tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30464373007003391282012-02-16T20:32:13.973-08:00The Sometimes True Musings of a Compulsive LiarKevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-54903086971399025012010-01-02T14:43:00.000-08:002010-01-02T15:02:20.786-08:00

It's been a while since I've written here. I thought this might be a good time to start writing again. It's a promise I make to myself a few times a year, to write more for my own enjoyment. And like the White Sox after the All-Star break, it's a promise too often broken.We normally spend New Year's Eve in another city - last year it was DC, Toronto the year before that. This year, having

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-45075305143671995342008-12-22T16:07:00.000-08:002010-01-02T14:42:42.617-08:00

"Chicago is an October sort of city, even in spring." - Nelson AlgrenBeing away from Chicago during the winter has its advantages. It's not bitter cold and windy, and there isn't 12"-16" of snow in the ground, for sure. At the same time, the national perception of Our Fair City is that winter is so unbearably cold that living here is incomprehensible. As a long time proponent of the long view, (

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-84163016233917704252008-12-18T16:02:00.000-08:002008-12-18T16:41:00.333-08:00

I keep seeing this commercial on TV:Every time I see this ad, I think back five years, when I first came back to Chicago. Moving to a new city can be tricky; it takes a while to put down roots, to meet people, to feel established. For those first two years, when I was still broke, rootless and didn't have many friends, I would wonder sometimes why I didn't just cash out, pack it up and hit the

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-40653560169285502952008-10-11T08:00:00.000-07:002008-10-11T17:09:37.520-07:00

Not everyone can be settled in one city, or stay in one place for longer than a few years. Some of the people that I've met through work here, especially members of the active-duty military, have mentioned to me that they move around so much that they actually look forward to it. "I get nervous when I'm in a place more than a year and a half. I start looking for my next deployment," said an Air

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-58539348136804058252008-10-07T19:41:00.000-07:002008-10-07T21:47:57.070-07:00

Tonight was Debate Night in America, CNN's attempt to make the presidential political process as appealing as Monday Night Football. And as much as I love the idea of fathers and sons sitting around watching the debates like they watch the Bears, I also have some reservations about commodifying American Democracy. For all of its faults, the notion that some 300 million heterogeneous people have a

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-89269755176931579912008-10-06T19:48:00.001-07:002008-10-06T21:40:51.788-07:00

Walking down Pennsylvania Ave is pretty anticlimactic. DC is pretty anticlimactic. You look out the window of the jet as you land at National, and you see the capital, the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial on the Potomac's Tidal Basin. You walk through the airport and catch a cab, which drives you to a quiet apartment in the Old City of the District. It all really feels very much

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-50774821421381628792008-10-01T20:00:00.000-07:002008-10-01T20:27:22.958-07:00

At least for a while. City of Progress has had a busy summer, and an exciting fall is off to a great start. I moved from Liquor Park to Bridgeport - mainly due to the negligence of my landlord. Long story short: $675 a month is a great deal on an apartment as long as nothing breaks.In the meantime, I've put most of my stuff into storage and am living out of laundry baskets and a duffel bag at my

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-89002347485813409232008-03-30T13:23:00.000-07:002008-03-30T13:37:28.536-07:00

Pretty much, indefinitely.Or until I finish grad school.

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-92049567428950268772008-01-21T14:51:00.000-08:002008-03-30T13:38:16.035-07:00

One of my favorite things to do for Chicagoist is post stuff that wouldn't normally fall into my beat. In the past that's included music reviews, running around Lollapalooza talking to people that aren't from Chicago, and attending a debate between Ron Jeremy and a Pastor committed to helping people leave the porn industry. It also includes writing the about religious holidays and traditions, and

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-54576959478028182442008-01-12T10:17:00.000-08:002008-01-20T15:39:12.301-08:00

The recent cold snap has got me dreaming of Spring. There are always a few miserably cold weeks during any given Chicago winter, but they always seem to be so brutal that no matter how many times you've gone through it, you never really get used to it. I know that I'll hate March when it comes, because that month is an evil bitch. She teases you with promises of Summer, while holding cold, rainy

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-27736537568956242482008-01-07T17:05:00.000-08:002008-01-20T15:41:08.150-08:00

So, I'm back. I pretty much took the month of December off from this, and writing for Chicagoist as well. It's funny, because whenever the semester ends, I always vow that I'm going to do all the fun things the I don't get to do when I'm in school. Taking pictures, reading, writing, digging through thrift stores. Those kinds of things.And in the summer, I'm pretty good about doing those things.

