First of all, I'm a Midwesterner, being from Kansas, and Chicago is basically a big Midwestern cow town. It was built from the stockyards, and everyone is very friendly, and it's at the edge of the tallgrass prairie. There's just a good feel to it.

If you're a producer, you always spend too much money because you want that shot - and you're willing to spend a bundle to get it.

In L.A., everyone is competing for the next job, and in New York, it's pretty much the same thing: competing for a better job.

You need a very good financial person to keep you honest, and to keep track of income and outgo.

A journalist enjoys a privileged position. In exchange for not being able to participate in the rough-and-tumble issues of a community, we are given license to observe it all, based on the understanding that we'll tell everyone what happens fairly and squarely. That's harder than it sounds.

Politics is still the No. 1 sport in town and the scoreboard shows the U.S. attorney's office leading.

I believe that young people are looking for answers to the big questions just like everyone else, and that they respect intelligent comment to help guide them through tough times.