Chicago-land blogger party

When I saw on HEP blog that Denise and donna-in-evanston were working on a getting together, I knew it was something I could manage to put in my schedule. A two hour drive was not going to stop me from getting together with the real live people that I have spent hours with in a virtual reality.

With map-quest and a Chicago area map I headed out to Evanston. I was counting on vacation time to keep the traffic down. Driving in the dark made reading signs difficult (maybe those bifocals aren't too far off). Because I didn't make one wrong turn, the trip last exactly 2 hours.

Refusing to take more than one trip from the car to the house, I dragged my overnight bag and carried a stack of plates filled with bean dip and veggies. The chips, which were balance on top, fell off twice but I didn't have to go back to my car that night.

Donna and her husband live in an attractive condo. It is one of those great city type places. The building is narrow and long with 4 flights. The hard wood floors with open stairs and the real fire in the fireplace gave her home an warm. welcoming feeling when I entered.

Donna greeted me at the door with a big hug. For those of you who haven't met Donna, she is a petite woman with shortly cut hair. She has a strong determination in her eyes that makes you not notice her size right away. She calls herself the "radical militant" librarian, which is a fun, yet accurate, description of her.

The party had already started. DF IL Lali and her husband "Ian from Illinois" with their 3 dark haired children were sitting on the wrap around sofas. Kent and Janet Wilson from Donna's meetup steering committee, had also arrive. Thankful/Laurie arrived shortly after me.

Donna's husband, Bill, welcomed me and relieved me of my food, coat and suitcase. Donna, he is a keeper! Bill is a tall handsome man with a gentle smile. He always knew right where to be when there was help needed. Donna describes her husband as apolitical. I know my husband, Bob and he would identify with each other when they relay stories of living with "activist" wives.

Phase one of the party consisted of eating my broken chips and talking Chicago area politics. Wine and drinks helped too. It is always interesting listening about Chicago-land politics because their issues are so different from my red-rural experience. They are having fun supporting candidates at all levels and have the challenge of dealing with established Democrats. I am lucky to find one Democratic candidate to work for let alone have established Democrats even care about what we are doing.

All this time we are wondering where Denise, Renee and Demetrius were. Donna would run up and check the blog now and then. Eventually she reported that Denise was too sick to drive but there was still no word from R&D.

Phase two: We moved down one level to her kitchen/family room. I was looking forward to Donna's turkey chili after reading about it on her morning post and I was not disappointed. Lali and her family had to leave for a concert so they missed out on a delicious meal.

Political talk shifted to dogs. Donna has an adorable aussie collie who smiles when she is happy (!?! ) and would contently lay her nose on Donna's lap. I asked for help on how to discipline my bratty 6 month-old Shih Tsu. Donna brought out a book, Marley and Me, the world's worst dog. http://marleyandme.com/ It is a great book and if you have a bad dog, it will make your feel understood.

The food-fest continued with Laurie's cookies and delicious fudge. As we sat around the table, Bill uncorked the champagne. Donna toasted to 2006 and for "quick trials and long sentences." Sounds good to me, and may there be many.

I still had faith that Renee and Demetrius would show up. I have seen their late hours on the blog and 10:30 PM was nothing to them. A phone call relayed not only R&D would make it, but they went way out of their way to pick up Denise too!

More descriptions for those who have not met Renee, Demetrius or Denise: Renee "looks" like she blogs. When you meet her she has the energy of a comforting mother. She has a big smile and a gentle voice. Demetrius is a solid man with a quiet humor that makes you not want to miss what he has to say. Denise is definitely a Chicago transplant that now lives in California. The first words out of her mouth brought laughter to my heart. There is a distinctive accent that only a lifetime of living on the south side of Chicago would produce. I have a special affection for this talk because my favorite sister-in-law is from this area.

Conversation moved on to "blog people." If you don't come to the party you run the risk of being talked about. We discussed how Tara "doesn't get it" but that we have made lifetime friends from people we have met there. We all felt as sense of grief over a loss. Donna expressed that she sometimes just feels burned out with politics and that she misses working hard for a great candidate. We all felt a yearning to have Howard Dean back at the helm.

If this were a crushie party (and I have been to a few great ones), pictures and ooing and aahhing would have been the next event.

Laurie updated us on her children and Denise told about her friend's recent loss. Two hours and several fudge squares later, our blogging party ended. I was grateful to Donna for letting me spent the night.

Before everyone left, Bill took a picture of our group sitting around the table. What an unlikely bunch brought together; a couple with young children from Ohio, a Californian with Chicago in her heart, a mother of young adult children, an activist librarian, and a liberal woman from the country.

Thank YOU Howard Dean. Look out America.

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