Monday, February 26, 2007

Lattice of Coincidence...

"A lot o' people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch o' unconnected incidents 'n things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice o' coincidence that lays on top o' everything. Give you an example; show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either..."

--Miller

Way back in August 2006 the lovely and talented Melinda June mentioned the Compound favorably on her blog. I started reading her, and checking out the sites she linked to, and then the sites the people she linked to, linked to. It took me a a little while, but I realized that quite a few of these bloggers:

  • were from the midwest
  • specifically from the Chicago area
  • about the same age as we were
  • had a bunch of the same interests we did
  • frequented a bunch of the same bars and hangouts we used to
Melinda, it turns out, grew up in Iowa a short distance away from a bunch of MizBubs' family. Melinda, Lulu and Coaster Punchman all went to school in the same town as some of MizBubs' family. Tenacious S is a huge fan of Naked Raygun, and MizBubs' best friend dated their drummer for a long time. Lulu grew up a short distance away from where we now live, and now lives about a couple blocks away from where I used to live--we've essentially switched neighborhoods. Johnny Yen went to the same grammar school as MizBubs, and had the same teacher in the gifted program. He also worked at a barbecue joint next door to the tattoo parlor where MizBubs and I both got some work done.

And yet none of us ever ran into each other. Until recently.

MizBubs and I had the good luck to have met Lulu, Tenacious S and Johnny Yen recently. Last Friday night we all met and had a couple of well-deserved drinks at Tiki Terrace. The coincidence continued; Lulu informed me that it used to be the site of a Mexican restaurant that allowed underage teens to drink, and I collected bloody clothing on one of my first big cases from the 7-11 across the street.

I can't remember the last time three or four hours passed by so quickly. Let me tell you--I don't think you could ask for a better group of conversationalists. At times it almost turned into a game of "6 degrees of separation", made more surreal by the Hawaiian language version of theCarter Family tune "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" playing in the background.

Oddly enough, no one ordered a plate of shrimp. Maybe next time.

11 comments:

lulu said...

Plus, we both know Officer a Little Too Friendly.

I actually knew Brian years ago,from the Smokehouse, well enough to remember that he had been in the middle of an ugly custody battle 11 or so years ago, but yeah, it is kind of amazing that TenS and I never ran into you or MizBubs at a show or something, although we probably did.

And TenS has a weird connection to the whole Grant Miller crowd, don't forget that. The Blogosphere grows smaller and smaller.....

Johnny Yen said...

I was friends with the guys in Naked Raygun-- we all used to hang at a bar on the south side called "Over Easy." And Ben, the owner of that tattoo parlor, is a friend of mine.

Hearing "Will the Circle..." added to the magic, didn't it?

Melinda June said...

I couldn't pick Naked Raygun out of a lineup, but I'm still hoping to meet you all when I come Midwest way in August. This is so not fair that I don't get to play cocktails with you all.

By the way, where is MzBub's family from? Anywhere near Manchester?

Tenacious S said...

I think we would've stayed longer too, except they were closing. I'm looking forward to the next outing.

Coaster Punchman said...

I'm much better on paper, so you'll be terribly disappointed when you meet me. Just an FYI.

Dale said...

Small interesting crazy world, sounds like you had a great time!

Joe said...

Dale, it is and we did.

CP, nonsense. We'll like you just fine. How could we be disappointed? You can turn the world on with your smile.

Ten, you're right! Our city-dwelling friends need to get to work on that.

Melinda, be SURE to let us know when you're coming. We'll bake you a cake made of bourbon.

Johnny, yes it did. Work on that next outing, will ya?

Lulu, I have another officer "A little too" Friendly story when we next meet. I can't wait.

Joe said...

Melinda, btw...her family hail from Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Bellevue. We also spent quite a bit of time camping and canoeing around Macgregor, Maquoketa and Decorah.

Some Guy said...

That's excellent! I'm hoping to one day have another Chicago blogger meet-n-greet. The first one was fun and a lot of laughs. It'd be fun to meet more of you!

Dale said...

I'm going to be seeing a play called The Lady From Dubuque. Does that count for anything?

Joe said...

Dale, of course it does. The lattice of coincidence, in addition to being fascinating, is also ever-expanding.

Chris, I look forward to it.