or How I Became Instant BFF’s with a Greek Geek Goddess

Today I want to write about my awesome West Coast friend Phoebe Kitanidis.  It’s odd but a few times in my life I’ve met people that I was instantly connected to (BTW: so awkward if they don’t feel the same, happens with a lot of boys back in the day) and she’s one of them.  Would believe that until she picks me up from the airport in Seattle later today, we’ll only have hung out in person on two other occasions?  Not unless I told you that when we’ve been together, even the first time we met, we both seemed to recognize a kindred spirit.  Conventions seem to be the linchpin that keeps brining us together (for which I’m very thankful).  

The scene is Austin 2008: Phoebe a promising new young writer with an agent and a string of non-fiction credits to her name, Lola, a spunky young girl trying to navigate the waters of a SF writers workshop with just a cute jersey dress and quiet enthusiasm to her credit.  I was workshopping a short story where Merlin gets fired and has a midlife wizard crisis where he ends of moving in with his mom and trying to get work as a witch doctor but ends up being hired by a dragon!  As all my short stories turn out to be, it was really a novel idea masquerading as 12 pages of quips and crappy dialogue (it sounds so much better in my head than on paper).  Phoebe was one of the Pros helping to mentor my motley group of wannabes but before I knew that she was the lady who noticed my grey dress.  “Thanks! It was a Gap bargain, it’s so comfy,” I told her and we shared a smile of ladies who appreciate the merging of fashion and function. 

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