I’m fine, Denny’s fine, my brother’s fine, but Iowa City’s not fine.  I guess the tornado ripped right through downtown, and it is a real mess.  Apparently the Menard’s on the south side of town got its roof torn off, and I guess there’s lots of damage around Iowa Avenue, Riverside, and Burlington.  The University cancelled classes tomorrow, and that never happens.  Work is still on, but we might be doing things like clearing debris out of the streets around the office instead of work we usually do.

Denny and I were at wine-tasting class when the sirens went off.  We hung out with our classmates in the lower level of Kirkwood Community College for about an hour.  It was kind of scary, especially when people started getting sketchy information about all the damage that was taking place.  Fortunately, all we got on the east side of town (also where our house is) was rain and hail, no tornadoes or heavy winds.

I had two people say bizarre things to me yesterday.

1.  I was getting on an elevator to go hear a talk by Jeffrey Cole, director of the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future.  The topic was the way digital access to information is changing our relationship with media, the role of multitasking in our lives, and innovations in portable digital resources.  The elevator I stepped into was already occupied by some people, including a guy I very peripherally work with.  He looked at me in absolute shock and said, “You’re going to this?!”  Um…yep.  It’s, you know, kind of related to my career.

2.  I was out for a run yesterday, and a kid of maybe 11 years old came up to me on a bike.  He said, “Hi, lady!” so I waved at him.  Then he said, “I’m younger than you.”  I said, “Yes, that’s true.”  Then he said, “A LOT!” and biked away.  Huh?  You must understand that this is a sensitive topic for a 29-year-old, and I don’t think I look all that old.  Heck, I still get carded probably 75% of the times I buy alcohol.

I am choosing to assume that he meant it as a compliment, since kids usually think it’s cool to be older.  He said it in a very snarky tone, though.  Little snot.