CHEKIT: 1,667 words a day, for the next 30 days.

That's right, kids. Something had to get this piece of shit rolling and it might as well be the insanity of National Novel Writing Month. In case you haven't heard, NaNoWriMo is a challenge to writers of all stripes and talent levels during the month of November - write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. It's more of an sadomasochistic writing exercise than anything else, and a good way to build a framework for future projects. It's also supposedly fun, though anyone working on this sort of thing will tell you that it's more like walking into the room of infinite monkeys and infinite typewriters of one's mind armed with correction fluid, bananas laced with PCP and a menacing, monomaniacal bellow that sounds more like the coxswain's urging to STROKE, BITCHES more than anything else. I'll be posting excerpts here, and full entries over at A Nightmare of Chickens and the Civil War. And I'd like to apologize in advance for the absolute crap you're about to endure.

CHEKIT: Virtual "L" Navigator

If you know what you're doing, you can pretty much get anywhere you want in Chicago via public transportation. The buses and trains may not always be the most luxurious vehicles in the world, but they are cheap and clean enough ("eco-friendly" and "pro-sustainability," according to L-o'-lantern carver thirdrail). Problem is (and I use the word "problem" in the same way that someone giving you a million dollars in quarters is a "problem") there are so many cool neighborhoods in this city with so many cool places to check out, it's hard to decide where to go, and how to get there.

Enter centerstage.net, and their incredibly handy and intuitive Virtual "L" Navigator. Find a stop on any CTA transit line, and the Navigator will provide a list of bars, restaurants, stores, parks - pretty much anyplace worth checking out - within walking distance. You can also work it the other way, and click on a neighborhood, find a place you wanna be, and the Navigator will tell you which line to take, and where to get off. In a town full of incredibly useful city guides, this is one to bookmark and keep handy.