Just got news that Sean Chercover's novel, "Big City, Bad Blood" hits bookstore shelves on January 9th. It's getting rave reviews and he's put them all on his site at www.chercover.com . I learn also that he's a member of The Outfit http://www.theoutfitcollective.com/ which is a collection of Chicago crime writers...many of whom are well known and well loved by mystery fans. Nothing like a book coming out to get a writer all excited.
Speaking of writers, our Tuesday eve gathering of same are having a fit. We've been meeting for about seven years, happily eating, drinking and talking away, in the middle section of a restaurant patio in Old Town. And it pained the owner something fierce to have to tell us, a week ago this past Tuesday, that some guy had complained to the health Nazis that we were smoking there. Even though the side open to the parking lot was OPEN, it didn't help because of the plastic curtain that rolls down when it's cold or raining.
So last night, we moved to the front section of the patio. And it was about as uncomfortable as could be. Only round umbrella tables, permantly implanted in the floor, so we couldn't move them together or away from the tree branches on the side. We crowded around the table, but there were too many of us. Wretched situation.
Which caused me to stop on the way home to check out Rancho Corona a few blocks away. We'll be trying their patio out next Tuesday eve with fingers crossed. I do know already that they have the hardest damned chairs I've ever sat on. Had them made in Tijuana. Seats are square pieces of wood and the back of the chairs are completely vertical. Ain't no such thing as leaning back. We're gonna sit straight up, I kid you not. One of the writers said they'd damned well bring their own pillow to sit on.
So we talked away last night about the universe, string theory, having to change restaurants, and politics. All agreed it's past time to bring our people home from Iraq and get over to Afghanistan and delete bin Laden. It was he, after all, who hit us on 9/11, and we're not the forgiving kind when someone does something like that. Nor when an administration lies us into a war with a country that did not attack us and causes 3003 of our people to die and who knows how many wounded, plus the massive number of Iraqi deaths and the destruction of their country. Bush has a head like a block of cement. Cheney is worse, but he's not the prez. At least not openly.
Wrap...
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