I was once told I was a news junkie and was forced to stop reading newspapers or listening to NPR for a whole week. It was terrible and I vowed that if I had to be addicted to something, news wasn’t so bad.

Now I admit upfront that I’m an internet junkie, one of those annoying people who can click on the keys doing a Google search while talking on the phone and keeping track of the match at the US Open.

So you’d think I wouldn’t be all that surprised at the major role some websites are playing in disseminating news and information in our town. But this week, it’s gotten downright personal!

First of course, I was pleasantly surprised when we got a newsletter signup from someone who had read about us on The Chicagoist. The What?

If you haven’t found this site yet, go look now. They have several writers and interesting people who move about Chicago looking for interesting events and scandals.

Jess Amica came to one of my Reading as a Writer classes over the summer and at first I imagined that she would sit quietly and observe. Instead, it took her about two minutes to make us feel like she had been a part of the class from the beginning! I remember we had a great discussion that night about a couple short stories and how authors experiment with point of view. Jess was a great contributor.

But it was earlier in the week, when I vowed to add Chicagoist to my daily roundup. You see, I was a member of Cheetah Gym and while I was just heartbroken when I first heard of its closing, I’m now addicted to the intrigue of what really happened. (If I look a little flabby over the next couple weeks, just know I’m looking for a new gym!)

So if my fingers seem a little twitchy, they’re just itchin’ to get back to their keys.