I’m writing this on Saturday, February 10. A group of my friends from college has plans to visit Chicago’s north side Chinatown (more Vitenamese/SE Asian these days) for the Lunar New Year. Because I’m a dope and double-booked myself (long-ish story with only me to blame) I’ll be staying home. My wife is joining them so at least one of us will be having fun and eating good food!

Aside from the way back machine: When I was married to my first wife we went to the parade on the north side several years in a row. One year a young couple moved in, Chinese-American husband, Philippine-American wife, and the husband’s Chinese immigrant father. That year when we attended the parade we notice the father in an upstairs window of the Chamber of Commerce and when the parade started we were surprised to see our neighbor was one of the lion dancers! The next week when we told him we saw him he was kind of sheepish, as if to say, “that’s just something my dad made me do.”