Margaret is giant nerd who'd rather talk about punctuation and math than just about anything else...except maybe TV. Or weather patterns. Or baseball, or the Daley administration, or design, or comedy, or the CTA, or feminism, or--jeeze louise, good luck getting Margaret to stop talking. She lives in the 1st Ward.

Tankboy resides in the body of Jim Kopeny and lives in Humboldt Park with a beagle named Betty who may actually be slightly more famous than most of the musicians slogging through the local scene. He's written about music for much longer than most bands you hear on the radio have even existed. He also swears that it wasn't him who did that and has learned that "deny everything" is a basic tenet of existence.

You can, and should, direct all arts & entertainment inquiries to Jim.

Chuck (aka "The Decider") grew up on the far northwest side of the city and, at the behest of a sweet-talking recruiter, joined the Navy after high school to study nuclear power. After his discharge in '94, he came back to Chicago and wasted the rest of his twenties and a good part of his thirties on good bourbon and gin; beer; jazz, soul, and insurgent country music; long bike rides; high-calorie breakfasts and women who don't stay for them. Chuck migrated through various north and west side neighborhoods until settling in Bridgeport eight years and one larger pants size ago. He always wanted to live east of Halsted near the home of a major league baseball team. He just never expected it to be Bridgeport. He's since grown accustomed to its face.

Chuck contributes the occasional article to the Chicago Sun-Times food section. His writing also pops up now and then in Time Out Chicago and Centerstage. His dog, Emmylou Harris, is the best looking dog owned by a Chicagoist staffer. Everything else can be found at his weblog, Bridgeport Seasoning. As evidenced by his picture, he also has a great smile.

You can, and should, direct all food & drink inquiries to Chuck.

Rachelle lived in various parts of the country before moving to Chicago to get back in touch with her midwestern roots. She is now a resident of Roscoe Village. When Rachelle isn't doing something online, which isn't often, she can be found with either a book, a beer, or a burrito in her face. Possibly all at the same time. Rachelle has a personal site at rachelleb.com.

Marcus originally hails from the bastion of high intellect, Alabama. After college, he moved to New Orleans where he spent several years drinking, dodging streetcars, and trying not to look so suspicious. After losing his home as a result of Hurricane Katrina and growing tired of living in the post-apocalypse, he traded in his FEMA check for a case of Miller High Life and a one-way ticket to Chicago. He now resides in Roscoe Village with his dog Franklin, where they read, write, and listen to Avril Lavigne records all night long.

Amy is a native Chicagoan. She was raised in the suburbs, went to school in Indiana, and spent two years living in Schaumburg before moving to the city and heaving a sigh of relief. A true Midwesterner, she sometimes forgets that all cities are not built on completely flat ground.

She enjoys doing whatever she wants (it's true!). You can be her friend as long as you are nice, and interesting. Amy lives in Lakeview, where the beds are soft, the porridge is hot, and the neighbors are just right.

Justin grew up in Miami, Florida, but has lived in Chicago long enough to accept its pastel color deficiency. Prolonged winters aside, he believes Chicago is the most exciting theater town in the country and one of the finest cultural destinations in the world. Justin abandoned the actor's life years ago for more lucrative jobs with nonprofit organizations, but has recently returned to the stage and screen as an angry roommate, a quiz show participant, and the voice of a Spiderman Bobblehead.

Generally a fan of flying by the seat of her pants, Ali moved to Chicago 5 years ago without ever having visited. Since settling into the Midwest, her Steel City accent has diminished and she's finally figured out that everyone "on LSD" is just trying to beat the traffic home. A serial obsessor, Ali's current fascinations include frozen food from Trader Joe's, racking up frequent flier miles, consignment stores and testing out the theories of The Secret. She lives in Lakeview right where that perfect storm of Wrigleyville and Boystown collides.

Thales, whose name rhymes with Bailey's, grew up in Indiana but arrived in Chicago seven years ago by way of New Mexico. She works as a software engineer, and lives in Andersonville where she enjoys yelling at cable news anchors, ordering Thai food, and having just one more glass of wine. She'll obsess over any question or problem until she has an answer, and hopes yours in particular will keep her up at night. Talking to Thales in the morning before she's had coffee is not recommended.

Rob grew up in suburban Denver (mostly), and when he moved to Chicago in 1993 to attend film school it triggered approximately six months of severe culture shock. Now he loves Chicago so much that he actually looks forward to wintertime. Yes, he's that crazy. His list of five quintessential Chicago touchstones: Jane Addams, Nelson Algren, Chess Records, Meis van der Rohe, and "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer." He sees lots and lots of movies, contributes restaurant reviews to the Chicago Reader, and posts random thoughts on his blog Rob's Cosmic Mai Tai Noir. Also, he wrote a book called 100 Spinning Plates. He lives in Lakeview with his partner Andy, loves the enchiladas nortenas at Las Pinatas, and has a passion for mixing retro cocktails (the Mai Tai being his specialty, obviously).

