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by alex maiolo_Archive
Man, do I ever have some love to pass along.
Last Monday, I made one of the quickest trips to Chicago ever. Got in at 11am on Monday, left at 7am on Tuesday.
Not one second of it was boring.
Kerble grabbed me at the airport and we headed straight to Hot Doug's. Against my better judgement, I ordered two dogs. I barely got both of them down, but each bite was heaven.
Then off to the guitar shops. Such good guitar shops the Windy City has.
After that, restorative cups of coffee at the Kerble Krib, a fine home if ever there was one, and then off to take care of bit-ness. I had a few people to chat up before my thing at 6pm.
My panel was right downtown. It was part of the Musician's at Work series, which is fantastic. I highly recommend you guys check it out. As usual, my job was to speak about the need for National Healthcare, and what can be done in the meantime.
After some post panel Q&A, I walked back to my hotel room and looked over the city for an hour before I headed back out. The plan was to go to the Hungry Brain, but they were closed, so Kerble chose Kuma's, since I had mentioned it earlier.
Favorite forum members Itchy McGoo, RFF and Tipcat were there, as Kerble had arranged it. We settled down for beers and some truly life threatening food. Honestly, I thought the place was going to be sort of a dive, but it's a classic bar, that just so happens to crank the heavy rock on the stereo. What a great place.
I chose the "Led Zeppelin" - a huge burger topped with pulled pork, bacon, and cheese.
This burger, she was so good...
The company was fantastic and we picked right up where we left off last summer, as if we were the oldest of friends. I hadn't met any of the four of them prior to June, but anyone observing would have thought we had known each other for years.
Tipcat, your dry humor and laid back nature is always enjoyable. You are very "Chicago," and I love "Chicago people."
RFF, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I don't think there are many people who are just so inherently nice and good as you. What a father you're going to make.
Itchy, you've somehow ended up with every single trait that I love about women. If I lived in Chicago I'd check in with you at least weekly because you always know what's up - and I mean in the greater sense.
Itchy and RFF drove me back to my hotel room, which was considerably out of their way. It was a nice thing to do, and it afforded us more time to chat.
I crashed for 4 hours, then got up at 5 to make my 7am flight.
As always, extra love to Kerble for being the most unreal host on the planet. Lord knows I owe this man so much for making both of my 2007 trips to Chicago perfect.
-A
Itchy McGoo wrote:I would like to be a "shoop-shoop" girl in whatever band Alex Maiolo is in.