Cyberconnections

Having the opportunity to lunch with Pearl last week has gotten me thinking about how many people I've been fortunate enough to meet via the Internet.

I was remiss in not mentioning here that at the end of December we were lucky enough to meet up with Eek! and JC, who stopped in New York on their way back from Paris. Along with nice conversation about that fine city and some Chinese cuisine, we also got their fresh perspective (literally) on James Brown, as they came straight from the Apollo Theater in Harlem, having just viewed him in all his gold-coffined splendor!

Richard Lopez, an astute poet whose street-smart verse reminds me a lot of the vintage observations of Lou Reed, has been a collaborator. We've traded emails, building strange and beautiful poetry one word at a time, though we have never seen each other in the flesh.

Kicking off many such cyberassociations was my online class with MsHellion; we were both pursuing Master's degrees at The New School. Meeting up with her both in New York (we also got to know Dottcomments at dinner that evening) and in Louisville (where we also first met Eek, JC and Dr. Chingasa) rank right up there on the hit parade of all-time social moments of my life. Meeting Yournamehere would make our Louisville blog connection complete.

We would love to break bread (or 60 chicken wings) with Steakbellie (decked out in his trademark kilt), hoping perhaps one of his competitive eating events will bring him back to New York soon.

And if we ever found ourselves fortunate enough to be in Ottawa lunching again with Pearl on her turf, we'd have to take in The Lewd Angel's comedy act, at the very least.