Washington D.C. is a peculiar place (I keep saying that bu well, it is true!). It is an intellectual hub for knowledge seekers, a truly unique place that brings you in silver plate most extraordinary - and Sherlock Holmes-esque encounters. Yesterday I was in our local Starbucks, devouring a book on the open source movement, scribbling down notes and underlying sections with an appetite. As I was about to leave, someone next to me asked "What are you reading?" in a tone that indicated he already knew. Typical of me, I had forgotten the title of the book, so I had to take the book out and show it to him. He said, "Tell me about it." in a tone that promised I was going to be grilled on the subject. I was no Richard Stallman, the purist open-source guru, but I managed to explain in my own words what the open source (or, as it was first called, free software) revolution was all about. He then made comments that were startlingly relevant, and suggested I look at the First Indistrual Era for analogies. We than chatted for more than an hour on the U.N., the U.S. perspective of the world (not being subtle was the key concept there), Europe (Europeans, they have a tribal mentality, discarding all the layers of civilization beneath them). He later told me he used to be a lobbyist for the House and the Senate at DC. The conversation went on and on, until I said I had to leave to work! But I have a feeling this is not the last time I saw this extraordinarily knowledgeable persona (he recited peculiar details like the full names of all major Greek players in the Cyprus conflicts, including Bulent Ecevit, whome he called a poet. He remembered the full names of the first three UN Secretary Generals - who happen to be from Sweden Norway, and Burma-if I recall correctly!).
Today, I had lunch with someone else - a prima donna, If I can use this description for her. I understand she is famous in her area, in the classic sense - a celebrity, actress- and I was fascinated by her. She is not only beautiful in an artistic sense, she is magnetic. This is strange. You know when you meet your other half and you know this person will be in your life for a long time, this is how I felt when I met with her. We first met at a networking party, it was so crowded, and she was so busy, I only had the chance to say a brief hi and bye. This is when someone told she was famous. Somehow, she remembered me after the event, called me, and we came together at la Madleine's in Old Town. Instantly, we both realized that we were meant to be there, that this was just meant to happen, and that we had so much in common (despite age difference). I wish I could tell what we talked about, so much to learn from it alone, but alas, this is meant to be a blog, not what we call in Turkey a "destan".