Comfort entertainment after the World Trade Center tragedy

Chicagoans want to hear Ray Charles sing “America the Beautiful.” We are reading up on the Middle East. We are renting movies that celebrate the human spirit, but some of us also are checking out “Armageddon” and “Independence Day”–films where the United States reigns victorious. In different ways, we all are sating our psyches with comfort entertainment–in whatever form we need it–to help us deal with last week’s tragedy.

Chicago children react to 9/11

It is noon Friday. Thirty-six little heads are bowed in honor of the victims of Tuesday’s tragedy. Many of them have miniature American flags perched on their desks. These children-many of whom don’t yet like members of the opposite sex in that way-cling onto each other’s hands in solidarity. They are fifth graders at Arthur Dixon Elementary School on the South Side. Bright and articulate, they are acutely aware of this week’s events. They speak as knowledgeably about the terrorists as they do about pint-sized rap star Lil Bow Wow.

Summer sexoscopes

Do the stars line up for a summer romance? Or have you been stuck with a dud rather than a stud? Will your love stick around? Or will you need to change your name/phone number? We certainly don’t have the insight (or advertising budget) of TV’s Miss Cleo, but with only a little summer left, we’ll try our best to assess your sextrology. (Note: No astrologists were harmed in the making of this chart.)

The incredible disappearing photobooth

When Lilia Chacon and her good buddy Katie Carrillo ran into that rarity known as a photobooth, they knew what had to be done. ”We put our $3 into the machine, went in and mugged it up,” says Chacon, a reporter for Fox News Chicago. ”This was about 10 years ago when we were both single. It’s a carefree, fun reminder of who we were at that stage of our lives. We split the photo strip in half so we each have two shots.”