Blue Monks and Muddy Waters

Right.

Faboo evening tonight.

No.

Wait.

Start again.

Woke up today feeling pretty miserable. I must've slept poorly (given the state of my "bed", this comes as no surprise), because I woke up to a pounding headache. Took a couple of excedrin, which didn't help one damn bit. Thought I was gonna have to deal with a migraine while I attended Kevin's reading. As you can imagine, this did not make me very happy.

As it was, I managed to get a bit of necessary shopping done in the course of the cross-town drive. And then I sat in traffic for nearly an hour. Bleh. Headache got worse. I got cranky.

Arrived at the venue with a bit more than a half hour to spare, so I got an espresso. And was reminded that sometimes caffeine can do wonders for a headache. By the time Cathy arrived, I felt pretty good.

The reading itself was great. Tom Spanbauer is a very gracious human being, and I quite enjoyed meeting him. The Dangerous Writers were also good folks. Some very good writing going on there. Naturally, I'm a bit biased towards Kevin's material, although everyone that read was quite impressive.

We hung out for a bit after the reading, and then made our way to the Blue Monk for a few drinks and some dinner. Pretty good pasta, and a great beer and wine selection available. One of the few places I've been to with a decent number of Belgian ales, including two on tap.

Charles kept us entertained most of the evening. That's kind of his thing. He's brash, and obnoxious, but I enjoy his company. In measured doses, of course. Cathy and Ericka were a pleasure as always. Both lovely women, with more brains and perspective than I've been blessed with. Kevin was in good spirits, but seemed a bit subdued. He's got a nasty cold right now, imagine he'll bounce back in the next day or so.

I think it's about time to book another coast trip with the Rapid City folks. We oughta be able to get a decent off-peak rate for one of the cabins again. Do some crabbing, get drunk and lounge in the hot tub. Ahh...

Alright, I 'm rambling. I don't have that headache anymore, but I feel like there's a cold (Kevin's?) trying to creep up on me. Think I'll start a fire, and call it a night.

Much love, and many blessings.