About Merge & Slowdown

Located on the left-hand column on the front page, Merge is the general interest and current events section of Gapers Block. In it, you'll find everything from the latest news to notable events to interesting blog posts to random found items from the web —- the only requirement is that it have a Chicago connection. If you see something, please share it; we're always working to keep it fresh, and appreciate your help. Slowdown is Gapers Block's events calendar, found in the center column of the front page. Our calendar features events carefully selected by the entire Gapers Block staff; if it's interesting to one of us, we bet it'll be interesting to one of you.

The same is also true: if you think it's cool, one of us likely thinks so too. We want to know what's going on, and while we try to be all-seeing and all-powerful, sometimes you'll know something going on we don't. Band playing a show? Zine festival? Neighborhood petting zoo opening? Send us your exciting happenings. Events submitted to Slowdown must take place in Chicago or the surrounding metropolitan area (though in rare cases we'll consider most of Illinois and possibly neighboring states if it's interesting and relevant), but beyond that, if you think others should know, send it our way. Please see our submissions page for further details on how to submit an event for our consideration.

Editors

Andrew Huff, Editor & Publisher
Andrew thinks Chicagoland is the best amusement park ever. A lifelong night owl, he works deep into the night at his West Ridge two-flat, writing and editing and playing with the cats. He spends more time online than probably is healthy; follow along at me3dia.com. Email him at .

David Schalliol, Managing Editor
A graduate student in sociology at the University of Chicago, David is involved in far too many non-academic projects for his own good. You can check out some of his diversions at his personal website, metroblossom, and that flickr place. He has South Side pride. Email him at dcs@gapersblock.com

Rose Miller, Calendar Editor - Slowdown
Rose came to Chicago by way of San Francisco and St. Paul, pursued higher education, and has been here ever since. Dull is how she rolls in her work life, but when not cheerfully steeped in routine she inhabits a colorful world of comic books, crafting, and saying she'll finally update an often-neglected blog. Email her at inbox@gapersblock.com.

Staff

Jim Allenspach, MVP — Most Valuable Poster
A former spelling bee champ (Von Steuben Grade School, Peoria, IL), Jim wants you to know that "crepuscular" and "vespertine" are synonyms. He also has a Website.

Jaime Calder
Jaime Calder was born and raised in the south suburbs. She has been a Featherproof Books intern, a temp, and builder of ramps for skateboarding cats. Jaime presently helps out at MAKE: A Chicago Literary Magazine, and talks a lot about that one time she met Ira Glass.

Vince Jose Cancasci
Vince currently lives in Avondale and works in graphic design. He squeezes watching movies, listening to music and playing with gadgets into every wedge of free time not spent enjoying the company of family and friends.

Jasmine Davila
Jasmine Davila thinks of herself a New Yorker even though she's lived in Chicago for the last 14 years. Read about her internal struggle at flipfront.wordpress.com.

Katie Donbavand
Katie is a recent Boston import and a Scorsese movie buff. By day she's a mild-mannered publishing drone, but her secret identity is a blog-writing fashionista. She loves winning at Texas Hold'em, thrift store hunting, Frank Miller, and Chuck Palahniuk.

Antonio Garcia
Raised in Chicago's Northwest suburbs, Antonio now lives and works in Humboldt Park. He collects vinyl toys, Puma sneakers and rare international grooves from the '60s and '70s. He's a graphic designer by education and b-boy for life. He never gets sick of Chicago's skyline and falls madly in love with the city just about every other week. He hates sports but will whoop your ass at Tetris.

Jill Jaracz
Freelance writer Jill Jaracz lives in Lakeview, where she and her husband enjoy running fitness trails and acquiring books. She also blogs, enjoys beer and reads Oprah's magazine, not necessarily in that order.

Pat Jurgaitis
Pat Jurgaitis grew up in Waukegan, but has been frequenting Chicago ever since his friends could drive. He currently resides in Edgewater with his partner, four cats, two turtles, and their combined dust bunnies. In his spare time he is fine tuning a manifesto for a surrealist art movement/alternate rules of miniature golf known as Taco!Lightbulb!

Dan Kelly
Dan Kelly lives on the northwest side with his wife, son, and three graceless cats. He's written for the Reader and the Baffler and can usually be found gibbering about subjects like architecture, politics, film, comics, and Lisa Loeb on his blog.

Brian Leli
Brian Leli is a singer-songwriter, writer and photographer. The rest of it is inspiration or distraction; sometimes it is both. He does his best to document it all at The Spinal Staircase.

John Lendman
Columbia College grad and Lake View resident, John Lendman moved from San Antonio to Chicago five years ago and has been in love with everything Chicago-centric ever since. He's worked with the Columbia Chronicle, Windy City Times and the Chicago Tribune and can be found working diligently at wifi-firendly coffee shops on North Broadway.

Amy Lillard
Amy Lillard is nearing the decade mark of her Chicago life, and will proclaim her love for the city to the point of annoyance. She is an independent medical, feature and creative writer, an occasional blogger, and a masochistic lass who holds out hope for her novel's future, and her future as a novelist.

Megan Moran
A lifelong DC resident, Megan packed her bags after graduating from college, and drove the 633 miles to a new classroom and home in Chicago. Since then, she has been slowly furnishing her apartment (though she still sleeps on an air mattress), re-learning how to rollerblade, and exploring the city's neighborhoods, events, and food. A recent blogging convert, she chronicles her wanderings at meganchicagos.blogspot.com.

Lindsay Muscato
Lindsay Muscato is a writer, editor and arts administrator in Chicago whose original work has appeared at the Around the Coyote arts festival and at the 2nd Story storytelling festival. She writes frequently at lindsayliveshere.org.

Deb Oestreicher
Deb Oestreicher is a freelance writer and editor — and sometime project manager — living in Lakeview with her husband, Victor, and a few thousand books. After two years in Chicago, she still can't get over all the great stuff that goes on here. When life calms down a bit, she takes notes at The Blog Is [not] the Territory.

Jenni Prokopy
A transplanted Texan, Jenni adores her adopted hometown of Chicago, surviving winters with the aid of a massive collection of colorful wool socks. When she's not eating sushi in Uptown or riding her bike by the lake or tapping her feet at Schubas, she writes about young women and health at ChronicBabe.com.

Shaz Rasul
Shaz Rasul spends his days between The University of Chicago & the Chicago Public Schools (not unlike a rock and a hard place). He enjoys literature, music, and taking long walks through dense urban landscapes. Shaz is fascinating by all things Chicago and maintains the weblog Present Tensed.

Alissa Strother
Alissa is an enthusiastic Anglophile with an unhealthy addiction to travel, music, books, reality television, comedy podcasts, word puzzles and coffee. Born in Iowa and raised in Florida, she is thrilled to finally live in a city with public transportation, music festivals and seasons.

Sandor Weisz
Sandor Weisz likes to eat, especially food he's made himself. When not in the kitchen, he's usually in the living room playing Scrabble. He once thought about opening his own restaurant; now he dreams of the next triple-triple. In real life Sandor develops web sites.