Getting out of the house is the secret to staying alert through the droning hours leading up to the big meal, even if you don't go farther than 7-Eleven for another six-pack.

Thanksgiving without tension is like a Thanksgiving without turkey. It can be done, but it is not the norm.

Don't waste your time on jealousy.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

For some Chicago expats, food is the medicine that blunts the pain of separation.

Opening day. All you have to do is say the words and you feel the shutters thrown wide, the room air out, the light pour in. In baseball, no other day is so pure with possibility. No scores yet, no losses, no blame or disappointment. No hangover, at least until the game's over.

The Hunger Games' isn't for everybody. But neither is 'Anna Karenina.