Rachel Durchslag founded the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) in 2006 to change the way the city responds to sexual exploitation through education, advocating for victims and decreasing demand. Six years later, CAASE is transforming Chicago’s response to prostitution, sex trafficking and sexual assault. To learn more, go to http://www.caase.org. JV: Why do you do what […]
Posted inMile-High Club
My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)
As I get ready for a life of nearly full-time travel, I’m both thrilled to see new places and sad to be leaving Chicago behind. (I’ll be here on weekends, but it sounds more melodramatic this way.) Every day leading up to my first trip feels like a farewell love letter to the Chi, and […]
Posted inWhat Will You Re-?
April: Time to Remove
I’m a big mover. I’ve moved dozens of times over the past decade, apartment to apartment, city to city, Las Vegas to Chicago to New York to Seattle. “That’s a big move,” the moving guy said to me while he was preparing my quote for that last one. Over the last few years, one of […]
Posted inForest for the Trees
Rotten Lucky Job
Dear Vered, I’m currently employed in a fairly stable, decently paying job. I realize I’m lucky to have a job, but that doesn’t change the fact I really, really don’t enjoy it. I’d like to look for a new job, but don’t want to let anyone at my current gig know I’m doing so. I’m […]
Posted inForest for the Trees
Mom on the Verge of Eviction
Dear Vered, My 17-year-old daughter is out of control. After years of being a good student and generally good kid, she seems to have lost her way the last few weeks. She keeps blowing curfew, just got kicked out of the school play and doesn’t seem to care about keeping her grades up. She says […]
Posted inMovies
‘Mirror Mirror’ a Kitschy Take on ‘Snow White’
Rebellious Rating: “Mirror Mirror” is the first of two Snow White film adaptations heading to theaters this spring. If you’re confused, this is the one with Julia Roberts as the evil queen. “Snow White and the Huntsman” comes out in June and has Charlize Theron as its evil queen. You may have seen a preview […]
Posted inMile-High Club
We’re Takin’ This Rebellion on the Road!
I’m not even gonna lie: I’m a business travel novice. I didn’t travel all that much for my old job, and I usually made all the classic rookie mistakes: over-packing, wearing non slip-on shoes in the security line and forgetting something important. Like underwear. This new gig will have me traveling all over the country, […]
Posted inEssays Archive
Reboot Your Wardrobe with a Clothing Swap Party
I attended my first clothing swap a few years ago out of curiosity. The afternoon turned out to be a fever dream of suitcases, flung clothes and half-naked women. When I emerged from the host’s home three hours later, clutching a bag full of new-to-me clothes I hadn’t paid for, I wasn’t sure what the […]
Posted inMovies
Rebellious at the Movies: ‘The Hunger Games’ A Winning Adaptation
Film adaptations of books are funny things. Sometimes all you can see is what got left out, but sometimes seeing something you’ve read translated onto the screen can bring a great deal of extra emotional resonance. For instance, in “The Hunger Games” book, I can barely remember the moment when 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers to […]
Posted inWhat Makes You Rebellious? (2012)
Rebellious Woman: Erinn M. Cox
I’m rebellious because I, admittedly, take it all so seriously. In the spring of 2006, I was standing in front of a 24 carat gold and ruby beating heart made by Salvador Dali at his jewel museum (Dalí – Joies” or “The Jewels of Dalí”) in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. I felt my own heart find […]