Chicago

Alternate title: The one where I do not get knifed in my sleep.

It's funny how things go.

Just over a year ago, and really new to blogging, I random Googled something for work (at work – I truly wish I could remember what it was. I imagine it's one of those things that ends up on your "what the HELL kind of people are out there" Google hit-list posts) and hit Chris's post about a dead betta fish. I sent myself the link home with the message "check this out later" (hey, I can recognize quality, even when it's disguised as dead fish). Several days (weeks?) later, I saw my email to myself & went browsing again. This time, a bizarre comment caught my eye; so of course, I followed it (duh). There, I met Marshall. I left some kind of obnoxious comment on HIS blog and the stupid fucker replied (his first mistake) (it took me several more visits and some poking around the rest of his site to figure out that he's a -- REAL -- LIVE -- AUTHOR --)(Who's the stupid fucker now? You ask) (Don't ask! MY story. Everyone ELSE is the stupid fucker in MY story) (Get your own blog.)

So I tormented Marshall for a few months and I'm sure he was regretting his personal policy acknowledging every idiot with an internet connection who comments on his (fabulously quirky, clever & funny – just like his books) blog. Then (I can only assume) he sent his daughter after me. And for some (awesome) reason we hit it off. On twitter. (I still torment Marshall, but not very often, because he posts even less frequently than I do. I KNOW!! We're thinking of taking away his card).

In the mean time, I can't remember how I stumbled across AndreAnna. She just kind of seeped into my (albeit online) life. Because we were separated at birth. And 12 years. Some conversation or another migrated toward visitation jokes. She said "absolutely you come here and drink on my patio" and then "No. I mean it." And I knew she did. I had learned even by then, you don't question her.

So, long story short, and several "we should DO this" convos later, the three of us decided IT WAS ON. We picked a neutral zone – one that I could fly to directly, and a place that I've always wanted to go – Chicago. Cass and Sara said "HELLZ-YEAH, I'm in!" And it was done.

And then the Chicago contingent joined in. And Holy-Dinah! Suddenly the Whole World of Blogging had faces and names, and kids, and spouses, and exes, and parents, and lives. (Well, MY blogging world does. The rest of you are still robots. Very well-spoken, raw, snarky, hilarious bots, but still).

Given the course of actions over the previous year, it made perfect sense to me to hop on a plane & go. More importantly, it sat well with Jiminy Cricket Max. Had he given me one furrowed brow, I might not have given it a second thought (the cookies probably didn't hurt the case for there being a rational human being at the other end of the line. Yes, I use the term "rational" loosely.)(Cookies also came from Rougie – which helped the cause too – but I didn't blog about it, because, remember? I suck at this)

But try explaining that to the "outside" world. "You're going WHERE? And WHY?"

What most (including myself initially – and as I'm trying to rationalize this to others and myself) don't really get is that this (blogging/twitter) realm, can be not unlike friendships IRL. Some people you glance at; nod respectfully at; are aware of each other's work; despise, but can't turn away from; (despise and CAN turn away from); and, yes, grow with.

So, blah blah blah. I went to Chicago, drank an s-load, tried an Irish Car Bomb (wasn't exactly converted), climbed ascended "Big John". Met & hung with some really cool folks. HERE are my photos.

I had plenty I wanted to say about the fabulous time I had, but [something something busy/lazy asshat excuse] and all these ladies did a better job of it than I could anyway. Please go read, view the photos (the best & loveliest are by Cass) leave them obnoxious comments. Say hi for me & tell them I miss them:

Belle Plaine Living
Cass. Just Curious.
Annabelle Speaks
Chez Rougie
Lilsaej
McMama's Musings
Back To Me
Pseudostoops
AndreAnna

P.S. the "Alternate Title"? A nod to actual reactions I got when telling folks "I'm going to Chicago to meet up with people I've met on the Internet". I fully deny presenting the facts to them in a way which may or may not have elicited such a reaction. No YOU'RE inflammatory.

A Lot of Wining, a Little Dining

We went to the wine festival public tasting (paying extra special attention to spelling) last night. It was awesome.

