Spent most of today driving back to Chicago. I wanted to get back a little early, and had no desire to fight on the roads on the 26th (when I figure everyone and their brother is trying to get back into the city).
Liz was kind enough to look after my cat while I was out.
Around 9:30PM, I got a call from Liz, asking if I wanted to catch a few over at the Dodger. She was heading into town with her cousin Scott, and so we made plans to meet up there around 10.
Scott (left) and his friend Greg. On sitting down, Greg mentioned that I looked familiar, but couldn’t place where we had crossed paths before. We talked some and, as the night wore on, I asked a few more questions. Something about a party possibly?
After a bit, I guessed that we had met at Beechwood a while back. He immediately yelled out “Gretchen!” and we filled in the gaps from there. Greg and I met after Gretchen’s reading, way back in March. He was teaching a class she took at the time, and the two of us talked writing at Beechwood that night.
He’s currently attending a PhD program in Denver, and I found out a great deal about what that program is like (versus both an MFA and the traditional PhD in Lit).
How cool is it that we crossed paths again? I like that my friends’ friends seemingly know one another. It makes me feel like I’m hanging out with all the right people. :)
This would be Scott and Liz, who haven’t seen one another since they were maybe 12? He and I geeked out a bit about Flash and ActionScript, and programming in general. I think he’s got a few installation pieces out there, and does a lot with combining technology and the real world. I need to ask Liz about this some more.
I took an early leave (around 1AM). Snow had started to fall slowly, ever since around 5PM. And so when I walked home, the streets of Chicago looked a lot like the streets of Indianapolis – covered with a thick blanket of snow, and quiet save the sound of the streetlamps charging overhead.
Merry Christmas from Chicago.
