so it goes

i feel like we should have done some research for the panel discussion of last evening. janeane garofalo and foolproof talked at town hall in seattle about politics and the media, focussing on newsblogs versus print and television news. i didn't know any of the panel members other than ms garafalo, and the names of local political bloggers were bandied about willynilly so we didn't catch any of them.

still, it was an interesting discussion. everyone on the panel was terribly anti-bush and against staying in iraq, and while i am too, it might have been good to have some opposing viewpoints. there were minor squabbles about this or that but fundamentally everyone agreed with everyone else.

prior to the town hall event kara and i did a little seattling. we went to few bookstores and in the first one we ran into an ex-girlfriend of mine, patti. i hadn't seen patti - who dumped me, by the bye - in about six and a half years and it was a bit of a shock. she was working at the bookstore, a different from the one where we'd worked together those years ago.

it was a friendly encounter, through brief. i wouldn't mind catching up with her, seeing what she's been up to, but i doubt it'll happen. all afternoon i had those "what-if" thoughts, how my life would be different if things had gone another way ... the only way i have to reach her is through the bookstore. we'll see.

we went on, mostly hitting the bookstores in the capitol hill area. we stopped for a drink at one point, we had some supper at another. then we went to town hall, and then we drove home. coming home from seattle is always a bit of downer, just because we'd prefer to live there than here.

so it goes.