Travels with JQ
I'm heading down the homestretch of my multiple travels. This is coming from pretty much halfway between the Duke and North Carolina campuses. Kinda neat how reasonably close both places are. Did get to see both campuses just driving around after my friend's Sam's wedding today. Got a little glimpse of the Dean Dome and saw a lot of the Duke campus -- including Cameron Indoor Stadium and Krzyzewskiville. Also amusing to find myself on the Duke campus just as freshmen were starting to move in -- at least it made the campus looked lived in.

The wedding (or more specifically, the ceremony celebrating the wedding since Sam and his wife Anya were married in Moscow last month) was a nice occasion at a pretty fancy garden/inn/restaurant complex south of Durham/Chapel Hill. If anything, it was nice to reunite with my old roommates from my senior year at college. This was the first time we had everyone together in a couple of years (for another wedding).

Before the wedding was a jaunt to Chicago for some fantasy football conferences. The trade event was pretty good -- it was good to network with a bunch of other people in the industry. Just too bad, the consumer part wasn't as well attended, and that I didn't get a chance to take part in one of the expert drafts because of a lack of time. I suppose the consumer conference is a decent idea, although it was a bit interesting to see about 50 or so fantasy fanatics sitting through a few hours worth of "expert" seminars talking all about fantasy football.

However, since I was in Chicago, I was able to get a few things done/people to see/etc. Got to spend some time with Alexis (in her really nice new apartment), hop back to the alma mater and load up on more gear, including some good stuff here (right across the street from the stadium facility formerly known as Dyche Stadium) , and see Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind with Alexis, Greg and Kirsti. I hadn't see it in more than five years and it's still as good and goofy as ever.

Obviously things change a lot over time. I've kept up with a lot of changes at Northwestern and Evanston via The Daily, but I hadn't realized how much things seemed to have change in Chicago itself. There seemed to be a lot of very new-looking apartments/lofts/condos, especially down Belmont somewhat west of the main drag off the El. There were also plenty of newer looking shopping plazas. I suppose there are enough more options out there should I ever happen to move back.

Still got a little bit more of the actual "travel" portion, but it looks like this trip seemed to work our reasonably well. As always, it's good that it seems like I know people almost no matter where I go on business.