Hyde Park Write-In?

I'm definitely interested, though I'm kind of drawing a blank for good places to do it. It's been about two years since I've done anything but bike through the UofC campus, so I don't even know the state of the coffee shops there now (I used to love the Classics cafe and I'd suggest that, but I think I heard they took away the adjacent room, which is sad, and would make it useless for a meet-up). We don't seem to have much in the way of off-campus coffee, though (Third World Cafe, maybe?). Or maybe we should just have a write-in over some pad thai somewhere on 55th street. (-;

And as for times, November 7th is actually the only day I can't do anything, because two of my friends are getting married that day (yay!). Other than that, any weekend is fine with me. Maybe if there are enough people down here we could do weekly write-ins (and I won't feel so bad about missing the 7th).

Hi, I'm new to all of this, but I am glad to see that people are interested in meeting in Hyde Park. It is pretty difficult for me to get around to other areas of the city, and I would be incredibly happy to have a Write-In that I could walk to. :D

If it is a small gathering, might I suggest Bonjour Bakery in the Hyde Park Shopping Center on 55th Street? If not that, I'm completely down with the idea of invading a Thai restaurant. :)

Does Bonjour Bakery have outlets? That might be a good place. I'm sure the Snail would accommodate us if we went at an off time of day, like 2pm on a Saturday. I'm not sure if they have outlets either though. That shouldn't be a huge problem if we're only meeting for a couple of hours though.

I admit I don't have a spot in mind, I just simply want it to be known that, I, too am interested in a Hyde Park write in. My schedule is flexible in the a.m. & afternoons on the weekdays. HOWEVER, I can try my darndest to be even more flexible any other day and time. No Sundays though.....well, at least after worship (so around 2:30ish). Let me know.

Set a date & I'll put it in my book.

Thanks!

If I don't quit...I'll finish!!!

2009: Atypical Woman

I admit I don't have a spot in mind, I just simply want it to be known that, I, too am interested in a Hyde Park write in. My schedule is flexible in the a.m. & afternoons on the weekdays. HOWEVER, I can try my darndest to be even more flexible any other day and time. No Sundays though.....well, at least after worship (so around 2:30ish). Let me know.

Set a date & I'll put it in my book.

Thanks!

If I don't quit...I'll finish!!!

2009: Atypical Woman

I'm also a Hyde Parker interested in a local write-in. I'll throw out a few semi-random suggestions for places that haven't been mentioned:

- the Istria Cafe on Cornell, in the Art Center building (but it doesn't really have tables, does it?)
- the lobby/coffee shop of the Smart Museum (outlets?)
- Backstory Cafe in the Experimental Station on Blackstone

As for days, almost anything not during 9-5 weekday hours is good, at least in the first half of the month. Something weekly would be great. If we decided to have a weekly thing on Saturdays, it might be nice to have a one-off on a day of the first week, to help keep anyone from falling off of the bus in the early going.

Unfortunately, it doesn't. I took another look at it today, and it is rather small inside, with maybe five or six tables.

What about Ex-Libris or Hallowed Grounds on campus, or Third World Cafe at Woodlawn and 53rd? I'm just worried that at this time of the quarter, everything will be crowded.

A weeknight write-in during the first week to keep momentum sounds like a great idea. Maybe Tuesday or Thursday at 5:30ish?

I'm fine with anywhere, anytime after 5:30 (if it's a weekday). We should probably decide soon so we can get it up on the calendar, though I say that without having any useful suggestions of my own.

I'm interested.

How about the Borders on 53nd & Lake Park or the Blackstone branch of the library on 49th & Lake Park?

I've tried writing at that Borders before, and the cafe was super crowded every time I went. Istria sounds like a good choice, though I'm not sure how much electricity they have available. We could maybe try that.

I'm Colleen, by the way, friendly local UChicagoan.

Paranoia is just another word for longevity.

~Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

I don't know about plugs, but I could probably do Third World Café around 530 on Thursday for the first write-in. I don't know if there's really a better option, honestly.

~D

"Tricks and Rocks and Mamas' Boys" a NaNo Novel by D. Orchid

I'd be glad for a Hyde Park Write-In. I can't do the 7th, but would try for other times. Z&H Market Cafe inKenwood is a congenial place to write, if a bit small. Also Little Black Pearl at Greenwood and 47th (technically it's in Kenwood, I know) has lots of space and is very comfortale.

Hello, I'd be glad to find you all at a write-in. I can manage the saturday afternoon or the Thursday early evening times. I have no clue about locations, so I'll make no suggestions.

Ex-Libris and Backstory would probably be the best places, though I personally think that Backstory would take the cake. It is across the Midway though...

Dale

Unfortunately, it looks like Backstory closes at 6 on weekdays.

So, I suggest we meet this Tuesday (Nov. 3) at 5:30-7:30pm at Third World Cafe (http://chicago.metromix.com/restaurants/bagels/third-world-cafe-hyde-par...) and next Saturday (Nov. 7) at 10am-noon at Backstory Cafe (http://backstorycafe.com/home.html).

Unless anyone has any big objections, I'll ask that these be added to the calendar. We can figure out future dates/places depending on the turnout at the first two and how the venues work out. Sound good?

Hi all, I'm also a newbie. I'm interested in coming to this Hyde Park write in. Can anyone tell me how this whole thing goes? Thanks.

