Why did we decide to do this blog?  I’m not really sure.  A creative outlet?  A way to throw out random ideas? A vague hope that something fun might come out of it?  A replacement for endless websurfing?

Well, the “vague hope” rationale has already worked out.  Jeff and I had a wonderful time at our appearance on the Interview Show at the Hideout.  There are a lot of dimensions to why we enjoyed it and I’m sure we’ll both blog about it.  The thing I want to talk about now is the club itself and its owners.  It is a little west of the big Home Depot on North Av.  There is weird industrial stuff all around and a large filling station for trucks.  And slap bang in the middle of all of it is a little house which has been turned into this club.  I thought it would be full of truckers and instead it is weirdly middle class.  I had a Bell’s Oberon, definitely in the microbrew category. I could have been ironically postmodern and had a Hamm’s but I did not spot it in time.  I love the crappy end of American beer!

Jeff and I are too old to know about clubs but the Hideout gets rave reviews among the cognoscenti.  The owners, Tim and Katie Tuten, are very interesting.  You might expect some ex rockstar to own it.  Maybe,  Tim and Katie have this history in their deep, dark past.  Now, they have regular day jobs – Tim works in the Chicago Public Schools and Katie for a charity.  They’re also a little older than you might expect. (I hope they do not mind me saying this! ) They more than make up for it by having the extroversion and energy of twentysomethings.  Tim did a little stand-up before Mark Bazer came on. They also have incredible taste in music – that night’s act Anni Rossi was transporting.  Tim worked for Arne Duncan in Chicago and will join him in DC doing special events.  As we left, Katie  ran to the door and said all economist number-crunchers were welcome, except those from the University of Chicago.  I’m sure if she met Phil Reny, Roger Myerson etc she would welcome them too.

And I’d never have met them if it weren’t for this blog!  I also got to hang out with Jeff on his own, a rare thing as we’re so busy nowadays.  I enjoyed his humor while he dealt with my depression with grace.

I should think about some clever econ thing to blog about and see if it leads anywhere.

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