I drove 2000 fucking miles for this?

SPRINGFIELD, ILL. - I recently posted to the Chicago Bloggers Yahoo group, saying that I'd be there soon and asking if anyone would like to meet me and do things.

In response, I received one helpful private reply, and two less than helpful replies to the list.

"Jeff" writes: "Why is that I'm not charmed by a stranger who tells me he's coming into my town in 48 hours and then provides me with a list of suitable ways to entertain him?... at least go through some of the motions of gentility and decorum? Maybe say we have a nice group... he'd sure like to meet us... sorry for the late notice... ?... the ChicagoBloggers are more or less a group of friends... not the Blog Chamber of Commerce... And that list thing... sheesh."

Someone else writes: "Demands will get you nowhere, politeness will, at least get your e-mail read and maybe kept and considered instead of being trashed after being briefly scanned."

Messages received.

I'm sorry to be brusque, it's just that I've been living in L.A. for many years, and sometimes we cut corners with the niceties a bit and get right to the point. I realize I'm now in the Midwest, and I need to adjust myself to a different way of doing things. Plus, I've been spending a lot of time driving, and that means that my 'net time has been greatly reduced. If I'd had more time, I most likely would have been able to put more thought into my message.

As for the list, it wasn't really a list of demands. While it includes some of the things I'm interested in (but certainly by no means all), it wasn't meant as a list of the ways that I could be entertained. It was meant as a starting point to see if there was some commonality between what I'm interested in and what the receiving bloggers would be interested in. I'm certainly willing to be interested in what you're interested in, as long as I can finally meet some fellow bloggers on my tour. And, to be frank, I was hoping they'd be Chicago bloggers. While some Angelenos might have a negative opinion of Chicagoans, I don't. In fact, I spent a few years there. I realize it's a lot different from the glitz, glamour, stars, mansions, near-constant sunshine, culture, beaches, and frequently snowy mountains of L.A., but it certainly has its own charms, and I was hoping to experience those charms again accompanied by my peers. Although there might be thousands of miles separating us, when I was blogging away back in L.A., I always knew I was part of the worldwide blogosphere, and that blogging connected me with all the other bloggers out there.

I want to stress that I bear both gentlemen quoted above no ill will. I visited both their blogs, and I found them quite interesting. I apologize again, and peace out.

(Special note to John of THE OTHER SIDE in Salina, Kansas: As you can see, I'm trying to blog in geographic order and I'm over 500 miles behind. But, your report will be posted next.)

Comments

East St. Louis isn't St. Louis, it's in Illinois.

Segregation exists in every city in the country regardless of size and location.

It is true that there is no reason to be in Kansas City below 79th Street - especially in Johnson County - best to avoid Kansas altogether.

There are positives and negatives, but I am most pleased with Kansas City for the moment. If I were single and had the time and money to live somewhere else - I'd be there. If I had to try and raise a family and pursue the interests I do in another city - I couldn't afford it.

I grew up in St. Louis - there is no way you could PAY me to live there ever again.

>People that don't like Kansas City have
>apparently never bothered to find the real
>flavor.

I lived there for over twenty-five years; I sincerely doubt I was unable to "find the real flavor." Kansas City's problems stem in part from a TERRIBLE segregation problem, lack of quality local universities, and a provincialism I found endemic on both sides of the state line.

Not to say there's aren't neat and/or interesting things to do there at all . . . sure there are. But they tend to limited in variety and scope, especially when compared to a first-tier city.

I agree with you, Scott, that Kansas City is a more *cost-effective* place to live (and especially to raise a family). In fact this is one of the most persuasive reasons to live there . . . if one has a family to raise. But there are tradeoffs involved.

I also tend not to buy the assertion that "Kansas City is Missouri, not Kansas." Having lived on both sides of that state line, I didn't see the city stopping when it got into Kansas (or Missouri), any more than the general quality of people changed. I always took that view for what it was, a mostly-artificial distinction (much like the state line itself). Isn't that a bit like saying the East St. Louis isn't really St. Louis because it's in Illinois? Does the defining-out of a certain geographical area really make it (or the problems associated with it) go away?

