Smile Politely. Speak Directly. A Champaign-Urbana Culture Blog

At Smile Politely, we're interested in what the people of Champaign- Urbana think about this place we call home. So how do we find out what they think? Simple. We ask them.

Name: Larry Ecker

Occupation/Education: Director, Creative Services, The U

Original Hometown: Buckley, Ill.

Current Hometown: Champaign

Number of Years Living in the C-U Area: 30

Age: 56

At Smile Politely, we're interested in what the people of Champaign-Urbana think about this place we call home. So how do we find out what they think? Simple. We ask them.

Name: Kevin Barthelemy

Occupation/Education: Smattering of community college; clerk at U of I

Original Hometown: Champaign

Current Hometown: Ditto

Number of Years Living in the C-U Area: 40

Age: 48

Name: Jessica Paris, aka DJ Hellcat

Occupation/Education: Strategic Project Coordinator at Wolfram Research, DJ at Mike 'n Molly's (Fridays), Photographer, retro culture geek

Original Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

Current Hometown: Champaign, IL

Number of Years Living in the C-U Area: 13 (I tried to move away a few times but always end up coming back.)

Age: 32

Five things I really like about C-U:

1. the small local-owned bars (Mike 'n Molly's, The Blind Pig, The Brass Rail, Esquire)
2. the small local-owned restaurants/cafes (Sam's Cafe, OHOP, The Courier Cafe, Farren's, Bacaro, Thara Thai, Cafe Kopi, Pekara)
3. the small local-owned stores (Carrie's, Furniture Lounge, Exile on Main Street, Record Swap, Jane Addams Book Shop, Jennifer North, Circles, Parasol, Jon's Pipe Shop)
4. the stuff for kids (Orpheum Children's Science Museum, Curtis Orchard, Putt-Zone, Hessel Park, West Side Park, Sholem Pool)
5. Downtown Champaign (see 1-4 plus The New Art Theatre, Virginia Theatre, Artists Against AIDS, and Ebertfest!)

Five things I really don’t like about C-U:

1. driving on campus

... otherwise, no complaints!

DJ Hellcat will be spinning tonight at the Grand Opening of Artists Against AIDS at Orpheum Children's Science Museum (346 N. Neil St., Champaign) and again on Sunday, during the artists' meet and greet.

Name: Cara Maurizi

Occupation/Education: Masters of Music Education, music teacher, actor, singer, songwriter

Original Hometown: Galesburg, IL

Current Hometown: Urbana

Number of Years Living in the C-U Area: 9

Age: 33

At Smile Politely, we're interested in what the people of Champaign- Urbana think about this place we call home. So how do we find out what they think? Simple. We ask them.

Name: Dimitria Johnson

Occupation: Secretary III

Original Hometown: Omaha, Neb.

Current Hometown: Urbana, Ill.

Number of Years Living in the C-U Area: 12 years

Age: (No answer)