And she’s awesome.

This week is the Winter Music Conference in Miami and all my friends are there warm and happy, while I am here, in the shoe store, cold in Chicago, with a cold…..

I figure if I gotta be here, I might as well promote my friends via blogging. Let’s start with the ladies….. Kate Simko. Kate produces a night at Sonoteque called Wake Up! (She used to do this with Sassmouth, who is sadly moving to London)April’s will be on the 16th and I highly recommend it. Derek Plaslaiko, who is not only a great DJ, but also a super funny and nice guy will be a guest. I will also be there if that is any incentive for you to go……
We also have Sam One or SR-71. Or just Sam which is what I call her. You should check her out, she’s awsome, knows how to jack, and she LOVES the turntables!! It’s pretty fukin awesome.
And last but not least we have G. Her upcoming event, Sprung will be awesome!
Alright I’m getting sleepy seeing as I am SICK. On another note all together, if this weather doesn’t get better, I’m moving to LA. Srsly.

I have not forgotten about you. metroblog readership. No way, no how. Our love is deep and true. Right now is just an insane time, what with the moving and the new job and the impending birthday and other important stuff I can’t think of right now. I will be blogging on a very regular basis in no time at all! I promise!!!

In the mean time, and in the spirit of vd, I leave you with this video. Something to buy that special someone:

Blogger Anil Dash (of blogging company Six Apart) has put up a 10% matching challenge* encouraging his readers to contribute to Donors Choose — a charity that helps public schools by allowing donors to pick specific requests from teachers to fund. And out of all the projects possible, this enthusiastic New Yorker is encouraging folks to contribute to a music listening center at Cassell Elementary on the South Side. Good on Anil, and I encourage you to go throw a couple bucks into the pot.

*i.e. If they donate $10,000 en mas, he’ll throw in an extra $1000.

I’m Don from DC and I’ll be guest-blogging from here for a few days. I’m here tagging along with my darling girlfriend as she does a little work here in the second city, and thought I’d take this opportunity to expand my collection of unread Chicago Trib Magazines. If you can’t tell, the ones pictured are from 2004 and 2005 - I didn’t come along last year, so there’s a hole in my “collection.”

It’s not that I meant to hold and treasure the things, I just haven’t gotten around to reading them yet. A sane person would have thrown these out long ago, but I’ve got a soft spot for Sunday supplement magazines going back to my youth in Miami with Tropic magazine, which launched the career of an obscure fellow named Dave Barry. Plus, an article about pubs? You wouldn’t expect an Irishman to throw out a story about the emerald isle, would ya?

Anyway, I’m here for a few days and my darling will likely be busy for much of that, so I’m deciding how to entertain myself. We’ve all got our lists of places we send our first-time visitors, but where would you send a third-time Chicago visitor? What’s on your list that’s far down, past the Pier and the bean and the Aquarium (though I may go back to see your new baby beluga…) but still worth seeing? Or what’s too weird for you to suggest to the neophyte visitor?

Or what, perhaps, would you like to see a naive Chicago metroblogger do and write up?

Part of the appeal of blogging, I think, is that on the internet, as the famous phrase goes, nobody knows you’re hideous mouth-breathing basement-dweller. If you can string three or four words together into a sentence, someone will read your blog — even if it’s just your mom, inevitably finding your site just after you’ve posted a dark confession of the terrible things you did to pigeons in your youth. (Or maybe that’s just me.)

In any case, Joe Janes and Don Hall are bucking that notion with their blog reading event, The Nod. The first half of the event is an open mic of sorts (readers must be confirmed in advance) with Greg Wendling, Keri Myslinski, Amy Guth, and Claire Micklin already scheduled. The second half of the event will feature readings from Hall, Janes, Dave Awl, Nat Topping, and Thea Lux.

Wednesday, September 19th, 8pm at The Uptown Writer’s Space at 4802 N Broadway. $5 donation requested.

CNN tried to find out if Congress was keeping to its promises of openness and transparency by asking all 435 U.S. Representatives for their earmark requests for the 2008 budget. Only 31 responded and 68 just declined, the rest didn’t return calls. Two of the thirty-one were Rahm Emanuel and Tim Johnson — the only ones from Illinois to respond.

If you’re interested in asking your reprensentative what they’re planning on spending our money on, you can find phone and fax numbers at Contacting the Congress.

Responses to the earmarks request from CNN’s complete response list.

Update: As noted in the comments, some Representatives have released their earmark requests after this report.

(via blogging.la)

This link is from Timeout New York, but as far as I’m concerned pretty much all of it could be said of the Hipster of Chicago. There are plenty of tools here that will help you decide if you or your friends are “too hip”.

It’s ok to be a little hip, but if you try too hard as many Hipsters do, you’ll soon doom our fine city. This is your chance to stop or at least slow down your dive into Hipsterdom!

Read on and decide where you stand with things like Cocaine (the drug and the drink), riding your bike to work, anal sex, full beards, blogging and forearm tattoos. So, are you a Hipster?

I left sunny and 80 degree Los Angeles and sat through endless hours of delays at LAX en route to ORD all in the quest to see Naked Raygun tonight here in Chicago. I gotta say the cold and rain is exactly how I remember Chicago for every single day of the 6 years I love here. OK, not exactly but close enough. I’m in town through Monday and my plans are rock tonight, a stop by deluxe tomorrow, and that’s about it. Is there anything happening in the next 48-72 hours that I really shouldn’t miss?

It’s National Delurking Week and I’d love know that you’re out there. Hello? Hello? Please leave a comment and share whatever you’d like, but I’d love to know

• Do you live in Chicago?
• If yes, what neighborhood?
• If no, where do you live? Are you from Chicago originally?

(via blogging.la

A fairly random look at 2006 on the Chicago Metblog, here’s the first sentence of the first post from each month:

January 2006: Brianne and I were just discussing the other day how the Museum of Science and Industry was by far the most fun museum on the planet. more

February 2006: They all say that, don’t they? more

March 2006: Just so you know, if you want to get me to help you with your thing, all you have to do is say “it’s an art project.” more

April 2006: Yeah. Right. Apologies to Steven for stealing his schtick. more

May 2006: On my way to work this morning, I passed Union Park, and the TV news vans, flag vendors and yes, protesters, were already gathering as of about 7:30 AM. more

June 2006: One thing about the Internet is, I dunno, there’s probably a fancy word for it, but I’ll call it dis-local-ization. more

July 2006: I gave up on the Cubs early this season and thankfully did not have the time or interest to watch the games this weekend against the White Sox. more

August 2006: Just take a look at what the weather is supposed to be for the rest of this week: It’s a typical Chicago summer I guess, but after a week(?) of this I am already looking forward to the fall. more

September 2006: A couple of days ago, Erica and I arrived home to find some returned mail. more

October 2006: I’ve pimped for them before, and I shall do so again: Local favorites the Ladies & Gentlemen’s debut CD is now available online from CDBaby.com. more

November 2006: I happened to be in a home that had cable television last night and ended up watching the opening night of the Bulls NBA season. more

December 2006: The Metroblogging empire, all fifty cities now, grew out a little blogging site focussed on an obscure American city called “Los Angeles” and blogging.la has just reached its 3rd Anniversary. more