I met Derek (@dshanahan) a few months ago over lunch, which turned into a four hour discussion of usability and technology under the el tracks. Which turned into a several-month love/hate relationship over who has better dance skills (Mari), a better mustache (Derek), a prettier Google calendar (Mari).
He’s on his way to Vancouver, BC to kick butt on his latest venture, Foodtree, and writing nostalgic Chicago stuff on his blog as a result:
“There’s a toughness about this city…a confidence in the experience of being a Chicagoan that doesn’t exist anywhere else on earth. This city stays sexy all winter. It’s hard to see unless you train yourself to see through the challenge this time of year puts in front of us. You look through it and you see smiles and music and art and a camaraderie among total strangers that’s only possible if you’ve walked through our streets and watched them transform themselves over and over and over again as seasons change and years roll by. We watch our sports and politics with unwavering commitment, dedication, and skepticism. We pride ourselves on hotdogs, pizza, and Italian beef. We don’t apologize for that.”
I love this. Everyone knows winters suck here. But we get through it together. We survive it with the best combination of sports, culture and food in anticipation of the most celebrated summers in North America. Chicago is a city connected by deeply rooted relationships, in large part due to the seasons we get to experience together.
To apply this in any group setting, people bond when they go through challenging times together (and have some good food to go with). Brilliant.
If you agree with Derek, say “yeah.”
Mari: “Heck yeah.”
Good luck, Mr. DShan. I’ll miss you – and that’s not really even sarcastic. 
