Drinks and Dessert with Mark and Anna

We got to meet our new neighbors Mark and Anna tonight, who moved into the Paley’s place a few months back. While we were visiting, we got to try some mead for the first time. And also got the option of not one, but two desserts!

The four of us hung out in their living room most of the night, talking a bit about our backgrounds, our jobs, and how we all wound up in Chicago.

Mark and I discussed photography a bit (and learned about some of his favorite photos by Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus). We also learned a lot about Anna’s work as an enthnomusicologist (and her study of music as it relates to Indian Nationalism), and her move from a tenured professor at Stanford to a tenured position at the University of Chicago.

We didn’t really have much of that awkward “meeting folks for the first time” thing, and I found our conversations to be really pleasant and easy-going. We seemed to share a lot of common interests, and it was just a really nice night of hanging out.

When we arrived home later in the evening, I was surprised to find that it was close to 11PM (and we had stayed for nearly 3 hours). I take it as a good sign that we didn’t even notice how quickly the time had gone by.

For all our years of apartment living, it continues to be a pleasant thing to have settled in a neighborhood – and to get to know folks who live nearby. I’m glad we got to know Mark and Anna better this evening, and look forward to hanging out with them again.

Related:
Dinner with Bernie and Carol Jean