The new year brings big change to Penguin HQ. After three years of attending civic meetings and public hearings, scoping out new businesses and restaurants, and causing trouble in general, Penguin editor Jennifer Deseo (read: me) is leaving the publication.
It’s not that hyperlocal news doesn’t turn me on. In fact, I like to think I’ve made a life (though not a living) of it. Instead, what prompts me to leave The Penguin is the same thing that brought me to Silver Spring in the first place: a wonderful out-of-state career opportunity for my spouse. Ain’t love grand?
My relocation means The Penguin will end its run on Friday, Jan 15, 2010. After that date, the content will remain online for readers’ reference, though individual posts will no longer accept comments in the “Holler back” section. If you’ve got something to say, get it in before next Friday.
As you digest this information, don’t forget to check out this week’s other offering:
Thursday
9:30 a.m. The county’s planning board discusses the early stages of its sector plan for the Long Branch neighborhood. This free event takes place inside the board’s auditorium (8787 Georgia Ave) and is open to the public.
Read 
What the hell are they building now? Learn more from 
Boxed wines and rosés are back in vogue. Just ask The Penguin's sommeliers.
That is not ‘Happy New Year’ news. Good luck and be well.
Aww, shoot! I’ll really miss the Penguin! Any chance you could do a roundup of other local blogs before you go, so we can try to cobble together some substitutes? Best of luck to you.
Congrats to the spouse on the new job. I’ll definitely miss the Penguin updates. Good luck and keep in touch :-)
No! This is terrible news. And how can you bear to leave before finding out what happens with the library footbridge?
Jennifer, this is terrible news for us! I hope you and your spouse go on to wonderful things. You have provided a true public service to all who live, work and do business in Silver Spring.
You have really gotten right down to the real nitty-gritty of vital local issues, like the community garden stuff. And of course the Purple Line. They ain’t makin’ land anymore, so every proposed change really counts. And it has been so easy to comment. We have had some great discussions. I admit I have been storing up some material to respond to Woodsider the next time he posts. (I assume that person is male — we have just the right amount of vagueness here, and civility, too!.) The Penguin has been unique and amazing. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Ack!
Le sigh…oh well, best wishes for a bright and beautiful future. I expect to be updated on your next venture…
Thanks for a great site! I’ll miss the twitter updates!
Luv is right also about the civility of the commentors – most of them, anyway. You’re all so supportive and “good luck” when I am thinking “is it too late to start some internet rumors about the spouse so the job offer will be withdrawn?”
Editor’s note: I think the worst that can be said about my spouse is already on the internet: that he’s married to me. — JD (Jan 4, 2009)
Bummer. The Silver Spring Penguin was a welcome addition to our online community. Our loss is some other community’s gain. I am sure Jennifer will be tracking down local government dudes and new business developments in her new city.
Best wishes.
-IHY-
It is quite a shame that this wonderful resource to the Silver Spring Community is going to end. I do hope that you consider finding a suitable replacement editor to continue this good work.
I wish you the best in the future and thank you for all your work. It really is appreciated.
Thank you for all your well wishes.
Regarding Rob’s suggestion of finding a replacement editor, I asked one or two people about that, but they declined. Running this machine is A LOT of work.
However, if there are others out there who would like to volunteer as reporters or as the managing editor, please email me.
Say it ain’t so! Thanks for giving us the low-down and the down-low on all things SS. I have really appreciated your wit and wisdom and the sense of community you’ve helped build in SS. Much luck to you in this new year. You will be sorely missed!
Best of luck to you & Ron…it’s often great to shake up your life every now and then.
I feel the same as everyone else posting here–you provided a very vaulable service, vehicle and outlet for us. Many of us checked your blog multiple times per day because it was so reliable and timely.
Thanks for all the great work–you will definitely be missed in the SS online community.
Ah crap, I was just getting used to you.
You will be missed!!!!! Take care of you and yours!!! Jen
Editor’s note: Jennifer Nettles is property manager for the Downtown Silver Spring shopping center. — JD (Jan 4, 2010)
I concur with everything that has been said above. This site has become a vital local resource and I will greatly miss it. Best of luck!
Very sad to see you go. You’ve done a wonderful job pulling together stories of local interest and tracking down what’s going on in the Spring. Thanks for all the hard work over the years!
Truly is a bummer, will feel much more out of the loop w/o The Penguin. Would be nice if somebody, or a group of somebodies would take over, but I suppose it’s highly unlikely… Best wishes, you will be missed!
Jen,
Yours was clearly a labor of love for our community. We will miss you and your spirit. Best of luck and many thanks for all you have done for Silver Spring.
