A really nice, smart bunch of South Asians, mostly Indian, mostly women in their late 20's, early 30's, I think. There are about 200 people on the general list apparently, but about ten showed up last night, so I expect the core planning group is smallish. Several of the women last night appeared to be academics (though more sociology types than English types); there were sympathetic groans when I mentioned being in grad school and working on my dissertation right now. So it was really just nice -- I feel like I'm finally starting to find some of my contemporaries here in Chicago.
It's not that I'm lonely, exactly. Kevin keeps me from lonely. But Karen and Roshani are not so close, and while I have a few other actual friends in the area, I miss having regular friends (mostly girlfriends) to chat with and see every few days. It's funny, ten years later, I think I'm still missing college. Funny and sad, of course.