it occured to me as i sat in an auditorium below the library 40 minutes before 7, people getting bossy about seats, that it was a different kind of fun. i wasn’t waiting for prince to make an appearance, or even the prime minister. instead i was staking out a seat so i could see jared diamond, author of guns, germs and steel.

and i wasn’t alone…the main room had overflow into several other rooms and eventually even the overflow rooms had overflow. i don’t know if i’m excited or bummed that i’m not a special kind of geek in the city.

most noticeable tonight (since sadly the talk was just a recapping of the book and i’ve already read it) was the reality that i was one of only two brown faces in a sea of a couple hundred people…and a funny thing jared said…

someone asked a rather leading question about the work ethic of europeans as the result of having to live in cold climates. jared broke it down to the notion that northeast europe contributed no innovations to the world until the water wheele.

it was a funny moment but i guess you had to be there.

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