Ray Bianchi and Bill Allegrezza from Chicago were in town this week giving a reading for Chris at UT Arlington. Wasn't able to make the reading due to work schedule but headed over to the Lakewood Landing yesterday evening to meet and hang out with the poets. Ray runs the Chicago Postmodern Poetry website and Bill publishes a wonderful e-zine called Moria. It was good to hang out with Chicagoans, for me recalling Fall walks in Hyde Park looking for wild parrots in the tree tops (Bill sees them regularly!), 57th Street Books, and strolls through Osaka Garden. Ray tells me that the Chinatown on the Southside is booming and now borders Bridgeport. Having seen Chinatown in Boston and other cities get downsized and gentrified, this is happy and inspiring news - Chuimei Ho, wife of the curator of Asian arts at the Field Museum, is also building a museum for Chinese Americans and Nancy and Yuchia over at Columbia run the Center for Asian Arts and Media. What is it about Chicago that has allowed the success of the Chinese? I don't know, but I miss the city. And when is Joy Yee's coming to the rest of America?