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Chi-lympics 2016: let's discuss

A few facts before beginning this discussion:

I am a big Olympics fan. I watched almost every Michael Phelps race. I still get chills when I think about Apolo Anton Ohno's short-track prowess. And when my bank asked for the name of my favorite athlete in a long list of security questions for online access, my answer was Mary Lou Retton.

I work in an industry (tv and film) that theoretically stands to benefit from the Olympics coming to Chicago. Friends and family members who work in architecture, retail, and real estate also stand to benefit.

I admit that I tend to default to a moderately anti-establishment and anti-Daley position when I am too lazy to research the facts. That means I'm probably pre-disposed to be opposed to government-subsidized mega-sporting-events and stadiums. I might like the Olympics, but I'm not really booster-club material (my great love and affection for Buddy Garrity notwithstanding).

So despite my love for the Olympics and the potential personal financial gain, and in part owing to the aforementioned bias, I read Tom Tresser's recent article on the Chi-lympics in the Huffington Post with great interest. I was leaning anti-Olympics, but needed more facts. 

Moving beyond 140 characters

Facebook and, more recently, Twitter have been satisfying modes of self-expression for me for a little while. 140 characters is a very low-commitment writing exercise and the built-in audience (far bigger than I’ve ever enjoyed here) is sure appealing. But, it has it limits and I’m going to try to devote some time to blogging again. (A blog! seems almost archaic in these days of social-networking-gluttony.)

Possible topics to be written on here:

• Olympics 2016 in Chicago: pretty sure this is a B-A-D idea.
• Detox 2009 in mi casa: how and why certain items have gotten the boot from my diet...for now
• Full Frame Doc Fest in Durham, NC: films I plan to see, do see, have seen and what i think and thought of them
• The bike ride I plan to take while in Durham
• Searching for the next icon of political hope in Illinois: is there salvation out there?
• A post-mortem on Season 3 of the FNL gang: Riggins, Lyla, Coach, Saracen et al. Can I figure out how to express why this crew makes me so happy?

Chime in if you’d like to hear more about any of these in particular. See you around...