Today's diversion: the dramatic interpretation of a real conversation from a seventh grader's Facebook. more ›

Dave and Lindsey Meske couldn't choose between Madelyn (Dave's choice) or Lindsey's preference for McKenna. So they set up a Facebook poll, added Emily and Addilyne to the choices, and told anyone and everyone to vote early and often. more ›

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is hosting his second Facebook town hall forum on Monday evening, and this one focuses on education. He might need to address that whole extended school day thing. more ›

Today's diversion is absolutely brilliant. more ›

It's officially fall - the first caramel apples are coming out. Tomorrow looks to be chilly and grey, so brighten your spirits with a free caramel apple. Anyone who stops in at the JW Marriot in the Loop tomorrow who is a Facebook fan of the hotel gets a free, delicious treat - courtesy of pastry chef Kimberly Junior. more ›

Every once in a while, a friend request will come along that will change your life forever. more ›

Well, this seems inevitable. The insane amounts of hype and anticipation around Next restaurant's new Thai menu led to a collapse of their computer systems last night when tickets finally went on sale. What Time Out's David Tamarkin called an "explosion of bourgeoise anger and first-world vitriol" (and we call just another example of why anonymous internet commenting leads people to be idiots) happened on the Next Facebook page, reminding us that you're only popular until you're not. more ›

The video of a woman tattooing 152 Facebook profile pictures on her arm has spread across the internet (on Facebook, no less!) in the last 48 hours. The notion that someone might get an icon from a social network tattooed on a part of their body has sparked a combination of fascination and outrage, as evidenced by the comments on the video's YouTube post. more ›

This just in - The Aviary, Grant Achatz's new cocktail bar adjacent to Next, will start taking reservations. However, any restaurant connected with Next (which has a fairly complex system of ticketing) can't take just any reservations; there has to be a twist. If you want to drink their gastronomically complex cocktails, you can email reservations@theaviary.com between 10 AM and 4 PM on the day you want to drink with your party size and contact information. Don't clear your calendar, since only 10 emails will be randomly selected each day. Hints that this would happen have been coming on Facebook for a while, as it seems the crowding and seating situation at The Aviary isn't as organized as the owners would like it to be. more ›

The official full lineup for Lollapalooza is set to be announced next week, but that isn't stopping the festival's organizers and marketing team from getting people to guess the lineup with a slow reveal. more ›

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy was in Toronto for a concert recently and stopped for a bite at a sandwich shop, The name of the shop? Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company LTD. We have no excuse as to why this idea didn't make our list of things to which Wilco could lend their brand name. Tweedy also shows a droll sense of humor in his review of the sandwich shop, saying, "Lunch was really good, but, to be honest, I prefer their earlier more experimental sandwiches." more ›

At Oak Park-River Forest High School on Friday, hundreds of students donned black t-shirts with the word "RESPECT" on them in response to a controversial list--distributed in school and on Facebook on January 18--that ranked 50 girls by their appearance and sexuality. The list included sexually explicit descriptions, in addition to racial and ethnic slurs. On the back of the t-shirts was a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." more ›

Do you have any burning questions for Stephanie Izard, of Girl and the Goat and Top Chef fame? If you want to grill her about reality TV, her best recipes or her favorite restaurants, get on Facebook today at noon. Izard will be posting on the wall of Food and Wine magazine, as herself. If you want to talk to her, just post something on the wall and she may respond. She will be "chatting" with fans and guests for one hour. Food and Wine has also posted three great recipes, created by Izard, for you to try at home. What would you ask Stephanie, if you had a chance? more ›

Restaurants and social media seem to lead an uneasy coexistence. Many chefs and owners don't quite know how to handle Facebook and twitter, except as outlets for press releases, and mentioning the word "Yelp" can evoke pan-throwing from some chefs. As more and more people get their news and gossip through social networking sites, a few restaurants have risen above the pack and are attempting to figure out how to use this new medium to their advantage, and to the advantage of their customers. more ›

