mopinko
mopinko's Journalanyone have a tip to find old professional licenses?
my grandpa and my ggrandpa were both farriers in chicago. ggramps had a blacksmith's shop. i think the biz might go back 1 more generation aw well. that would be the guy who came here for ireland in that branch of the fam.
gramps was 14 when he died, and tried to take it over, but couldnt cut it.
so he made his living as a farrier. i think they would have needed licenses. that would tell me where the shop was, etc.
as i started to post this thread i remembered that uic has a huge collection of early municipal records. so, i hit them up, chatted w a librarian who couldnt find anything. he suggested i send an email to the special collections librarian, which i did.
i have no idea if there even was a license required for those trades in those years. but a farriers license is a thing. if not that, hoping they will find some business records.
anyone ever used this kind of record to fill out your story?
fix foster care
so, a friend of mine from my days on the board of my ward dem committee, is jay paul deretany.
he is one of chicago's most successful personal injury attorneys, and he ran for judge and asked for our endorsement. we formed a mutual admiration society right then and there and have stayed in touch.
one day a judge assigned him to defend a young man in who had barely survived his time in foster care from the kind of charges kids like that him end up catching- drugs, assaults...
and off he went on a crusade to change the foster care system.
he wrote and produced a movie, 'foster boy', w shaquille o'neil. if you havent seen it, find it and watch it.
so, he shared this petition of fb today-
https://fixfostercare.org/?fbclid=IwAR2t7-UAqgsq-7n1Av12TxGX3Ue0q22WrYboycZUkvEPBOFhoiU-dmPpzTc
as well as this radio interview-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-s_xVA8BfW6RoOTMAulo9v4pCAXPRsNp/view?fbclid=IwAR0XjnU1EHxLAPwAgBV5unuZ18GvWCEQLzv-w6hzz5JxEtSxMNDns4z0I1M
20 minutes, full of good advice to fix this broken god damned system where 40% of the kids who age out end up dead, incarcerated, or homeless w/in 4 yrs. including how to get involved and make a difference.
please take a minute to sign this petition, and listen if you can find 20.
ftrt, jay is gay, married, has no kids of his own. imho evolution gave us gay people because it figured out that 2 people are not enough to raise kids. dont know a gay person who isnt some kid's wingman.
who wishes we still had caller id?
i mean, i wish people i call could have my id.
any legit company probably wishes they could signal customers that it's a legit call. my vm says if you arent in my contacts, i'm not answering your call. but if i had a clue, i'd pick up a lot of calls. like the good old days.
sure, they'll start spoofing those soon. but hey, a fake id is a lot easier to share w others than a spoofed phone number. so, limited downside imho.
am i the only one?
about tomorrow- here is new york
so, i went to nyc that october. as a working artist at the time, i felt it was almost a duty to see it. it was the only time i did what w told me to do.
the smoke and smell of death were still belching out of the manholes. i smelled it when i stepped out of the airport in newark.
they were just starting to hose down the ash.
i was walking around soho, and saw a huge line, wrapped around the block, to get into a gallery.
what it was was- here is new york.
it was a collection of photos of every day new yorkers, hung from wires, filling the gallery.
it was the most incredible sight. part of why the line was so long was that you looked at it all, and you just froze. or cried.
they were still taking submissions, so when i got home i submitted a few of mine. they dont come up in the search, tho.
they later published a big book of them.
they put it all online, and it's still there.
https://911digitalarchive.org/collections/show/260
chicago was just voted the second most beautiful city in the world.
an online poll from timeout. statistically crap, i am sure.
but i love my city w all my heart. i think there is no better place to live. we have everything civilization has to offer, and a fair bit of wild, too.
also voted friendliest, again. 2&3 in a bunch of categories.
https://www.timeout.com/chicago/news/chicago-was-just-voted-the-2nd-most-beautiful-city-in-the-world-090921?fbclid=IwAR3BtiWlxh0_U-64mGZeJAiRijeR3hHkPJquD-6dntr5fK9fcBN0XEmiEmo
ok, who wants to hear my good news?
so, i put up this thread about my son a while back, https://www.democraticunderground.com/1266706
and today is a most peculiar and unexpected breakthrough day. so weird.
ok, so, over the weekend, i ended up in jail. it's a long boring story, but i stood up to some bullies, got arrested, and missed my court day. i was stress related sick af because of the people who got me arrested.
anywho, i figured i'd get a letter or something, but i wasnt worried.
i'd been charged w a misdemeanor that carried zero fine, and i'd admitted what i did. i am not sure why i had to go to court, but...
so, they issued a warrant, but nobody told me, and i got picked up.
a very strange mother-son bonding experience, but he did a week in the same jail, which rly compounded his trauma. i thought i got it, but now i truly get it.
we started chatting, and after a bit of defensiveness, he realized we were always on the same page about the petty cruelty of the system.
then he told me that he had made a friend, a musician, that wanted him to drum for him.
now, drumming is what this kid did for the pain when he still lived at home.
he has a roomy now, so cant make noise. i sent him what i thought was a decent pad, but it only insulted him. so, today i offered to get him a good electronic kit.
he's been so excited all day, figuring out what he wants.
finally, i've found a way that he can feel the love.
jeeez how did it get so duty in here?
i should add that he had gotten pissed at both his dad and me, and wouldnt accept any help. but he started talking to the youngest, who asked for help for him. so dad and i have been sending money. the kid cant work as he has warrants, and no dl or car any more.
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Member since: Tue Oct 28, 2003, 08:34 PMNumber of posts: 70,089
