   I’ll stick with Twitter until it turns to shit. If Elon moves on and the new owners aren’t evil, I’ll remain. https://www.twitter.com/mrdankelly I’m on Instagram, but that’s just photos, natch. https://www.instagram.com/mrdankelly/   Follow me on these other Twitter-like sites. Whichever gets the most followers […]

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I Have Always Practiced Social Isolation—Pt. 3

Friday, April 3, 2020

Keeping the kids busy hasn’t been terribly hard. Keeping them from engaging in periodic sibling head-butting is the main issue, though they’ve shown remarkable restraint (why is restraint always remarkable?) and have yet to bludgeon, guillotine, or otherwise massacre each other. As mentioned, until their school sets up tele-classes, or what have you, we’ve given […]

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I Have Always Practiced Social Isolation—Pt. 2

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

My wife Michael pointed out to me how strange it is to read tweets and posts by people who claim to be bored already. I can’t speak for the rest of the world, or even all of America, but I feel fairly comfortable in thinking I represent the, well, fairly comfortable. Even if I wasn’t […]

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I Have Always Practiced Social Isolation—Pt. 1

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

A friend of mine, Eric Kirsammer, suggested I regularly post something during this period of social isolation. Some kind of online diary, “in your style” as he put it. Presumably he meant with an ironic, sarcastic, and semi-bitter tone, owing to the complete absence of that sort of writing from the Interweb. Ohhhh, that’s what […]

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Third Coast Review Horror Stories Project Thingmabob

Monday, October 21, 2019

So, here’s what I’m looking for, all in one place. 1. Share a paragraph or three about a story that truly scared you or creeped you out. It can be based on a childhood reading memory, something you perused last night, or anything in between. This is for the literature section, so try to think storytelling […]

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