For What its Worth

I'm not sure I put much stock in these kinds of things, but apparently Oak Park was recognized as a top 100 community for young people. Yay, us!

Also good news, in 2007 crime in Oak Park has decreased 2% relative to 2006. Let's hope the trend continues in 2008.

The Wire

My most recent TV discovery is the HBO series The Wire. Yes, I know, its been around for years, but not being much of a tv watcher it takes me a while to catch on. Kelly and I didn't start watching Friends until after the series ended. Anyway, a few months back I read Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets which was written by David Simon who is also the creator of The Wire. I've been hooked on his dreary and depressing vision of inner city Baltimore ever since. Living right next to a poverty-stricken Chicago neighborhood, his writing seems like a small window into that world. Our long dormant Netflix cue is revving up.

Don't get around much anymore

Its cold outside, we've got a baby, and truthfully, the desire to go out has decreased. For all these reasons I find myself staying in all the time these days. I guess that means I have no excuse for not blogging :) Kelly has done an admirable job keeping the baby blog up to date, but I can't muster up the same determination. Part of that is laziness, and part of it is the desire to maintain some degree of privacy (not that anyone is reading this!)

These days I do much of my traveling online, while lying on our surprisingly comfortable, but cheap, couch. I've discovered Facebook, and while I don't use it like the teens do, Ive found it to be a nice, useful application for keeping in touch with friends we don't see very often (which is pretty much everyone.)

Other must check sites:
www.dailykos.com
www.talkingpointsmemo.com
www.washingtonmonthly.com
www.atrios.blogspot.com
www.andrewsullivan.com
www.macsurfer.com
www.slashdot.org
www.chicagotribune.com
www.wjinc.com
www.city-data.com

I read alot of other sites, but these are my must check ones. I find myself using my iPhone alot when stuck in line somewhere. Roughly speaking, these sites can be categorized as political, tech, news (local), and urban issues which pretty much summarizes my interests these days.