Snippet: My Dinner with Krystyn Chong

I had dinner with Krystyn Chong this past Monday night.  She was in San Francisco for Apple's WWDC.  She initially invited me for coffee though confessed it's not a beverage she drinks.  I don't "drink" and she was kind enough not to insist that we meet at a bar.  It's a rather arbitrary thing to decide upon but it did pose somewhat of a challenge for us as we spent over 30 minutes texting each other.  We eventually settled in at Osha Thai Restaurant on Geary & Leavenworth.

A bit about Krys
I know Krys from Twitter.  She began following me last October.  I noticed a spike in followers after we began tweeting each other.  Some of my favorite followers that I met through Krys are: Sung Lee, Loripop326, Terri Nakamura, and Edo 江戸.  These fine people got me more followers.  If it wasn't for Krys, the number of followers I have would be much smaller.  Though I don't regard the amount of followers I have is important, it does tell me that she has a tremendous influence in the Twitter world.  Though we all have our own style, hers is difficult to pin down.  She's quite cognizant of this fact and doesn't seem to mind that people will love her or hate her.

Back to our Evening!
Krys alerted me to her poor navigation skills.  I had to walk more than twice the distance to the restaurant as she did so when I arrived and found that she wasn't there I became concerned.  She was only three blocks away but ended up going the wrong way.  After taking the "scenic route" she appeared, talking on her cell phone.  She hung up the phone and I called out to her.  We hugged and for a moment there I sort of felt that I was in the presence of a celebrity. 

We entered Osha and just as we were seated, Krys asked me if I was married.  It sounded so innocent and casual but I was surprised nontheless.  From that point we discussed our past relationships.  She's easy on the eyes so I had to remind myself that we were not on a date.  I know the guy to my left wish he was me as he kept staring at Krys and not his date. I told her I was going to write a brief blog of our meeting and that I'd let her read it before I publish it.  She said that it wasn't necessary and that she trusted me.  Brave girl.

We discussed a plethora of topics; one topic was about living in New York on 9/11.  She told me all about her anxiety on that day and the weeks that followed.  There was this sadness that I knew too well.  I had 3 acquaintances who were in the Towers, one of them a good friend.  I did not want this night to end on such melancholy so I switched the subject to Twitter.

Of course we two geeks could not let the night pass without taking pictures with our smartphones...

What seemed like a few minutes ended up being over 3 hours.  She managed to grab the check, thus thwarting my chance of being chivalrous.  Fear not, I did walk her back to her hotel.  And thus ended my first meeting with a person whom I became friends with via Twitter.

Thank you Krys for a very fun evening!

I promised her I wouldn't get into the details of our discussions.  She didn't seem to mind but I have decided to save it for myself.  Get your own details, invite her to your town.