My gracious editors at Seven Days sent me to yet another conference this year — I already got to go to the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Eastern Regional Conference in February, where I got to meet Duncan Black, aka Atrios. And 7D helped me go to this blogger meet-up in Chapel Hill, NC, which was fun.

This weekend, I'm at an AAN writing workshop at the  Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston. This marks the first time I've ever seen the inside of a journalism school, so it should be fun. Did I mention I have no educational background in journalism? It's true. I studied English in college and thought I wanted to be a poet.

Anyhow, here I am in Evanston, posting from a free wifi hotspot at this internet cafe. I was headed to one of the coffeeshops next door, when I noticed the gigantic FREE WIFI HOTSPOT sign in the window. So I'm here. This place is more sterile than a Starbucks, but it's free, and they do have a few comfy chairs. There are several desktop terminals you can pay to use, in addition to printers and CD burners and copiers. It's like a cross between Kinko's and Starbucks. I even got a cup of coffee.

Woman behind the counter says they've been here for 5-7 years. Which would explain why I didn't recognize them — I worked in Evanston 8 years ago.