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One of the more fun things for kids to do during the Safer at Home quarantine is to draw on the sidewalk or driveway with chalk. And social media is full of #chalkyourwalk and #chalkthewalk posts showing the artists' work.
Walking the dog and running each day – which has been my only chance to get outside these four walls – I see a lot of it. On this morning's walk, I took some photos so you can see it, too, from the comfort (constraints?) of your own home.
(Disclaimer: Neither I nor anyone in my family is responsible for these; they are ones I witnessed along the way.)
Here, then, are the Chalk Tales from the West Side (and nearby Tosa). They are tales of ...
Self-improvement
Optimism
Strength
Unity
Goodwill
Fantastic beasts
Generational differences
Geometry
Rebellion
WTF?!
What I'm feeling now
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
