The Bloggies

Ladies and gentlemen the nominations for the 2010 Bloggies opened on the first.

If you're not familiar with The Bloggies, they are the preeminent and longest running awards for bloggers.

And I want you and your friends to nominate this blog in the "Best writing of a weblog" and "Best kept secret weblog" categories.

You have to nominate two other blogs for a total of three nominations in each category so make sure that you nominate other well deserving blogs besides yours truly.

So wake the kids, tell the neighbors, send an e-mail to all of your friends to nominate I Hate My Developer.

If I make it to the finals you can look at the newbies to the blog and tell them that you've been reading since the great porch project of 2006.

Surprises Abound

Who knew that people who rubbed shoulders with Nobel Laureates, Rhodes Scholars and Pulitzer Prize winners even knew about the offerings of yours truly?

I might even re-read “The Closing of the American Mind” to see if I’ve changed my opinion in 22 years.

Right after I finish “The Beauty Myth.”

Just keeping it real south of the Midway---thanks for the shout out U of C.

Mortgage Epilogue, Part I

On it's face my mortgage situation has been worked out---at least temporarily.

When I didn't know what would happen, I contacted the press about my situation to see if a little well needed publicity would help the matter.

While I spoke with various members of the press, this is the only story to emerge so far.

Much thanks to Ashley Gross and the lovely folks over at Chicago Public Radio.

How Facebook Saved My Ass, Part 2 or How The Collegiate Mafia Came Through Once Again

My recent mortgage foolishness has been a thorn in my side.

And that's putting it mildly.

For those of you who have been reading for quite some time, you know the past few years haven't been paradise.

Jesus take the wheel.

But as we all know, bad things happen to good people everyday. And in some cases, really, really bad things happen to really, really good people.

So in the grand scheme of things, my issues were (are?) a cake walk.

No one was bleeding, I could stil feed myself and I had a roof over my head.

Now my mortgage servicer was trying to affect the later.

Obviously, I was upset.

One of my dear friends who is a regular reader of this blog suggested that I contact a mutual friend of ours who might be in a position to offer some advice.

She also mentioned that she recently reconnected with her on Facebook.

At this point, the situation was (is?) dire----what did I have to lose?

So I reached out to our friend after many years.

I felt a little awkward as we haven't spoken in for some time but have many friends in common from our college days.

So I took a chance.

After a round of phone tag, we spoke and I explained my situation.

It's not that I want to antagonize Select Portfolio Servicing but I failed to understand why there was such a glaring hole in the Obama plan.

But don't get me on that soap box right now.

Let's just suffice it to say, I pray you all don't lose your jobs, run through your severance and savings.

Unless you're the auto industry or banking, let's just say your bailout options are severely limited.

But I digress...

Within hours, my friend received my information via e-mail and said that she would see what she could do.

Two days later, I received a much more sympathetic phone call from my mortgage servicer.

Now they wanted to give me "options."

To quote the late great Dinah Washington, "What a difference a day makes."

I wouldn't have been given "options" without the suggestion of my friend who in turn found our other friend on Facebook.

That's when I started to think, there actually might be something to this little thing.

So I had to check it out.

While my college network may not have as much prestige at The Northwestern Mafia, I may be able to argue that they aren't any less influential.

Post Election Reflection

While President Elect Obama’s historic campaign brought out the worst in his opponents, I will say that his election last Tuesday brought out the best in Chicago.

I have never seen that much order and love among a large diverse crowd at a public gathering ever.

Makes you kinda wonder what else Chicagoans could do if we overcame the bullshit and ugliness and came together.

And while we’re on the topic, nuts to those doom and gloom naysayers and scared rabbits that left the city with a quickness on Tuesday.

Those who said that no matter what the election outcome there would still be rioting on the streets.

It’s nice to know that we proved them wrong.

A small aside to my African American brothers and sisters:

While President Elect Obama is an impressive figure, do not place ALL of your hopes and dreams on his shoulders.

While he serves as an inspiration of what hard work and determination can do, he is not the only Black person who can achieve in this country.

Let me reiterate that point: He is not the only Black person who can achieve in this country.

I’m not sure why some of us need this stunning example to underscore this point but hey---whatever works.

You don’t have to give me that look---I know the deck is stacked but like President Elect Obama you’ve got to be three times as good (Read: Extremely Qualified) and run a tight campaign.

Oh yeah---and build a coalition.

On that note I just want to put a few things for your consideration on the table:

Can we start respecting each other and the places where we live just a little bit more? Picking up trash really doesn’t take too much time, really.

Is it possible that we could stop killing and poisoning one another? When I say poisoning I mean drugs and drug dealing.

Now here’s the tough one---Can we start holding community and elected leaders accountable for their actions?

Since Black people were usually on the short end of the stick when it came to inclusion in this country, it seems like we fell for the heady promise of someone who happened to look like us being in power.

From Hatcher in Gary, to Coleman in Detroit, to Barry in D.C.----dreams were realized but at a heavy cost.

Each of those leaders had the best of intentions, but reality was quite a different kettle of fish.

Black folks were a little new to the game. We didn’t know 40 years ago that you have to build coalitions in order to preserve the tax base which in turns pays for the cops, the fireman and the teachers.

But we know that now.

So the moral of my little tale is we have no permanent friends, we have no permanent enemies but we do have permanent interests that have yet to be effectively served by some of those in power.

To that end, call ‘em on the carpet.

Not only the politicians but the absentee land and property owners---one person (or a group of people) can make a difference.

Yes we can.

Go Figure

Guess who's on page 63? Thanks for the love Chicago Magazine.

The Word Is Out

The Chicago Tribune did a nice little story on the 'hood in yesterday's Real Estate section.

Surprise, surprise---the south side is nice and affordable. Read what Ms. Almada wrote about Woodlawn and other south side neighborhoods here.

Fan Mail

I'm not in the habit of posting letters that I receive, but this week has been a tad bit unusual in that respect. This little ditty came in yesterday:

Wow, what a fantastic job you are doing. I came across your blog while looking for some info; I was hoping to buy a new condo in the city. I read through the whole archive and I'm amazed at all the things I never even thought about asking or finding out. If it's any consolation from your horrible developer problems, you've helped at least one person to think critically and maybe look a little deeper into any condo development they may be interested in purchasing into. I wish you the best of luck with that developer and your association issues.

While I don't need a pat on the back to do what I'm doing, it's nice to get the love.