Editor’s note: Heather Mizeur is a state delegate for the 20th district, which includes downtown Silver Spring. — JD (Jan 4, 2010)
Jennifer, best of luck and have fun with your future endeavors. The Penguin had become a SS institution, and one that I will miss. You helped us through a lot of growing pains. I hope someone is out there who will take this on — the community needs it. What about those slacker interns and mailroom guys we have enjoyed reading about, hasn’t any of them learned enough to move up to at least cub reporter?
Readers — I propose a going away party for the esteemed miss Jennifer. Friday at 6 PM will be a SS pizzza crawl — we’ll start at the new Flippin Pizza and work our way around SS from there, anyone want to propose the finish spot — one with beer preferably?
At a time when many of the mainstream media are overlooking local news, hyperlocal bloggers like yourself (aka journalists) serve an important role in our neighborhoods. Thank you for your commitment to the Silver Spring community over the last few years. Both your insight and humor will be missed.
Editor’s note: “Southside” Evan Glass is president of the South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association and a member of Silver Spring’s citizens advisory board. — JD (Jan 4, 2010)
Jennifer,
Great news for you and your husband, but terrible for Silver Spring. Thank you so much for all your efforts these past three years. I don’t know how you managed to stay sane through it all….You will be missed!
Phil
Editor’s note: Phil Olivetti is a member of Silver Spring’s citizens advisory board. — JD (Jan 4, 2010)
This is sad news for us readers. It has been a great run, though. All I can say is that your new community had better watch out!
Jennifer, I’m devastated to hear the news! The Silver Spring Penguin was one of the first blogs I got hooked on to after moving to the DC area. Though I don’t live in Silver Spring anymore, it was great to keep up with your restaurant reviews and other news about the area. You will be dearly missed! I hope you will start a new blog in your new location!
Editor’s note: Maggie Ardiente is the original Penguin sommeliere and wrote several reviews for the “Potable Penguin” column. — JD (Jan 4, 2010)
What a wonderful opportunity for you and your husband but a horrible loss for your loyal followers! I’ve really enjoyed your blogs and posts over the past couple of years. You are a fantastic source of everything Silver Spring! I’ll truly miss my daily Penguin updates! Best of luck to you and your husband in your new endeavors!
Wow, what a way to start 2010 :-(
Your blog has made hubby & I turn our condo, surrounding neighborhood and city into our home. Your reviews made us check out various restaurants, bars, and other establishments we would have otherwise never known were so great.
Your humor and always appreciated honesty on city matters was the highlight to many of our mornings.
We’ve never met but I know you’d be one heck of a girl to have a beer with :-)
Thank you Jennifer, keep it rockin’ where ever “home” ends up being for you and your other half.
-L
ps – I totally second the farewell pizza/beer crawl!
Jennifer,
Wishing the happiest of New Beginnings in the New Year. Plaudits for your obvious labor of love with the Penguin, the community will miss you.
Are you familiar with Jessica’s blog “A Parent in Silver Spring”? I don’t know how she manages to keep up and share so much local info, but perhaps she would be a good person to approach for keeping the Penguin alive?
Please be sure and visit Mother Goose at the Silver Spring Library before you leave the area, for a warm hug and good wishes. If you come by on Saturday, Jan 30, we’ll be having a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and the wild and wonderful children’s recording artist Barry Louis Polisar. It starts 11am that day. It will be the county-wide kick-off of the Library Lovers Month.
Happy New Year to all the Silver Spring Penguins!
Sorry to hear of your leaving – Blessings on your new adventures and hope you’ll visit or return this way soon.
Crap, I’m going to miss all the news and the touch of snark. Best of luck to both of you.
Rats. :( Best of luck with everything.
Thanks for all of your work for Silver Spring. I read the Penguin almost every day it has enriched my life.
Wow! Jen you have created something in Silver Spring that has become not only a useful tool for many folks part a real part of the community. Your leaving will create a gaping hole and will be missed by many. So I am going to say it. Silver Spring will not be the same with out the Silver Spring Penguin and Jen Deseo.
Good luck in your future en devours.
Dear Jen,
Yours has been one of the very best sources of information for local residents. Thanks for your public service and best of luck to you.