No need to panic. Well, maybe for you. On a dare from our editor-in-chief, your humble cocktail reporter entered Prairie Fire's competition to guest-bartend at the restaurant. They asked amateur mixers to submit a recipe for an original cocktail on their Facebook page. The first round of the contest ends today; next, two finalists will be chosen for an evening of head-to-head bartending at Prairie Fire. The better-tipped competitor wins, with all the proceeds going to a very good cause: Share Our Strength, a charity combating childhood hunger. I've slung drinks in intimate company, but never to order. Gulp. more ›

There are plenty of places and ways to get your Chicagoist fix. And with everyone getting new iPhones and Evo's and what nots, it's a good time for a reminder of the list of places you can follow us. more ›

Apparently, Facebook has been crashing all afternoon. And, apparently, it's really big news. We're sure some offices across the city are only moments away from something similar to this. more ›

There are plenty of places and ways to get your Chicagoist fix. And with everyone getting new iPhones and Evo's and what nots, it's a good time for a reminder of the list of places you can follow us. more ›

There are plenty of places and ways to get your Chicagoist fix. And with everyone getting new iPhones and Evo's and what nots, it's a good time for a reminder of the list of places you can follow us. more ›

We told you how Sarah Palin addressed the Highland Park High basketball trip controversy at her speaking engagement last night. But this afternoon, Palin has taken to, what else, Facebook to further address the issue and her support of the girls' right to travel to Arizona for the tournament. In the note, Palin takes umbrage with the district's decision to make a political stance as well as the fact that the school is sending another group of students to China. Palin even started a Facebook group with WIND 560's Amy Jacobson to support the team. more ›

• The Reader's (and former Chicagoist writer) Hunter Clauss discovers that Ald. Beale's claim that Wal-Mart is the only retail choice for Pullman isn't quite true.
• Metra has placed chief executive Phil Pagano on leave as they continue to investigate his alleged bonuses.
• Authorities have recovered a car involved in an early morning hit-and-run accident on I-94.

• Bond was set at $1 million for Marcy Cruz, half of the duo charged in last week's bat attack in Bucktown.
• A Facebook photo leads to a stolen phone.
• Desiree Rogers breaks her silence on her time in the White House.

There are plenty of places and ways to get your Chicagoist fix. Here's a list of places you can follow us. more ›

One of the casualties of this year's budget cuts was The Chicago Outdoor Film Festival. For the previous ten years the weekly nighttime screenings in Grant Park had been a staple of the free summer festival lineup. Last year's showing of Duck Soup even helped Chicago set a world record for the most people wearing Groucho Marx glasses (4,436 to be exact). more ›

Hello everyone! You may have heard that Gothamist has released its first iPhone app. We call it Istaverse and it contains all the magic of the Gothamist sites in a convenient Apple-approved form. The app offers advantages over our iPhone mobile website: it downloads stories so you can read them when you're offline, and it makes reading our other cities a cinch when you're traveling. more ›

Are you a social network addict? There may be hope for you to break the chains of technology, but you'll need a few tips to help. [via] more ›

Residents of the Beverly and Morgan Park may have thought they had a reprieve from massive crowds descending to their neighborhood on March 14th, but some people refuse to let the South Side Irish Parade die. Apparently, the 10 day festival and “South Side Irish Parade Family Fest” the former parade planning committee put together isn’t enough for some enthusiasts. With that in mind, the Sun Times reports that one Evergreen Park resident started a Facebook event called “I say we show up at the Southside Irish Parade Anyways.” more ›

With the way technology is growing, it's no surprise there are so many ways to keep track of things and we're no different. Here's a list of places you can follow us. more ›

If you're on Facebook (and who isn't, these days?), then you know that people use the social networking application not only to stay in touch, but also to share their thoughts and personal events with their network of friends and acquaintances. Social networking has become so prevalent in society that even politicians and elected officials use it communicate with constituents. Unfortunately, they tend to use it in a dry and almost "safe" way - sticking to an unwritten script of stating a position on an issue, thanking supporters/asking them to help support a campaign, piece of legislation or friendly candidate, and sharing information about issues the candidate is working to promote or support. more ›

With the way technology is growing, it's no surprise there are so many ways to keep track of things and we're no different. Here's a list of places you can follow us. more ›