mizChartreuse || redefiningSuccess

Dear Potential Roommate, The Pilsen neighborhood of the lower west side of Chicago is one that is up and coming. If you know how to apartment search properly, you’ll find huge spaces for ridiculously low rent.  I live in one such apartment–four bedrooms, LOTS of living space. There is one bathroom (which is never an [...]

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I’ve worked in the service industry in some capacity for the last five years. I’ve worked in bars and at sporting venues (for the Bulls, Blackhawks, White Sox and Bears), and the movie Waiting was especially poignant for me. One of my fellow servers at the Chicago Stadium Club did a special segment on Oprah’s show, [...]

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“Psst. Hey. Do you smoke?” A 19-year-old black guy asked me one night on the Green Line from Oak Park to Chicago. It was finals week; I was heading home from a night class. That week I was consumed with hating everyone and everything, not really wanting to talk to anyone, so I sat in [...]

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Yep, I said it. I happened to catch the Miss USA 2009 Pageant Sunday evening, just as the live broadcast began. The hosts, Billy Bush and Nadine Velasquez, were cute together. The show’s judges included Kenan from Kenan and Kel, Perez Hilton, Holly Madison, and model Claudia Jordan of Deal or No Deal and Celebrity Apprentice fame.  I’m no [...]

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Due to crazies, stalkers, psychos, fatties, weirdos, and long-distance bill collectors, I have changed my phone number numerous times over the past several years and am quite selective about to whom I give my digits. This is why I was quite confused to one night receive a text message that said: “What up dis shontice [...]

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