Warm regards,
George Leventhal
Editor’s note: George Leventhal is an at-large member of the Montgomery County council. — JD (Jan 6, 2010)
If nobody is going to take over The Penguin, perhaps some sort of community-driven, wiki-style site is necessary… Although the reporting really made The Penguin what it is, it has also shown that the commenters here have a knack for helping each other out, discussing, sharing… The biggest task for maintaining something like The Penguin seems to me to be the reporting… But if we had a site with more of a community-driven approach, would decent content be plausible? We could at the very least have a site to discuss/review local merchants, restaurants, and events… Anybody who knows of upcoming events could post them… Any news that goes down could at least be brought to the area’s attention, even if we don’t have dedicated reporters to do the hard work of fact-checking, etc…
Good idea, bad idea?
Editor’s note: The idea of a wiki or bulletin board sounds interesting. However, this comment troubles me:
Fact checking is what separates us from Neaderthals, reliable information source from rumor mill. Whatever you decide to do, please keep that in mind. — JD (Jan 6, 2010)
Say it ain’t so, Jennifer. We’ll be missing the Penguin. Thanks for all the hard work on our behalf and good luck to you.
1 person to report, 1 to sell ads? Could this be like a newspaper, except with this great comment feature? The comments are good, much better than the comments to Washington Post stories.
Jennifer, did you do most of the ad sales yourself? I always wondered if the ad revenue even paid the web hosting costs. I presume you have done other work for $.
Even if someone/others took it over, they would need Jennifer’s reporting skills, and her time/patience in coping with wordy or un-civil comments. I am betting she has a journalism degree, and/or newspaper experience.
Luv – re: comments here, that’s exactly how I feel… There’s a definite community built up around The Penguin, the commenters here are willing to share, discuss, debate in a much more civil and engaging manner than, say, WaPo. Which is why I’m wondering if something designed to be more community-contributed would work out well for the lot of us in the absence of a great reporter/editor…
Jen, I want to add my appreciation for your contribution to our community and our wishes for a soft landing in your next one. Say that you’ll come back to see the Penguin Rush Hour Murals when they finally return (I’ve been told after the Metro transit center project is finished).
If no one qualified and willing emerges to take over this blog, I would be up for helping organize the suggested flock-of-little-penguins-style alternative. (And, I have enough editorial experience to not be shy about prodding people to get off their heinies and contribute. That’s a warning.)
I am still hoping though that someone will step up once the gravity of the situation begins to sink in. Come on, people! Hyperlocal news, the internet, it’s the future! This has got to be a great opportunity for someone.
Hey Jennifer, sorry to hear that you’re leaving, but congratulations on the new adventure!
Editor’s note: This comment was edited for content. — JD (Jan 7, 2010)
Damn. Who’s this maus going to annoy now !! All the best. – Maus (formerly Annoymous)
Enjoy your new life, thanks for the blogging.
Will you be providing pro-rated subscription refunds? I paid cash in advance when your sales rep knocked on the door last year. Seriously, though, it’s been great reading the Penguin and I hope you find a worthy successor to try and pick up where you leave off.
Is your spouse’s job REALLY more important than yours? Good luck, but it is our loss.
Craig sez:”Readers — I propose a going away party for the esteemed miss Jennifer. Friday at 6 PM will be a SS pizzza crawl — we’ll start at the new Flippin Pizza and work our way around SS from there, anyone want to propose the finish spot — one with beer preferably?”
Is this going to happen, 2 hours from now?
Jennifer Deseo is a rock star, my idol, a very patient soul with the mama blogging fan girls, and I wish her all the best…even while I cry for the residents of Silver Spring.
Anyone who wants to follow in the awesome she has established will have a wonderful ready-made format to follow. Someone out there with a dream and a love of the Acorn, Buy The Silver Spring Penguin!
Jennifer has worked tirelessly for the good of our community – she gave so much serious time, ran her editorial schedule like a true business, implemented top shelf design…and of course provided INCREDIBLE writing.
Them’s some big flippers to fill (well, many of us know that Jennifer’s pretty petite, but you know what I mean…)
Godspeed Blogging Goddess!
Say it isn’t so Jennifer!!
This blog has been great! I’ve been a regular reader and have looked to you for the last word on what going down in Silver Spring. You can be very proud of what you have done here. My sincere thanks and good luck to you in your new locale! You’ll be missed.
I am so sad to hear this news! You will be greatly missed here. You have been a tremendous resource for those of us who want to keep up with developments in silver spring, and you’ve done it with such humor and style! I wish you the best in your new location!!
Are you collecting emails of people who have volunteered to help develop some edited wiki or something to try to fill the hole that the departure of the Penguin will leave in our lives? I’d help, but I couldn’t volunteer to take over the whole shebang.
K
Would someone like to volunteer to develop the wiki? If so, feel free to post your contact information here so that interested residents may contact you.
Thanks.