Today’s bike ride took me, walking the bike with K., up to Johns Hopkins for a seminar on the future of women’s and gender studies, and after we got all that sorted out, I rode over through Hampden for AK Press‘s annual holiday party and happy hour. Oh, Hampden. It’s hard to get to with the parks in the way, all set apart from the rest of the city, so I spent my ride pedaling slowly and staring down at the map on my phone since I wasn’t coming directly from home. I took a wrong turn here, a wrong turn there, but eventually I found my way. And someday, I’ll have lived here long enough to know where the heck I’m going. The party was lovely, with lots of familiar faces from here and there, and a full glass of wine to sip over books and books and books. You know what makes a good holiday gift? An AK Press book, or any book from a small press. Knowledge is worth paying for, if anything is. It was late, the wine went to my head, and V. was there, so I threw my bike in her mommy van and took the ride home. Start to finish, I had a lovely, lovely day.