Chicago went something like this

Driving in Friday afternoon. Traffic jam inside the city. Two nights free hotel in Rosemont. Blue line to Division. Walking & walking. Stopped into a record store that sold Philip Jenks's books. Drinks & dinner at the High Dive. Saw Mayer Hawthorne at Darkroom. His set included a reggae version of "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out." Opening band JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound were a lot of fun too, and Buff1 and 14kt brought the Errol Flynn out in the crowd, or at least out in the people from Detroit in the crowd. Okay, okay, so I only saw one person doing it, and it was Matt. Long taxi ride back to Rosemont, and the driver got lost.

Saturday morning was spent recovering. Steak & Shake. Went into the city early afternoon. Blue line to Western. Walking & walking & then turning back to go to Green Eye for a pre-dinner drink. Met Max & Kate Greenstreet for dinner at Fuego Mexican Grill. Large portions and interesting conversation. When in school did I have a true learning experience? Then on to the Orientation Center, home of the Chicago Underground library. Meeting Lisa Janssen. Setting up the AV equipment, by which I mean I watched Kate & Max set it up, and I just tested my slideshow. Ducking under the giant screen. Jen Karmin arrived from the airport, having come from the Advancing Feminist Poetics Conference in NYC. Seeing faces I recognize from Saginaw. I read a new piece called "1,000 words (a documentary)" set to photos by Jaime Torres. Then Kate debuted her two movies that come with her new book, The Last 4 Things. She claims to be an amateur filmmaker, but these films look quite professional. Striking images and great audio--music, words, static, layers of language. I love the idea of having a movie in English with captions in English, with the captions not matching the spoken language. Following the films, a quick Q&A, then post-reading socializing. Briefly spoke with Nate Slawson. Spoke very inarticulately about Saginaw with Kerri Sonnenberg. Felt kind of "out of it." Post-reading food & drinks at Logan Square Bar & Grill. More great conversation. Blue line to O'Hare.

Sunday morning free breakfast. Then driving to Michigan. GPS took us a different route than we had expected, but it took about the same amount of time as the usual route. Turning the radio station dial through static until we found the Lions and the Tigers. Going back & forth between the two and hearing, just as we got into Saginaw, the final seconds of the football game and the Lions snapping their 19 game losing streak.