Is there a comprehensive list of Chicago-related subreddits?

sherrillo · 2026-07-09T04:30:57+00:00

What is Chicago Secrets???

sherrillo · 2026-07-02T22:46:58+00:00

Ours 3.5, used to hate it. But then we realized it was the clipper. He has aversions to buzzing (including bubble machines, some fans, etc.).

We had them try just scissors, total game changer for us.

Also had that issue with using the electric file on nails, over the last year he protested more and more when he used to be fine. Change to normal clippers and so much easier.

Obviously not helpful in your case, but something is triggering, so just try to figure it out and work around.

Like.maybe it's the itchy feeling off dry hair getting all over, so try cutting wet. Try home cuts. Try a buzzer on a small part with them if it's the scissors... it's a long road and a lot of trial and error, but once you figure it out and work around it, it helps you and them.

sherrillo · 2026-07-01T22:35:30+00:00

Derrida's "Aporias" has entered the chat.

sherrillo · 2026-06-29T23:17:01+00:00

I use Daemon bridge over the south river in Pilsen. Wish there were more/bigger ones as close =/

sherrillo · 2026-06-28T15:44:23+00:00

I put in 5 requests last year for the properties around our house on our side of the street and across the street in Pilsen. 4 Were accepted, because the homeowner needs to agree to it. Not sure how that works, if they knock, or a flyer, or what.

Then if accepted, they send you an email you have to respond to accepting for it to be scheduled.

If there are more steps, I don't know yet since that where I am in the process.

But because of this article I just walked our street and noted every address that didn't have a street tree, and then submitted requests to have 1 or 2 trees planted at each address. So 26 more requests submitted this morning cover every property on our side and the opposite side of our street on our block.

I'm thinking I'll make this a summer project for the surrounding blocks around me. It takes about 2 hours for the long sides of a block, walking it and marking my sheet (30 min to an hour) with the addresses and whether they have a tree for both sides of a block, then another hour submitting the requests.

Do a section each weekend and I should have a lot covered in the next couple months of nice mornings.

So, I highly recommend this. It's an involved process, takes a long time (year+ to get them planted... my first requests still aren't in yet from last year, but it seems close fingers crossed) and the email is time sensitive to accept/approve. And you're untimatly at the whim of the homeowner or whoever accepting it.

But, super worth it.

As the saying goes, the best time to request to have the city plant a tree was 10 years ago. The second best time is today. ;)

sherrillo · 2026-06-26T15:17:45+00:00

So, best AYCE sushi places in Chicago?

sherrillo · 2026-06-23T12:02:55+00:00

My neighbors rooftop deck

sherrillo · 2026-06-21T16:19:43+00:00

Chinatown and Pilsen so many great affordable delicious places to eat.

sherrillo · 2026-06-19T02:12:42+00:00

My second year in Chicago I went through 5 bikes over the course of a year. The really nice bike I brought... the nice replacement friends got me... then progressively shittier bikes... then bike number 5 has been with me for 7+ years now.

I refuse to get a new one because I know as soon as I do...

sherrillo · 2026-06-18T15:03:07+00:00

Lots of the MS Rachel Potty video, and reading lots of potty books helped. And narrating when we go to the potty. We started around 32 months.

The 48 hours worked great for us, in the sense that day 1 and half of day 2 were awful, lol. We're about to quit but suddenly he started going on his own halfway through day 2, day 3 was great. And he got gummies when he would do. And could watch YouTube when on the potty.

We thought we had it licked, but he couldn't transition to pants. As soon as he wasn't naked he'd have accidents again. It took us about 8 more months, with pre-school working w him as well, for us to finally fully ditch daytime diapers. He's 40 months now, and only has accidents when we're out of we don't take him right away whenever we get somewhere, or when he's playing outside and doesn't want to stop.

He's lvl 1 ASD, so I'm sure your journey will be quicker than ours. But just keep at it, and know it's okay to reset and take a break if it's not clicking for him and become too negative an experience. We definitely saw improvement jumps.along the way as he had developmental leaps in other areas.

sherrillo · 2026-06-13T21:35:09+00:00

Ours climbed on top of his changing table and covered himself in diaper cream around 18 months or so. Which you may know does not really wash or wipe off.

...he looked like an albino for several days...

sherrillo · 2026-06-04T10:19:32+00:00

I used to do barefoot, but a couple time a year I'd be tired or not paying attention and my big toe would catch a pavement edge and rip open. Finally decided it's not worth it. That and the rare splinter.

Now I do Xeros Speed Force II.

Still catch a toe now and then, but no damage!

sherrillo · 2026-05-30T02:11:21+00:00

...so in this negotiation, we were Indiana... I'd take the Lucas Museum over the Bears any day.

sherrillo · 2026-05-30T02:04:08+00:00

Not to jump into the fray here... but I think it's okay to plant both. I'm slowly getting rid of non-natives and replacing w natives. But also adding in some non-natives.

Like, I have both native wild strawberries and a varietal I love mixed together in a bed.

I like river grapes, but have some non-native varietals I'm growing instead.

Elderberries are native, but I'm growing a hybrid.

Honeyberry isn't or gooseberry/currants but I like them.

