During last week’s spring break I had the happy opportunity to combine business with pleasure, traveling to Chicago to visit family and connecting with some Arts and Letters alumni while I was in town.  I could just as easily say I combined pleasure with pleasure, because meeting with alumni certainly is one of the more [...]

I have a memory of being about 10 years old and my best friend Brian and I trying to fool some younger kids on our playground into believing that we knew a foreign language.  We would make up nonsense phrases and nod knowingly to each other, as if we understood perfectly the other’s gibberish.  I [...]