This Weekend was great because...

This Weekend was great because:

• It started out with a gathering at Brown's, where we had some tasty beer, some ridiculous nachos, saw some old friends, and met some interesting new people (including a romance novel writer and her daughter who has an interest in liberal arts colleges).
• The movie "The Master" at the Spectrum 8 (very interesting) and delicious fish and some great tempura at Sake Cafe in Slingerlands. Scott was so impressed this time that he thought it beat out his favorite sushi place in Queens.
• Fabulous autumn arugula salad at New World Bistro, a place for us that always seems to be filled with goodwill. When the food runner we don't normally see says "Hey guys, I remember when you got engaged!" (2 years ago), that is community love right there. Of course the food there is great, but its the people who really put it over the top.
• From Scratch Club food swap! Which is of course great because I scored some of my friend Sandy's cupcakes and delicious lime cordial among other equally as great items, but what was really cool was half the people in a filled up room congratulating me on my new job. I've started to think about when I was a teenager and the internet held such a lesser role in people's lives. Back then, people called each other when they wanted to hangout instead of creating a Facebook event, but the larger sense of community the internet helps to create can sometimes be really unique. Listening to someone gush about Dream Puff marshmallows, and being able to immediately introduce her to the nice lady who makes them? That is cool. Leaving when it was dark on a street I heard someone yelling racial slurs and accusations of narcotic addiction on my way in, and the same nice lady yelling out to me "Where are you parked?" and slowly driving to make sure I safely got in my car? That is heartwarming.

Here's to a great weekend, and the last five days going to a job I've done for 3 years.