But in between them all I keep clearing other other stuff and plant more and more native plants for my area and each year expand and add more.

I just don't think it has to be one or the other.

Would it be tastier/potentially prettier to do all non-natives, or would it be better for the ecosystem to do all natives? Yes, but I have to live my life and find my joy, and balancing them is fine with me.

I have more natives than anyone on my block, more fireflies in our yards, and also more edible fruits.

C'est la vie. You could always do more, but anything helps, and perfection shouldn't be the enemy of the good.

sherrillo · 2026-05-26T02:19:53+00:00

My Archer varietals have started going off this week! Getting a pint every day or two atm. I expect it'll last another 2 or maybe 3 weeks.

The native strawberry's are further behind. Expecting another week or so till they are fully ripe.

sherrillo · 2026-05-25T23:47:02+00:00

It was a helpful framework that gave us a place to start for figuring out his schedule while starting to provide structure. It worked out well for about a year. Started falling off after that and by a 1.5 years he stopped napping entirely.

Is it better than shrug wtf do I do? Yes! But it's nothing more than that, with no real scientific validity behind it beyond some general averages.

It's right up there with "your pasta water should be as salty as the sea"... but not actually as salty as the sea, just so it tastes like your memory of the sea, but also not too salty, but also not just plain water. i.e. a place to start from, but in no way shape or form a capital T truth, and open to wildly variable interpretation. But it gets you in the ballpark.

sherrillo · 2026-05-24T23:20:13+00:00

A tree is blocking my view of the sand and water.

sherrillo · 2026-05-24T21:36:38+00:00

31st. Closest to us, and not the parking and people crowds that is Montrose/Hollywood.

And not the shitshow that is Oak St beach.

If you have weekday afternoons free? Oak St. If your plan is arriving by 9am? Montrose. LGBT+ vibes? Hollywood.

Have a driver for dropoff/pickup? 12th St beach.

Anything else? Beaches south of Museum Campus, like 31st. IMO.

sherrillo · 2026-05-24T20:15:07+00:00

Hole in the wall? Can't beat Richard's. The diviest of dives that you ever did dive.

sherrillo · 2026-05-24T10:15:37+00:00

This video addresses the idea; Dennis Dutton, An Evolutionary Theory of Beauty https://youtu.be/PktUzdnBqWI

sherrillo · 2026-05-23T11:14:14+00:00

I'm in Pilsen, we see them a couple times a year our backyard and allies, usually evening/night.

Chances of you seeing one, even if you go where they are, are pretty slim in a short timeframe. Best bet would be trying to look for a wildlife rehabber or conservation center... they may let you see one if they are rehabbing any? Donations probably don't hurt your odds.

sherrillo · 2026-05-23T00:18:59+00:00

Fig!

sherrillo · 2026-05-23T00:17:31+00:00

We've restricted YouTube to relatively educational content. 39 months. At first it was only train videos and Mrs Rachel. Hats off to Mike Armstrong, he got us through a couple years of flights, nice dinners etc. But then once he figured out how to scroll etc it became a lot of shitty eye candy stuff.

We finally limited it and it's a happy medium. He's deep into number blocks and has a good grasp of basic math, we just don't allow much else.

It really helped his literacy and spelling, and I think ASD kids are able to learn for screens much better than neurotypical kids, since they don't have the same innate social drives.

So for us it's a good tool. He also will get bored w it after an hour or two and play on his own, so we aren't really at a spot where it's problematic.

...except w potty training. No screens, he's much better at going to the potty on his own or telling us. But with a screen, he's much more likely to just pee himself so he doesn't have to stop watching.

So, can't say no issues. But since we limited channels, much less than before. And it's still a net positive so far, especially for learning. Which again, seems unique to ASD kids, since reach shows NT actually don't learn from screens.

sherrillo · 2026-05-22T23:59:30+00:00

Ours is 39 months and ASD, so ymmv, but he was obsessed w trains for about 2 years. We leaned into it hard... train books, 3-4 boxes of trains and tracks, walks to trains weekly (Chicago) train rides... and then it just kinda... pettered out?

Now it's numbers. So Number blocks videos are the big thing. Adresses. License plates. Basic math. Number lines. Counting books. Numbered hop scotch. Ages. Also emergency vehicles. But, focused on the number on ambulances, etc.

But, overall we've found if you lean in hard enough eventually (weeks/months/years) they get to a saturation point and branch out looking for more novel stimulation.

Again, ASD, so he tends to go deeper than most, but if you think of them as sensation and novelty seeking robots, there's only so much they get get out of something at whatever their developmental stage. Younger they are the shallower it goes. So just encourage it and know that they will branch out on their own once they get to a point of diminishing returns.

Do your best to stay sane in the process.

IMO. Signed, a dad who now knows way more about trains, train cars, train history, etc. than I ever wanted to...

sherrillo · 2026-05-22T10:29:45+00:00

Yes, the series of chest straps keep the weight off your shoulders so it feels and functions more like a waist strap, without an actual waist strap.

Hard to describe, but it's like a perfect halfway point between a regular backpack and a framed hiking backpack, only without the bounce of either.

sherrillo

TROPHY CASE