Things I learned from this week's Reader (5/6/05 edition)

- When you write book reviews for local publications, it's as if your words are going into a black hole. You often can't tell whether you have any readers at all. (p. 18)*

- In 1999, John Green lived in a crappy Wicker Park garden apartment with some college friends. (p. 5)

- "Wendy McClure went to her first literary reading as a freshman at the University of Iowa in 1989." (That's a LEAD! A LEAD!!!) (p. 12)

- Some Wicker Park residents want to preserve a playground. (p. 8)

- When in doubt, go blue. (p. 10, p. 12)

Also, can we please ban the word "snark" and all its derivations from public discourse? (see p. 19)


*Ah, the irony!