VP

Victorian Princess

Failure is not the only punishment for laziness; there is also the success of others.
Jules Renard
(1864 - 1910)

Those sound fantastic! I'm a newbie too so I'm looking forward to this adventure!

Alisa alias scarletncream

I thought that in the winter they were open until 8. Just goes to show you the last time I've been out there. xD

Yes please! Some of the on-campus coffee shops are open late and have outlets. There's Hallowed Grounds in the Reynolds Club on 57th and University--it has couches and is open til 11:30 pm--and Common Knowledge in Harper Library, which I believe is open until 1 am.

Since my previous post was either eaten by the internet, or deleted (most likely, grrr), I'd just like to say hello again.

I might want in on this write-in, if I may.

I still want to throw Valois out there for future reference, though.

Regarding the characters in my NaNo:
Number of Lesbians: 2
Number of Bisexual Women: 2
Number of Bisexual Men: 1
Number of Undecided Girls: 1
Number of Gay Men: 1
Number of Straight Boys/Men: 2
Number of Transgendered Women/Girls: 3. No, seriously

Since my previous post was either eaten by the internet, or deleted (most likely, grrr), I'd just like to say hello again.

I might want in on this write-in, if I may.

I still want to throw Valois out there for future reference, though.

Regarding the characters in my NaNo:
Number of Lesbians: 2
Number of Bisexual Women: 2
Number of Bisexual Men: 1
Number of Undecided Girls: 1
Number of Gay Men: 1
Number of Straight Boys/Men: 2
Number of Transgendered Women/Girls: 3. No, seriously

Those times/places look great.

Third World cafe is the most convenient for me :-) but any of those places sound good. Third World however, closes at 4 and has no wifi on weekends-- has wifi and is open til 7 or 730 on weekdays...

Do any UChicagoans know how crowded Reynolds Club gets? It looks like a great facility if they have seating available. I worry that Istria, etc, won't have enough seats if we are a crowd of more than 3-4.

Ok everyone, I had three events put on the calendar as a start. We can see how these times/locations work out, and we can always change things up for later in the month if need be. My plan for the moment is to be at all three of these, with a table tent (http://www.chiwrimo.org/resources/nanowrimo_table_tent_color.pdf).

1. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 5:30-7:30pm at Third World Cafe (1301 E. 53rd St., Chicago, IL 60615)
2. Saturday, Nov. 7, 10am-noon at Backstory Cafe (6100 S Blackstone Ave, Chicago, IL 60637)
3. Tuesday, Nov. 10, 5:30-7:30pm at Hallowed Grounds (1212 E. 59th St., Chicago, IL 60637--2nd floor)

If the big dining room is the Reynolds Club is open in the evenings and on weekends, that might actually be the perfect location (except that only U of C people would be able to access the wifi), but I don't have any experience with going there outside of 9-5 hours. Does anyone know anything more about that?

I will be at the Statewide write-in on Nov. 14, but if there is interest in a Hyde Park write-in that day, please feel free to plan one. I'm only taking charge because someone has to; I won't be offended is someone else wants the job. :)

Tomorrow at the third world cafe? Will we have a table set up or something? How will we find each other?

Thanks.

Victorian Princess

Failure is not the only punishment for laziness; there is also the success of others.
Jules Renard
(1864 - 1910)

I should be getting there around 5:10 or 5:15 and will hopefully get a table. If anyone gets there earlier and can grab a table, that would be terrific. I'll put a sign up when I get set up, but otherwise, just ask around. It's a small enough place that it shouldn't be difficult to find each other.

Hallowed Grounds is actually at 5706 South University (I think you posted the Harper address by accident). Hutch (the big room in the Reynolds Club) would be an awesome spot too. It gets pretty crowded around weekday mealtimes but is open until 10:30 pm Monday through Thursday and from 10:30 am to 8 pm on Saturday. It's got big round tables and high ceilings, very medieval :-) And I'm almost positive there are outlets along the walls.

Oh, good catch on the address!! I'll have them change that. I thought I had copied the address from the Reynolds Club website. I work on 59th Street, so I should have noticed that. :)

Ok, maybe we can try a later evening write-in at Hutch sometime on Wednesday or Thursday next week? Anyone else want to "host"?

A couple of notes on our next two events:

Third World Cafe is very small. I called to ask whether they were usually very crowded at 5:30 and got a very noncommittal response. Their kitchen closes at 6:30, and they close the coffee shop at 7:30, so we might feel a bit rushed by the end. It's not a perfect location, but I hope we'll at least be able to find tables, and I think it could be a great atmosphere for writing.

Backstory Cafe is excited to have us on Saturday, but they did warn me that the Farmer's Market will be taking place indoors next door from 10-1 or 2, and they tend to have a lot of foot traffic during that time. It should be a great place to write, but if you're the kind of person who needs total silence to concentrate, it might not be ideal!

Can't wait to meet everyone.

I just wanted to thank everyone who came out on Tuesday. I was so impressed that there were eight of us there (and even more impressed that we all found seats together)! I hope everyone had as productive a time as I did.

Don't forget--we have our next write-in on Saturday at 10am at Backstory Cafe. I haven't been there yet, and I'm excited to check it out, especially since they seem so welcoming! I hope you'll all join us. And this time I'll see if I can scrounge up some nametags. :)