The Liquor Commission has this wine festival every year. Apparently it's a week long thing. As I recall, they used to try and push all the other events and the public tasting event was just (according to the publicity) just another event that week. They seem to now be acknowledging that their big ticket event is the tasting. Because that's where everyone goes to get their drink on. The rest of it certainly looks intriguing, but I can't afford it. Money or liver-wise.

We went with our dear friends Margo & Brian (we've gone with them in the past, or so I've been told). It started at 7:00 and we were booted out at 10:00 (but so was everyone). I really enjoy the atmosphere there, because it's a mix of people trying to be snooty snoots and slowly failing as they get further and further smashed. So speaking of which, while I can still grasp at the rapidly fading memories, here are some highlights:

• We make a point of going first to a booth where we have a particular interest to try something that (a) we'll have a hope of remembering what we had and (b) we'll still be able to distinguish the taste of. We landed on Cape Jaffa and were not disappointed (although for some reason I kept wanting to say "Cap-pay Jaffa". It was too early to cite public drunkenness as the cause of that).
  
  
• My super-funny friends thought it would be a lark to dare me to ask the Peter Lehmann rep if she was related to Peter Lehmann. So I did and she was not, but she HAD had dinner with the Lehmanns. At their house. AND here (I asked if it was at HER house and she said no, but it was at a local swanky restaurant). So it was *totally* worth it. And she told us about how the commissioned art for the labels are inspired by each wine it labels (and that the originals are hanging in winery). I then asked if the artist is shipped a cask of the wine for "inspiration" and visualized the artist getting shit-faced drunk to paint them. The works actually look much better than that, so it was time to move on. I would say "Margo, you owe me a buck", but we still owe them for the tickets.
  
  
• Clearly by now, you may note that we as a group are drawn to the Australian reds. But we found a lovely Chilean wine as well called "Eclat". Unfortunately, it was a little later on and I don't recall much else about it. I remember *exactly* what the rep looked like. She was small and wiry and looked like a marathon runner. With *really* short hair. YES it was a wine tasting...
  
  
• Can't all be about the good wine. I wish I could remember the name of the wine that we all concluded tasted like damp basement.
  
  
• The South African wine that we tasted two years ago that then tasted like burnt tires has since upgraded to merely burnt. But unfortunately not a good - say smoky barbecue flavour - burnt. I said it was like licking a barbecue pit after it rained.
  
  
• John the Naval Reservist. He tried to teach us a thing or two about port. The boys were interested in the whole port thing, even threatening to get "into" it (i.e. buy some and drink it), so they were quite into what John the Naval Reservist was saying. Margo and I were quite attentive but I have to say not really paying much attention to what John the Naval Reservist was saying. But we dutifully tried some port (mostly so as not to appear too obvious that we were not paying much attention to what John the Naval Reservist was saying), and pretty much maintained that, yes it was like drinking paint thinner. I will (and did) put out there that I can see how one could acquire a taste for port, and do not outright dismiss the possibility that I could acquire this taste.
  
  
• My friends expressing subtle fear every time they did something awkward: "are you going to blog about this?" Yes, but you'll be in the witless protection program.
  
  
• I saw someone I was *sure* I recognized from somewhere. I assumed it was work-related, so I was a little perturbed that this dude didn't acknowledge me *at all*. Not even a "hey, I know her from somewhere" double take. So several samples into the evening, I approach him & say the usual "hey, you look familiar!" And he said "yeah, you too". A few pleasantries later and I figured out that he works in our local liquor store [blushing]. I blubbered on about how he's kind of like a celebrity IN THAT (hear me out here), he sees a LOT of people and couldn't hope to recognize all of them, but each person would tend to recognize him. He had obviously been sampling as much as I had and only heard the celebrity part. So Max and I are sure to get *excellent* service on our next visit. I took it as a positive sign that we only look familiar to our local liquor store dude and that he doesn't know our names, booze preferences by season and our kids' birthdays.
  


• Walking across downtown on a Saturday night (brilliant) to go for nachos at a restaurant that we'd been kicked out of years ago for complaining that they switched tequilas on us (they totally had). We didn't order tequila this time.