Go CrabbyGolightly or go home

The other night, I got a call from an old friend. We used to be neighbors when Cyndi and I (and for a short time, Frederic) lived on Waveland Avenue in Wrigleyville. We've sporadically kept in touch over the years, and I am glad we have.

Elizabeth was calling to both catch-up and to tell me about this website she started a few years ago, http://www.crabbygolightly.com/. It's mostly a celebrity "gossip" site, with regular features on American Idol, Brittney Spears, Madonna, and Brangelina. Elizabeth was once a producer for Oprah Winfrey, and at one point, attempted to sue, unsuccessfully, the Queen of Talk so she could write a tell-all book about the real Ms. O. Having a site like this did not surprise me at all. Elizzbeth is creative and passionate like that.

While I still think she should write the book, her energy these days is devoted to raising her daughter, and expanding the content on her website. She told me that she has been getting some positive feedback from other popular sites, is able to link some of her articles elsewhere, and has been receiving about 8,000-10,000 (I think I got that number right) page views a month.

Elizabeth knows that I am a "writer." We hadn't spoken in a while, so she did not know--but suspected--that I had completed the MA program at Northwestern. We spoke a while about my writing life, and she asked if I was interested in contributing to her site. She is looking for more content on politics, sports, music, etc. and thought I might be able to produce an article or two.

After suggesting that my friend Matt Wood (http://www.wood-tang.com/) was better suited for stuff like this, Elizabeth proceeded to email me links to a few news stories she wanted a "reaction piece" on. One was about Elizabeth Edwards, her new book, and the Oprah episode (which aired today) during which Edwards was to comment on her husband, former Presidential candidate/extra marital affair/father of another woman's child, John Edwards. The other was about Arnold Schwarzenegger's desire to debate the subject of the legalization of marijuana.

Inspired by one of the articles, I tapped out about 300 words and sent it off to Elizabeth. A tweak here and there (she's a very good editor), and the a post appeared this morning by yours truly (check out the site to see the finished product). Elizabeth also has a relationship with another website http://open.salon.com/cover.php, where my piece has been featured all day on the cover of their site, and has fueled a nice round of comments from visitors.

I have no idea if I will continue to be a contributor to the Crabby site or not, but I enjoyed the process. It's nice to see my work reach more than the five people who read this on an irregular basis (I do it for the fans...).

I guess I can cross another item off of my imaginary "Things to Do Before I Turn 40" list.