Attention Recent Grads!

We've been in school our whole life. What do we do now that we're not longer in that environment? How will we make friends? How do people actually meet other people when they don't have classes to break the ice? Here's a must read article by the wise and wonderful Rebecca if you, like me, are a recent grad nervous about making friends outside the world of academia.

Click to read the article A Relatively Painless Guide to Making New Friends, and make sure to follow her other insightful articles at Musings on Life After College.

Chicago Uncharted: Intro and Lianna Carrera

As I will be living in Chicago for the next year and wish to keep up with my sense of travel, adventure, excitement, discovery, and blogging (the essentials of life), I have decided to kick-start a project which I will call--until I change my mind and rename it--"Chicago Uncharted". The basic principle is simple and not original: I will document the lesser-known restaurants, shops, people, experiences, etc that I find in and around Chicago that I think are especially worth one's interest, in hopes of spreading the word.

Lianna Carrera, photo by DuckDuckCollectiveBlog

This first installment of Chicago Uncharted features one fantastic female. Her name is Lianna Carrera and I had the honor of attending college with her for one year at Randolph-Macon Woman's College. During her last two years at the college, she treated her fellow students to the budding beginnings of her comedy career, and after graduating in 2007 she travelled to Chicago to follow her comedic dream. Her quick wit and unique view on life (courtesy of being a lesbian raised by a deaf mother and Southern Baptist Minister father) make her a unique and refreshing voice in the world of comedy. She has massive potential and To provide an example, here's a video of one of my favorite bits from her, performed at the R-MWC student center in 2008.

Check out the rest of her stuff on her YouTube account; it's all hilarious and pure gold. In fact, you should probably just Subscribe to her now. While you're at it, Bookmark her Site, Like her on Facebook, and Follow her on Twitter. You won't regret it, and it doesn't take a Macon Woman to know that Lianna Carrera is going places. In fact, she already has! Her tours have taken her to Europe and Africa and back, and Chicago's lucky to have her between her jaunts abroad to rock the world.

Keep an eye on her now, you'll be able to brag about how you-knew-about-her-before-she-was-famous, and everyone will think you're cool. And isn't that what life's all about folks? Help Lianna help you: follow her early and follow her often.

Except, you know, not literally. That's illegal.