I agree with the people that got their feathers ruffled...you need to give people advanced notice especially when you are looking for a handout.

I agree with the people that got their feathers ruffled...you need to give people advanced notice especially when you are looking for a handout.

Kansas City has many wonderful qualities. The radio stations may suck, and there may be no mountains or beaches, but it is a great town. I have friends that live in Chicago (Damen and Division)-It's a great place to visit, but there is no way I could afford to raise my family there. People that don't like Kansas City have apparently never bothered to find the real flavor. Many of my friends from Chicago have had a wonderful time here. By the way, Overland Park and Olathe are not Kansas City. Kansas City is not Kansas, but Missouri.

A friend of mine once told me that St. Louis is the western-most eastern city and Kansas City is the eastern-most western city. Having grown up in St. Louis and living in Kansas City for the past five years I can see the point.

Mediocrity is rampant in any city, and so is the good stuff, the real flavor - if you care to look for it.

As someone who has lived in the midwest and on both coasts, I can testify to the quaintness of the midwest, especially from the perspective of someone living on the coasts. That being said, Chicago, with its world-class universities, fantastic music scene and polyglot population, can hardly be taken as representative of the midwest. If Chicago were representative of the midwest more people would live there. Kansas City (for example) is far more representative of the midwest than Chicago. You don't want to live in Kansas City, believe me . . . and if you don't, move there to discover the mediocrity that is KC.

The attitude of, to paraphrase Nirvana, "here I am now, entertain me" doesn't sit well with anyone, no matter their geographic location.

Glad you're one of the Angelenos who can appreciate that there's something in between LA and NYC besides farms. Welcome to (back) to Chicago; hope you have fun.

(By the way, you're not winning many points with this line: "I realize it's a lot different from the glitz, glamour, stars, mansions, near-constant sunshine, culture, beaches, and frequently snowy mountains of L.A., but it certainly has its own charms..." So we're quaint, and we lack culture? Hrm.)

well. hey, if you're ever in Oregon, come hang out with an ex-angeleno here on the south coast. I'll take ya canoeing, kayaking, hiking to waterfalls, salmon fishing, steelhead fishing, duneboarding, get you leaping off rope swings into cold water. could probably find some places for rock climbling. You can even come check my band out. :)

We can actually drive on our beaches, too.

If you've spent anytime blogging, I'm sure you've realized bloggers are a highly opinionated group. To come into a non-public forum for a localized weblog community with a hasty, last minute request like that, was bound to raise one or two of us out of a few hundred.

And the difference between L.A. and Chicago is not that we slather ourselves with niceties and politeness, but that we can tolerate very little insincerity. The people of this city love to show it off but scoff at the mere suggestion that outsiders (much less somebody from a coast) should tell us what to do.

All that said, I'm extremely envious of your adventures, and am looking forward to reading more of them. Welcome to Chicago.

Welcome to Chicago. I notice on your list you've put top rope climbing. I've not climbed in 20 years, but you should contact the Chicago Mountaineering Club. Devils Lake in Baraboo WI is only 2 hours away and has some of the best technical rock climbing in the US-most of it top roped.

As for natural sites, well, about all we've got is the prairie. Enter Illinois from the west and watch the lush green fields of corn, the White farm buildings, the blue skies, huge cumulus clouds scudding across the endless sky. I think it's pretty amazing. In Lisle IL (just west of the city off of US-88, visit the Morton Arboreteum. They've rebuilt some of the original tall grass prairie.

And as you know, the city is a beautiful place itself. I don't know when you were here last, but if its been more than ten years, the changes will pleasantly surprise you. People are moving back the city.

Anyway, have a good time, and drop a note if you want more info.

Mike

while i am not a blooger i certainly consume them and also live in Chicago. be happy to help you out depending on you r schedule if i can. time is a little tight but what the heck. drop me a line let me know how to contact you. its now about 530 am on tues i wont be able to pick up any messages until late this afternoon. peace and welocme to chicago.