Travel
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In Fall 2007, I acted as editor-in-chief of Midwest Current, an internationally distributed launch prototype and demonstration website printed by the Medill School of Journalism. The 16-member graduate team produced a bimonthly regional travel publication aimed at smart, sophisticated travelers. In addition to the 58-page prototype and website, we crafted a media kit, business plan, and investment presentation, which we delivered to an editorial panel at the offices of Meredith Corporation.
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Not too many years ago, an experienced linguist could listen to a local news broadcast and guess by the announcer's accent where the show originated. That's probably unlikely today. The relentless mobility of Americans and the booming mass media, among other things, have scoured many of the regional distinctions across the country. With that in mind, we thought it would be interesting to see how the nation's five biggest cities compared across a range of business, social, and cultural categories...
Originally published February 2006, Chicago magazine
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Midwest Current's picks for this spring's must-visit events.
The Duluth Home Grown Music Festival began as a birthday party, with a handful of bands and a few cases of beer. Nine years later, it's grown into a massive annual showcase of "rock and/or roll devil music." Duluth, April 27-May 4.
Originally published January 2008, Midwest Current
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Most of us would cringe at the idea of returning to high school, let alone living there. But two years ago Nikol Lohr and Ron Miller decided to do just that. They bought four 1920s brick schoolhouses in rural Kansas, which they converted into an artist’s residency and their own home. “Since I was a little kid, my fantasy has always been to live in a school,” says Lohr, a 36-year-old writer who founded DisgruntledHousewife.com and recently published the knitting guide Naughty Needles...
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Originally published June 2007, VenusZine
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The only thing worse than figuring out what to get a family member for his or her birthday is figuring out what you should do with your family to celebrate your own birthday. With a sister who only eats hot dogs and grilled cheese, and a dad who'd rather get a tooth extracted than mosey through a museum, I was at a loss about how to celebrate the big 2-5 with my suburban-dwelling family...
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Originally published August 13, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
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Between living and working on the North Side and zipping down to the South Side to visit friends, I can go months without actually setting foot in the Loop. Good news if the thought of the financial district makes you itchy; bad news if you happen to love scoping out clusters of drop-dead gorgeous buildings...
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Originally published February 12, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
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It's not often one gets to brag about dumpster-diving and thrift store shopping skills in a cover letter, but when Nadia Oehlsen heard that the publishers of the Cheap Bastard guidebooks were looking for a Chicago author, she proudly boasted, "I'm the cheapest bastard I know."
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Originally published March 5, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
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Next time you nix the idea of spending $12 to check out the Art Institute, think outside the box (literally). Kevin Nance, who's been writing about art for 20 years, invites you to spend ten minutes (and no money) basking in the beauty of the public art that dots the city's streetscape. This North Carolina-native moved to Chicago in 2004 to become the arts and architecture critic for the Chicago Sun Times. He was immediately struck by the specific character of public art in Chicago and its tangled relationship to the architecture that surrounds it...
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Originally published January 24, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
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A glass of grapes is something I could always get behind, but in my early twenties, drinking beer always felt like trying to sip a glass of bread. That is, until I befriended a beer-lover who defied the guzzling, bloated-gut stereotypes and treated her beverage of choice with all the reverence of a fine vintage. She forced me to trade my can of PBR for a glass of Indian Pale Ale, and almost immediately I saw the amber-colored, slightly carbonated, alcoholic light....
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Originally published January 24, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
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Former Department of Streets and Sanitation worker Dennis Foley may know Chicago's roads like the back of his hand, but what really set his heart aflutter while riding that big blue truck was lunchtime. From the far north to the very South Side, there isn't a road he hasn't traveled. And when the crews gathered each morning to receive their daily assignments, they'd also swap tips on where to score the best cheap, fast and above all tasty lunch, even mapping their day's work around that noontime meal...
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Originally published January 8, 2006, Centerstage Chicago
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