New - Daily facts! day 1

So i was thinking it'd be fun to start a daily blog where i list something new every day - either something that i've observed in my life, a random fact, or something else relevant.

SO today being day 1 - i give you the following stories.

one of the stranger coincidences i've been a part of -

i worked for years at a comedy club and one of my friends, this comedian - Don Gavin - was always good for lots of laughs onstage or off. One thing about Don - he loved his black russians. anyone who knows him knows this.

well in 1993 one of my college friends was working for the summer in alaska. the interior of alaska - in denali national park. my mom worked for delta at the time so i hoped a free flight and took the trek up to AK to visit her. It was summer so there was the whole 23 hours of daylight thing happening, coupled with the long trek up there - had me feeling a bit out of sorts. Everyone she worked with were grade A characters. Anyhow - first night up there - mind you i've flown 13 hours from home - across the continent - we end up in a bar on the grounds of the park - the rusty spike to be exact. we sit down at the bar and the female barternder comes over - asks what she can get us - i order a black russian. no lie and without missing a beat she says 'one don gavin special coming up'. I almost passed out. i mean don is great but he's certainaly not a national name and certainly not his drink preference. I asked her to repeat herself and she said - oh - sorry - this guy i used to work with in boston loved these drinks and i always think of him when someone orders one. I told her i knew him and figured out that she had worked at a competing comdedy club in boston years earlier.

i spent the next couple of hours chatting with her and my pal about the oddness of this cooincidence when one of the bartenders friends arrived at the bar - this dude had also spent time in boston and when told the story of the cooincidence he said - wait you worked at nick's?" do you know Lauren and Brad (two of my best friends at the time). my brain melted completely at this point.

its hard to convey the 'other place-ness' of what its like to fly to alaska and then bus 4 hours up into the wilderness. but to get there to find it populated with friends of your friends. well. yeah.