Writing, Writing, and More Writing. Also, Vanity Pictures

Where have I been all week? I've hardly blogged at all. Well, I've been writing my tail off, and battling some illness. Minor insomnia and possibly food-related illness. I'll spare you the details. Today I'm chugging Pedialyte and getting lots of sleep.

I just turned in the final draft of my first piece for Chicago Magazine, a snappy little article about comedian Carol Leifer, who will be playing a show at the Lakeshore Theater in August. I spoke to Miss Leifer on the phone and my nerves were immediately soothed by her mega friendliness. I'm so excited to be published in such a well-respected magazine and hope to wrangle more regular assignments from them in the future.

I'm also working on my first piece for Builder/Architect, about a big Chicago-based realty group. It's tough getting some of these busy and super successful realty folks on the phone long enough for a proper interview, but I'm so happy to be working as a writer that I'm appreciating every challenge as a learning experience.

Also this week I published an interview with comedian Aziz Ansari, whose new show "Human Giant" is all over MTV these days. Comedy Central Insider mentioned my article, and I have to say I was really nervous talking to Aziz, up until I asked the question about the little boy he cast as the talent agency president, and then we both relaxed and the whole thing got rolling very nicely. That just goes to show me again that when I follow my instincts and ask about the things I'm really interested in, that's where the gold is, and everyone is happy - me, my interviewee, and my readers. (Do yourself a favor and watch this clip of Bobb'e J. Thompson, a ten year old actor who Aziz calls "the most amazing performer I've ever seen.")

I've also been playing more with my new Mac, totally not figuring out all the graphics stuff I need to do, but having a sick amount of fun with Photo Booth and iMovie. With some of the fancy filters they have, you can take pictures of yourself fresh out of bed in the morning, ungroomed and puffy-eyed, and still look pretty cool! Ah, technology. It's such a tool of vanity.