Laura makes her home in the Chicago's West Loop where dogs are the new children and get pushed around in Bugaboo strollers. After studying biology, she disappointed her Korean mother by attending law school instead of medical school and now practices law in the Loop. Like any good attorney, she is sarcastic, slightly offensive, loves practical jokes and is attached to her Blackberry. She once took her non-Chicagoan drunk college friends to the John Hancock building and told them it was the Sears Tower to avoid a cold walk south of the river. Laura obsesses over cell phones, her dog, identifying her friends' celebrity doppelgängers, and good food.

Anthony’s a native Iowan, but fled the state’s limited cuisine of corn syrup and pork products at the age of 18. After moving to Chicago in 2004, he became one of the city’s most avid boosters, especially when it comes to restaurants. A grad student in history at the University of Chicago, he will enthusiastically talk about Chicago’s sordid past until long after you’ve given him a strange look and sidled away quietly. As an avid nerd-of-all-trades, Anthony is probably the only person in the metropolitan area (and possibly in the entire world) to have eaten illegal Foie Gras while playing Dungeons and Dragons. When he isn’t locked in the Regenstein Library, Anthony lives in the South Loop.

Karl hails from a location that's just spitting distance from the Chicago River — equal parts Albany Park and Lincoln Square. He has only been to Wicker Park once. He has an equal love for good buffalo wings, his wife, and a clean countertop. Lesser addictions include talk radio, making Coney Dogs for native Michiganders, and finding new & varied kinds of malt liquor. Taking great pride in his native city, Karl is devoted to finding the dirtiest and most depressing bars in the city and won't rest until he finds them.

Elizabeth grew up outside of New York City, but she is firmly on the Chicago side of the city rivalry in all things but pizza. She managed an infant psychology lab and helped babies channel their inner Bruce Willis, then taught fourth graders both how to find Iraq on a map and how to read the Bible critically. She now spends days being absolutely ridiculous just to make her son laugh, and she writes her master’s thesis during naps (his, not hers). Elizabeth shares her Lakeview place with her husband, 3,000 books, a giant portrait of Hemingway, and dueling Wheaten Terriers.

Conceived in Italy and raised by gypsy bandits, Jess lived in six states before her family planted in Tennessee. After a stint in South Africa, she came to Chicago three years ago and is surprised herself that she's been able to stay in one place. Her hair color changes so often people forget what it looked like when they met her.

She spends her time browsing old bookstores whilst sneaking sips of whiskey from her hip flask. On days off she can be found hard-not-at work on her novella, attempting to play the musical saw, or pretending to be crafty. Jess lives in Logan Square where she drinks exotic beer and cheap wine. She dreams of owning a dirigible by age fifty.

Lizz left Boston the day after graduation from BC to roadtrip home to Milwaukee, but stopped off 90 miles south in Chicago and hasn't left since. She's bounced from neighborhood to neighborhood, finding the best coffee, sushi, beer, and live music in each and finally settling in Ravenswood. A big fan of intimate rooms and approachable artists, Lizz is most often found failing to look cool in Chicago's coziest music venues and friendliest brew pubs.

Kevin was raised in the politics of Chicago's 10th Ward. Growing up in a family of steelworkers, he learned the value of hard work and standing up for your principals early on. He is a former union and community organizer and has played small roles in the periodic skirmishes for political power that define this city. After brief stints in Ohio, West Virginia, Chiapas and Mexico City, he returned to Chicago in 2003, and he resides anonymously in a gentrifying neighborhood. He finds skepticism and cheap whiskey to be good antidotes for political disillusionment.

Benjy Lipsman is a native Chicagoan who has lived in the area for most of his life. Following a 6-year exile in Atlanta, he returned to the Windy City in 2001 and resides in Lincoln Park. Benjy works as a web designer for a dot com.

A true Chicago sports fan, Benjy is one of the rare life-long North Siders who has chosen the White Sox as his annual baseball tormenter. When the Sox aren't toying with his emotions, the Bears and Bulls usually are. His sorrows are usually drowned in beer or visits to Ikea.

Todd grew up in the Northern suburbs of Chicago, and now lives in the Southport Corridor neighborhood. A sports nut, he loves playing and watching sports like soccer and Australian Rules Football. Todd lives out his childhood dream of flying as often as possible as a private pilot and blogs all about it at myflightblog.com. One of Todd's proudest moments was when he was invited to "Come on down" on "The Price is Right" and made Bob Barker laugh so hard they had to stop taping the show. During the day he works as a Group Account Director for an Interactive Agency.

Timothy State grew up in the Pacific Northwest, attended college in the Midwest at Lake Forest College and completed a ten-year tour in the capital of the South, Atlanta. He no longer knows how to pronounce anything. In 2004, he was recognized as one of Georgia’s “Newest and Most Promising Writers” by the O, Georgia! Writers Foundation. His blog, BalancingBoyfriends.com has been highlighted as a “Best Gay Blog.” His essays have been published on Swellzine.com. Most recently two of his stories were included in the Lambda Literary Award winning anthology Love, Bourbon Street, and his story, “Weenie Scaloppini” will be included in the upcoming anthology Nine Hundred & Sixty-Nine: Stories of West Hollywood.

When he’s not writing, he’s on his bike, swimming in the lake, or futzing around Chicago with his camera.He and his main boyfriend, Tony, live in the West Loop.