Craigslisted!

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, and even though his English wasn't very good she was looking forward to meeting him. It turned out to be a scam.

So when I posted a zinger in the Casual Encounters section, I got an email back about ten minutes later:

Hi
I read your ad at the Chicago craigslist. What's your name? How old are you? I enjoy the company of real people, people who love themselves and aren't afraid of being that person. I recently graduated from UIC. Things I love: baseball, photography, hugging pups, spinning in circles, listening to groovy music, flip flops, being around my family, ummm, jogging, eating fruit, stretching my body out, and exploring new things with interesting people. What else do you want to know? Tell me more about what you do for fun. I'm being fairly spontaneous tonight, so bear with me.
So if you like what you see we can go from there. Please send pics too.
--
Psst... wanna know a secret? Click here
Life is short. Live life again. Have an affair.

Since I can't resist clicking on the links, I followed the links in the bogus email until I reached the Ashley Madison Agency.



This isn't what I had in mind when I posted a smart alec response to some else's desperate and vaguely self-unaware personal ad. I think the creepiest part of this email is that she says she "recently graduated from UIC". And that she's "being fairly spontaneous tonight". Even though the email arrived at 11:30 in the morning.

I don't know what it is about Craigslist, but it seems to bring out the worst in people. Aggressive, racist rants. Unsolicited cock pictures. Trolls luring the lonely and then publicly humiliating them. Seriously, I don't know why I even look. Regardless, I suddenly feel like monogamy has turned to monotony. So, I think now I'm going to have to cheat.

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Sweater Talk

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 the back door open in the evening for air circulation. Since I don't have a screen door, the apartment is open to the elements. "This made me a little nervous; like, were they going to eat my clothes?"

This conversation led to us asking Wikipedia about moths. Since Wikipedia knows everything, and everything on Wikipedia is always right, this seemed like a logical thing to do. Turns out that there are only a handful of moth species that eat wool. In fact, adult moths don't eat at all, since they lack mouths (creepy).

The best part, though, was the section of the entry titled "Notable Moths". They forgot to mention Mothra! I was going to login to Wikipedia to make the edit and bitch about the oversight in the Talk section. But then I got bored with the idea.

Image via Japanamator

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Why You Should Support Striking Writers

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.

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It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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 of prostitution.

I always liked the blue-collar sensibilities of Larry Flynt, so I guess forking over $11.99 to look at naked girls and read about the hypocrisy of a GOP Senator isn't too much to ask. With the rest of the capitalist world pandering to Hanukkah, though, I wonder what this issue offers the discerning Jewish masturbater.

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A Trusted Source

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 protect them. And former aldermen like Ted Matlak, to thank.

With the domestic economy still lagging under the weight of the housing crisis, it's a sad fact that many people are stuck in homes they can't afford. It's hard to feel sorry for speculators who thought they could get into the housing market, hold an overvalued property for a few years and flip it for a quick and easy profit. When there is a TV show called "Flip That House", and a competing TV show called "Flip This House", you know the economy is fucked. But when regular people take a beating on a collapsing market, the just desserts don't taste as sweet.

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Getting Fisked

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 on the Chicago side, since all the power produced there is sold to ComEd.

The funny thing, to me at least, is that there is a movement in Pilsen and Little Village to clean up Fisk, and its sister plant Crawford. Built over a hundred years ago, they are exempt from the Clean Air Act, and combined they pump 230 lbs of mercury, 17,765 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide and 260,000 lbs of soot into the air of those surrounding communities. Down in the far South, however, State Line Generating is plugging away without complaint. That community is no stranger to fighting back against faceless corporations, so maybe State Line is in compliance.

There's something about a power plant looming over a low neighborhood, contrasted against church steeples on the skyline. From forty stories up in the Loop, there is a stoic beauty in the plant and the wisps of smoke drifting off the smokestack. I don't know what will happen with the power plants on the South West side; going back through my pictures of Fisk, though, it's clear I have a problem. I've taken way more pictures of the plant that I've posted on my Flickr page.

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Swing, baby

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 the pictures of my friends (who are pretty good with a camera). I'll leave you with a shot that illustrates what I like best about my friend Mila Noko.

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