As my anonymity collapses from both ends, people from my church find out about Real Live Preacher, and I meet people from the blog world in the flesh. The whole thing is very interesting to me and fun to watch.
In March I met Matt Sturges from Correction in Austin. It was a great visit and sparked a real friendship. We have a lot in common, namely struggling with the church and trying to figure out how we fit into the whole religion game. Neither of us feel like we fit in very well. In my case I somehow convinced 60-odd people to join me in the merry band of misfits and wounded people that we call our church.
Anyway, Matt came to our church yesterday. Chloe performed as if I had prepped her, dutifully asking us all to pray for the gypsies. I knew Matt was listening for that. It was cool that she didn't let me down. He met Pepe and heard Evangelina sing. It was great!
Thursday is a big day in the growing collapse of the Real Live Preacher mystery. Doug Hennessee from Pipeline will be in Austin for business. We're meeting in the evening for Mexican food, beer, and a couple of hours conversation after. I'm bringing the fresh jalapenos. He can have some if he likes.
It would be hard for me to put into writing how I feel about Doug. He is a classic Salon blogger from the old days. He started a little before my time and has always been a faithful reader of my work, which is flattering beyond words. We've communicated by email scores of times over the last year or so.
Doug is an enigma to me. He is an athiest and a gentle soul. Many of his emails have a distinct spiritual depth to them. This is fascinating to me because it stretches my ways of thinking about the world and the people in it. He's just an interesting guy, that's all. I find Pipeline to be a fresh source of humor and observations about politics and sports.
And his son is named Linus, which I love.
So Thursday night I meet yet another person from the blog world. You can bet I'll tell you how it went.
rlp
