[personal] Out in the evening, and a story I actually went out last night. Hooray for recovery! maryrobinette organized a dinner for ellen_datlow at a whiskey bar in NE Portland. davidlevine and kateyule were there, as were camillealexa and mkhobson and two friends of ellen_datlow's whose handles are unknown to me. calendula_witch was feeling over-peopled from the weekend, so she stayed at Witchnest Manor and wrought culinary magic . It was very nice to be out with writer friends. It was very nice to socialize like a normal person without doing a faceplant in the salad. It was very nice to be able to drive myself home at 8 pm without feeling like I was risking life and safety due to my own goofiness. I think I'm just about back. In other news, the_child finished the story she was writing yesterday [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]. That was fanfic of my story " Jack's House ". She wrote backstory specifically about how Jack came to be absent. And her sense of literary style is emerging. We had a long conversation about word echoes and how to rework phrasing to avoid them. Proud of that kid, so proud.