Brr...winter!

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• The end of the word

• We close this year with some of our harshest—and happiest—words of 2008.

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• Pick and choo-choo

• We track the season's best miniature-train displays.

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• Ice skating!

• Hit the rink after this lesson from Chicago Park District's pro skater.

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• Dark days

• TOC teams up with a doctor to beat the seasonal blues.

On the town

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• Around the world

• For good food and drink, the world doesn’t have to wait.

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• Our town

• Psychic Sidney Friedman gives us a tour of his predictions for 2009.

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• Singles scoop

• Can our single gal find a dish at a dinner dating service?

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• Mind over money matters

• If you can only afford to pay attention, spend time at free programs.

Exhibits & museums

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• Field Museum, through April 19

• “The Aztec World”

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• A PC tale of a culture built on blood and gore.

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• Shedd Aquarium and Brookfield Zoo

• Something fishy going on

• Two major ocean exhibits just closed. But no worries—there are bigger fish to spy.

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• Museum of Science and Industry, on permanent display

• See you later

• “Fast Forward Inventing the Future” skips past flying cars in favor of about a dozen earthbound inventions.

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• Chicago History Museum, through Jul 26

• A fashion exhibition stitches together more than 100 years of Chicago dresses.

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• Harold Washington Library Center, through Jun 21

• “State Street: That Great Street!”

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• Go back to the heyday of Marshall Field's, Goldblatt's and Louis Armstrong's jazz.

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• Museum of Science and Industry, through Sun 4

• "Smart Home: Green + Wired."

• We take a peek inside the MSI’s energy-efficient “Smart Home."