we jump right into winter here in chicago, sometimes without regard to the calendar. today was that day and i went to the beach where a few short summers ago my father justin (f2fb friend #30) shared a bottle of champagne and dumped fritz’s ashes into lake michigan. fritz died in 1992 and i’m not sure where justin had been storing the ashes. justin recited a poem, i mumbled a hail mary, and then i held my breath because as fritz was slipping out of the zip-lock sandwich bag there was a light breeze coming in off the lake. i sure hope we didn’t violate any state or federal laws regarding the disposal of human remains.
i’ve seen a lot of friends this year and this morning, i was to meet f2fb friends #266 and 267 karen tuchmann gray and joe yolles. but it isn’t the first time we’ve seen each other this year. i’ve run into karen and joe at block parties, jam sessions for joe’s band (the yolles brothers band), at lakeside foods, at football parties.
we met at the northfield grill and you might be surprised that i have gained weight this year, at one point a full eight pounds. but i lost four pounds on the "go around the world in seventeen days" diet, which consisted almost exclusively of airplane food and beer. should i write a diet book?
karen is a dance instructor and has written a short book on fairies. joe is a math teacher and a gifted drummer. they declined to make fun of me when i explained the recent problem i encountered when i confused vancouver, washington and vancouver, british columbia and booked all sorts of train tickets and hotel rooms based on not knowing the existence of the former and believing myself to be on my way to the latter. they are an adorable couple and i hope the coming year allows for more meetings of the breakfast club. should we ask for a bigger booth so you can be a part of this?
the two adorables! there is, however, a wind and severe weather advisory in chicago so i hightailed it out of the grill and aimed for home. duraflame logs in the fireplace and no obligations except. . . .
this afternoon, at five fifteen i’ll be on http://www.maximumink.com/index.php/radio/schedule/ — with edub and jimmyk . . . i sure hope i’m not named bastard of the day which is a feature of their show!
arlynnpresser 
November 30th, 2011 at 1:37 am
That was the wind of Nehwon taking Fritz home.
November 30th, 2011 at 1:38 am
absolutely! and i am working through your novel as well! probably will take it with me on the plane to new york. bestest!!!