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-31550548440872452162007-12-15T14:10:00.000-08:002007-12-15T16:11:49.007-08:00

That was what I typed into Google after reading Timothy McNulty's column in Friday's Tribune. As a dyed-in-the-wool classist, his thesis should inspire me to write a letter explaining that the term "Middle Class" isn't inclusive at all. Except that I tend to agree.The term itself is ambiguous both in popular opinion and language usage. Over the years I've had people tell me that they are middle

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-28545603448470712732007-12-12T20:08:00.001-08:002007-12-12T20:51:25.465-08:00

I've been digging on how great it is to live in a big city these past few weeks. Being the hopeless extrovert that I am, I need to be around people. Lots of people. And while cities have an inherently isolating tendency to them, it's that sense of a cohesive community that gives me a connection to Chicago as something more than just a place to hang my hat.Last weekend was the Renegade Craft Fair

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-63864090440665932812007-12-05T19:29:00.000-08:002007-12-05T19:36:11.851-08:00

I've gotten a few emails from people asking me if I ever plan to update this poor neglected blog.I do. I do.It's just that, well, I've been busy. Like, really busy. It's the end of the semester, for one, and I'm turning in projects and writing finals. And I'm getting the PMI Master's Certificate at work. Which is just another hassle that I have to study for. None of which leaves me a whole lot of

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-35424230596868546872007-11-26T18:03:00.000-08:002007-11-26T18:59:01.332-08:00

So the Harold Washington post that had been germinating in my head for a while made it up onto Chicagoist today. I think it turned out pretty good. The Washington story is a hard one to tell, for lots of reasons. It's such a saga, for one, and if you aren't at least a little familiar with the history of Chicago politics, it can be difficult to understand the backstory. It's also intensely

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-13472213883382536772007-11-17T19:17:00.000-08:002007-11-18T23:21:10.655-08:00

If you've been following the political football game our elected "leaders" have been playing with the CTA this year, then you heard Rick Harris, President of ATU Local 308 talking tough the other day about Doomsday 3. "Maybe we have to show exactly what a ‘Doomsday' looks like,” he announced in front of the press after Daley and Madigan "declined" Blagojevich's invitation to discuss an agreement

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-69932163270545573472007-11-14T21:38:00.000-08:002007-11-14T21:44:41.438-08:00

Standing in line, waiting for coffee at the Intellegensia across the street from my office, my mind on the million and one things that needed to get done ten minutes ago.Woman behind me: Excuse me, sir. Did you drop some money out of your back pocket?Me: Uh, no?Woman behind me: Oh. Because this was on the floor behind you. (Holding cash in hand.)Me: Uh, wait a minute. (Fishes in pockets.) Oh,

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-74883912471658793422007-11-12T18:32:00.000-08:002007-11-12T20:06:26.177-08:00

Early last Spring, we all headed out to Tuman's one night, and stumbled into what had to be one of the sickest DJ sets I've heard in a long time. Within 20 minutes almost everyone in the room was out on the dance floor. Drunk, sweaty, bodies bumping, this was the kind of dance party you usually only heard other people talk about. By the end of the night Major Taylor had worn us out, Tuman's was

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-28140187127100002592007-11-12T09:25:00.000-08:002007-11-12T12:43:57.586-08:00

Craigslist really is the dregs of internet society. It's great if you are looking for an apartment or a job, and aren't naive about the world of work or clueless about the city. My friend Caroline tried to sell one of her old Cellos on CL once. She called me all excited because she got an email from a guy that was going to pay her the full price she was asking. She told he sounded really nice,

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-51442942869786683982007-11-10T19:51:00.000-08:002007-11-10T20:05:44.511-08:00

I was sitting on the couch working on this little thing I call my blog, when the girl asked about the logo over the left breast of my sweater."Is that Benetton?""Yep. I got it in a thrift store years ago. Holes included.""That's funny how moths eat holes in your clothes, but then it looks kind of cool.""Right? Over the summer I noticed moths would come in through the back door." I usually leave

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-42871930409540477152007-11-10T10:57:00.000-08:002007-11-10T19:18:40.874-08:00

Because I'm a writer, too.Because even if you aren't in a union, you work for a living.Because someday you may need the support of other workers.Because class solidarity only works when we all stick together.For more information, check out the strikers' blog, or the union's website. You can help out by signing the petition.

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-40343349840668490812007-11-08T18:05:00.000-08:002007-11-09T16:46:26.213-08:00

I was walking down Jackson today to get some lunch, and as I passed the news stand next to Garrett's, I got my first glimpse of the 2007 Holiday Season.Yes kids, Hustler's 2007 Holiday Issue is out, and not only do you get to see Faith Leon's Gorgeous Gifts, you can read Tucker Max's realization of his dream to fuck a midget, and the story of how Larry Flynt exposed Sen. David Vitter as a patron

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-75298272959892091062007-11-06T22:01:00.000-08:002007-11-06T22:24:21.068-08:00

Walking home from school tonite, I saw a billboard on the side of a bus that just about stopped me dead in my tracks.The City of Chicago, a "Trusted Source"? The same city government that let the high-cost loan industry flourish in low-income neighborhoods, making Chicago the nation's capital for "high-cost" home loans? Fortunately for Chicagoans, they have the city's Department of Housing to

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-3135378154295702582007-11-05T16:48:00.000-08:002007-11-05T21:06:01.686-08:00

I don't know what it is about the Fisk Generating Station at 1111 W. Cermak, but it's largess just does it for me. I see it everyday out the window of my office. I've taken a few pictures of the power plant, and while it is dramatic, it's not as dramatic as the State Line Generating Plant, which was literally built on the Indiana side of the Indiana-Illinois border. All this time I thought it was

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-43035140513053760192007-11-02T17:59:00.000-07:002007-11-02T18:37:10.111-07:00

I just got a new digital camera. Carrying an SLR around with you is a pain in the ass, but they're nice to have. Now I have a tough, little Sony CyberShot that I can keep in my pocket. Next is spiffing up my sad, neglected Flickr page. I put up a handful of shots tonite, and over the next few weeks, if it isn't too foggy around here, I'll make it even better. Along the way, I'm enjoying seeing

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-4558941349170965292007-10-30T19:49:00.000-07:002007-10-30T19:51:10.604-07:00

Not the tide. But lost in a fog. There's a city in here, somewhere....More later, I hope.

