Chess and HIPS

On my way to Adams Morgan this evening for a meeting, I stopped off at that place in Dupont where they play chess and watched for a while. They play with timers, which always throws off my game. Besides I attract too much attention since I am one of the few females who hangs out there and it makes me self-conscious. Anyway, in Iowa City, I knew many of the regular chess players, and they were always so sweet about letting me play without a timer. (I am pretty fast, ironically). Being able to go downtown and grab a game of chess--it's the most calming, wonderful thing. Back in college, freshman year, I used to play for hours everyday, and my most consistent chess buddy was Beard-Mike. He was a far superior player, and he taught me quite a few things that I remember to this day (control the middle four squares even if it means losing a piece, use the knight, use the pawns, never make a move that has no purpose, don't be afraid to kill off the queens). It's weird the things that occupy my brain when I am waiting for my bus:) I wanted to play a game, but didn't.

Afterwards, I hopped on a bus to HIPS where I had a really good, productive meeting. There was a peer educator/client there and it was wonderful to get feedback from her. And also, I really love our outreach leader..she is easily one of the coolest women I know. She has this great way of validating the things you do, that just makes you feel all warm and good about yourself. Well, also she's super smart, funny and kind. It's always great to be in a room full of activists and idealist do-gooders--I can just feed on all that positive energy:) I was struck again by many things (which tends to happen everytime I connect with HIPS), that are germane to any non-profit that works with dis-advantaged populations. I could describe them here, but I don't want to sound mawkish and preachy, so I will skip it. This morning on my way to work when I saw someone who could easily be our client outside our building, I walked by without saying a word. HIPS makes it harder to ignore my priviledge.