Artful Dodging

Hung out with Steph and Liz tonight, at the Artful Dodger. We were originally going to meet up for a drink and then decide on another bar… but it started snowing something awful, and so we ended up just hunkering down there for the night.

Awesome talks, as always. I learned about the topic of a book Steph is working on, and it’s just… killer. The main theme throughout all of it is train-hopping, and I learned a ton about it just chatting with her tonight. She’s gotten a ton of interviews from people, all over the US, by utilizing craigslist. And after hearing two or three of them… I’m so ready to throw down money for it right now. Immensely fascinating stuff, and my GOD the stories are just insane.

Here’s a little randomness: one of the bartenders there is named Nikki (I think I spelled that right). I’ve met her on a few occasions, mostly when I’m hanging out there with Liz and Steph. About a week back, I was walking home from the grocery store and was listening to my iPod. I saw this pretty girl walking the other way, and as I looked she smiled at me. It wasn’t until I had walked about 10 paces that I realized I knew her… from somewhere. But by that time, it was way to late to say much of anything.

Tonight, I realized that Nikki was that girl, and so I formally said hello. From like, a week ago.

Steph, Liz and I all got caught up on things, and talked at length about books. The two of them are big readers, and I’ve gotten tons of great suggestions from them. On top of that, we share a mutual admiration for Neil Gaiman, and talked a lot about his fiction, and various comics. I found out from them that there’s a new series, based on the Books of Magic, which I’m quite fond of. Looking forward to tracking that one down.

I read a ton of mythology as a kid, and I really dig the way that several comics (Gaimain’s included) play with that history. Every few months, I find myself picking up either the Sandman series, or the Books of Magic series, and re-reading them all. And every time, I find something else new that I missed the time before.

Lately, Steph has picked up knitting (and doing a fine job of it, as I was checking out the scarf she made Liza). One of the items that Liz wants her to make is a Joey Ramone doll, which was featured in a book they had. When I asked them to describe it, Liz sketched this in my notebook.