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-4502201787404006252007-10-23T20:38:00.000-07:002007-10-23T21:07:42.674-07:00

I spent the summer after I dropped out of college living in the Indiana Dunes. I was house sitting for an anthropology professor who's course I had never taken. A friend of mine from the Steelworkers union put us together, and he was happy to have someone he felt he could trust stay in his home for three months while he wrote a book in Poland.I remember one evening, in the middle of June. My

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-82301328743567266762007-10-15T11:12:00.001-07:002007-10-20T19:14:29.930-07:00

I was walking to Metro with a friend Sunday night, talking about how enjoyable it is to have my weekends free. We were going to see Pinback, who are touring to support their new album. As I've mentioned before, not working on weekends is something that I still enjoy, a perk, rather than an entitlement. I was talking about how much I enjoy going to see Sunday night shows. After spending a pretty

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-32901868188323317862007-10-12T18:32:00.001-07:002007-10-23T21:08:21.058-07:00

Most mornings I walk into work without giving my surroundings a second thought. Probably not a good quality for someone in commercial property management, but then I was never much of an over-achiever.This week, though, I noticed something different. On Tuesday there was a white plastic lump propped up against the windows of the lobby of the Chicago Federal Center. Now, I'm used to seeing people

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-36521498930925898482007-10-10T17:23:00.001-07:002007-10-12T18:32:00.943-07:00

I saw the obituary of David Schulz in the Tribune today. Mayor Harold Washington's first budget director, Shulz left Chicago after just eight months with the Washington administration, losing a power struggle with Washington's then Chief of Staff, William Ware. The Tribune obituary cites Shulz work on Washington's first budget, working with the former mayor to reign in a record $150 million

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-67349636055476979702007-10-04T19:51:00.000-07:002007-10-06T15:50:52.647-07:00

I've always been interested in faith. Not just as a spiritual force, but as a cultural and ethnic influence as well. I went to a Catholic high school, and even though I was raised Protestant, I felt a sense of connection with the Catholic community there. Later, in college I spent some time trying to decide if I was Buddhist, Baha'i, or Muslim. When I moved back to Chicago in my mid-twenties, I

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-82447636936495144402007-10-03T20:10:00.000-07:002007-10-03T20:25:36.104-07:00

Six years of patronage hiring hit home Friday, as 1,451 people filed claims alleging they were denied city jobs or passed over for promotions because they lacked clout. The claims are part of a settlement between the city and attorney Michael Shakman to end the nearly 40 year old Shakman decree. That agreement, which also created a federal hiring monitor, established a $12 million fund to pay up

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-39170101466841495532007-10-02T19:12:00.000-07:002007-10-03T05:39:50.616-07:00

It's been a little over a year since I started a 9-to-5 job. In fact, prior to taking my current position, I'd always worked unconventional jobs. You know, the kind where you live out of a suitcase, or get paid in cash, or work all weekend for the bulk of your income. So, most of my experiences taking the L downtown occur before nine am - packed train, morning hustle, silent, groggy chaos.On

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-73524025381315744202007-09-29T15:40:00.000-07:002007-10-20T19:58:22.177-07:00

Last weekend I rode my bike down to Bridgeport for a friend's barbecue. I haven't spent a lot of time around the Port, except to go to White Sox games. The summer before last I walked from the Red Line to Back of the Yards with my camera, and mostly got dirty looks from everyone all the way to the stockyards. When I was living in Pullman, I heard stories about the Chicago police dropping black

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-41919444547087408082007-09-28T15:08:00.000-07:002007-10-02T19:50:00.145-07:00

I’m sitting on the edge of Elizabeth’s bed, in my shorts. I can hear her peeing behind the closed bathroom door, just around the corner. There is sunlight pouring through the spaces of the blinds that cover her window. A car drives by, and I can hear a kid yelling on the street below. I used to sit in class in elementary school and wonder what it was like to not have to be in class in the middle

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046437300700339128.post-4712329225511870562007-09-26T15:05:00.000-07:002007-10-04T21:28:29.805-07:00

I've always avoided putting together a blog of my own. I thought it was pretentious. Like, who cares what you think? I was derisive of blogging; I remember when they were called webpages I would scoff.Then, about a year ago I found myself writing politics for that ephemeral of-the-moment darling Chicagoist. And that's when all of that changed.I met people that wrote. People that thought of

Kevin Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939074393214721973noreply@blogger.com