Chicago

Getting my picture taken by a nice stranger at the Old Chicago in the Holiday Inn in Chicago

Just got off the phone with my sister Betsy, who's having a hell of a time in Minneapolis writing for the Minnesota Daily, her beat being stories about comic book geeks and fencing clubs. Right now I'm at the Holiday Inn in Elk Grove, a suburb of Chicago, with its very own Old Chicago built right inside. It was quite the drive from Grand Rapids - around four hours of 25 cent tolls, eighties music and a delicious dinner to avoid rush-hour at "Greek Islands" in Downtown Chicago where myself and the instructor I'm supporting dined on a strange paste of salmon eggs and garlic, lamb shank, and baklava for desert.

Waiting on my dinner date with Senator Larry Craig in the hotel lounge's bathroom...

Tomorrow is my biggest seminar yet...around eighty grouchy teachers pre-registered. Mornings at 6am are my favorite part of the day: I set up the audio before anything else, crank up the house sound, and listen to whatever I want. This morning it was John Lennon and Gram Parsons. Tomorrow morning I think I'll throw a little Townes Van Zandt and into the mix.