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You probably know Julie Klausner from my 2010 interview with her. If not for that, maybe her memoir I Don't Care About Her Band or her personable podcast How Was Your Week. Starting Tuesday, you will also know her for her role as Young Adult author, as her new book Art Girls Are Easy, a funny and romantic summer camp romp with an artsy twist, will be released May 7. I asked Julie what it's like wearing a new YA hat, and below that, check out an excerpt from the book.

How hard or easy was it to switch gears into YA writing? What challenges did it pose?

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The sweet smell of the Bulls playoff series win in Brooklyn still lingers today, however, it will dissipate soon enough. Tonight the Bulls are in Miami to play game one of a best of seven series in round against the Heat.

Fresh off winning his fourth NBA Most Valuable Player award, LeBron James and his teammates are also fresh since they have rested for several days. That is what happens when you dispose of the Milwaukee Bucks in a four game series sweep.

You could not use the word fresh for the Bulls, instead, ragged, undermanned or tired. On Saturday, they completed a seven game series with a win in Brooklyn, while missing two important starters (three, if you count Derrick Rose). With Luol Deng experiencing problems with his spinal tap for his viral infection and Kirk Hinrich still hobbled by a calf bruise it seemed like it was the end of the road for the 2012-2013 season.

What most Bulls fans have known and now is apparent to the rest of the NBA fans everywhere: this is a resilient team with heart and character. Joakim Noah would not let his team exit in the first round, which they did last year with him and Rose injured.

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The City of Chicago is planning to tear down the Western Avenue overpass at Belmont-Clybourn. The junction of the three streets will once again be a normal, at-grade intersection.

Back in 1902 the Riverview amusement park opened at the northwest corner of Western and Belmont. The park drew thousands of patrons each day, most of whom arrived on streetcars—one of the lines was even named Riverview-Larrabee. Private vehicles of any type were rare.

By the 1960s more and more people were driving cars. Traffic around Riverview was congested.  The modern solution to the problem was the Western Avenue overpass.

Fifty years ago, the city was in love with fly-over intersections. Similar viaducts were being built at Archer-Ashland and at Ashland-Pershing. Dozens more were in the talking stage. They were mini-expressways, an efficient way to move traffic.

The Western Avenue overpass opened in 1962. It did its job well for five years. Then Riverview closed.

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Here's a look at David Adjaye, one of the lead architects of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture now under construction on the historic Washington D.C. National Mall.

The 4:45 minute video comes courtesy of the United Kingdom's Crane.tv, a video magazine that examines culture, art, design and fashion. The Tanzanian-born UK Adjaye—who also has offices in New York City—discusses the $500 million museum and how he approached the project.

"The struggle and the blood that was spilt by this extraordinary people has firstly shaped a kind of a unique country in the world—and, actually shaped the world," the 46-year-old leader of Adjaye Associates said.

His design partners in the project are the Freelon Group, Davis Brody Bond and the SmithGroup.

And then there's this: At a state dinner last year honoring British Prime Minister David Cameron, Adjaye and wife Ashley Shaw-Scott had a seat at the head table with President Barack Obama. The party of 21 included Warren Buffett, George Clooney and Michelle Obama.

The appearance helped feed speculation that Adjaye would be the president's pick as architect of the future Obama presidential library.

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The James Beard Foundation 2013 media awards presented Friday night in New York City included two notable recipients from Chicago.

Congratulations to WBEZ's very own Fear of Frying on winning best Radio Show/Audio Webcast with host Nina Barrett and producer Lynette Kalsnes.

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Genre-based television shows suffer especially and the ignorance of critical bodies feels similar to reactions toward genre-based films or literature. Critics assume that because a work of art also fits within classifications of genre (such as horror or science fiction), it is no longer worthy of general praise. It is no longer respectable. But it is these works that audiences flock to and embrace. Genre-based works use high concept to address real-world issues. This is not deceitful; it is brilliant. Not every mind can do so and to do so successfully and well signals a true talent, one that appeals on a cultural and categorical level.

This is why Orphan Black, the new sci-fi television show from BBC America works so well. Orphan Black is the story of an orphan (Sarah, played by Tatiana Maslany) who witnesses the suicide of another woman (Beth) who looked just like her. Sarah assumes her identity and her problems soon escalate and unravel from there. Well, that is what it is like on the surface. Her journey reveals something far more complex and sinister: other women who also look just like her as well. Are they related, or clones, or something else?

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