Yael Writes

I got to spend most of last week traipsing through Chicago. Instead of sitting at home and writing articles, for three days I wandered through my long forgotten neighborhoods of Logan Square and Wicker Park, trying to remember what it was I loved so much about them in the months I’d spent there.

I saw old friends from college, which was fabulous. I got my ass kicked at Scrabble after a lovely dinner at Revolution Brewing. (Living in Eau Claire I’d almost forgotten what an evening with good food, good service and good people felt like.) I hopped on the El and spent way too much money at Quimby’s and the T-Shirt Deli. I visited a bakery I used to work at. I stayed out too late watching fights at Bellator 25. I had breakfast with a friend at the Bleeding Heart Bakery. I got stuck in traffic, couldn’t find parking and got threatened with towing.

On the way to Chicago, I took a pit stop in Madison and was treated to a fabulous lunch with someone I’d never previously met. And on the way back I drank chilled tea at Dobra with an old friend from long ago, before stopping by at a cafe to answer emergency e-mails before driving back home.

I love taking trips. The frantic post-trip attempt to catch up on all the work that piled up in my three-day absence, despite attempts at remediation? Not so much. And although I don’t have burning revelations to express in written form this week, I did want to direct you to some of my writing that’s floating around, and a few other goodies.

I’ve written about former research biochemist and current nutritional genius Robb Wolf quite a bit, and now I have an interview with him up on T-Nation. We discussed the basics of the Paleo diet and a little bit about Robb’s book, the Paleo Solution, due out next month. (Robb’s actually having a giveaway on his site; pre-order his book by Friday morning and you can win a free Nevatear heavybag).

And speaking of interviews, I also asked Olympic Weightlifting coach and Performance Menu editor Greg Everett ten questions over at Straight to the Bar. Greg’s articles in the P-Menu and around the net are some of the best I’ve seen, so if you’re at all interested in getting bigger, faster and stronger it may be worth checking out.

On the freelance writing end, I happened across these hysterical Journalism Warning Labels by Tom Scott. Everything else has a label, it seems, so why not bad writing? If you’re upset with the direction in which media is headed, you’ll love these. You can even print them out on label paper and stick them on all appropriate articles. In the same vein, Daily Finance has a very funny piece up on the Dumbest How-To Content from Demand Media.

On a more positive note, I wrote a guest post for Freelance Folder: 15 Ways to Get Inspired. This is useful for writing articles and blog posts, but for those seeking inspiration in their art or design work as well.

If you’re an aspiring magazine writer in Minneapolis, or know someone who is, I’ll be teaching a workshop on December 4th and 11th entitled From Query To Print: Magazine Writing Basics. This Saturday is the Loft Literary Center Education Open House, where I’ll give a 15-minute presentation about the workshop at 12:30, and be available to answer questions at the Literary Commons from 11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Please help spread the word!

Back next Wednesday with your regularly scheduled blog post.