I was walking to school today (SFU Harbour Centre), down Seymour from Granville station, lost in thought and not paying attention to anybody or anything, simply enjoying the beautiful fall morning, when I run into Kris Krug. He was approaching from the opposite direction and paused just abreast of me, thus catching my eye. I met Kris, local geek and photographer about town, at BarCamp in August. We arrived at the same time and I was sure he must be an organizer: he looked so rock starish. Now you might not think that local geeks look like Lenny Kravitz, but I think Kris (or simply KK+ as I like to refer to him) does a good job.
Today, though, not so rock starish. Perhaps a Tuesday morning rendition; still styling regardless. “Hi Kris,” I say, once I focus and register his face. “Kate, right?” Yeah, hey, how’s it going etc. etc. Anyhow, in the span of 9 minutes, KK+ invited me to coffee, put money in his metre, bought me a coffee and tried to steal my Globe and Mail. I told him I was going to the next Social Tech Brewing, which begins at the office of his work, Bryght and then moves on to a local watering hole to fulfill the “brewing” aspect of its mandate. He told me a wee bit about his trip to China. I’m beginning to dig this bumping into people I know (I don’t need to know them well). Also, and it’s what I’ve always suspected about Vancouver – it’s as small a town as Windsor, or any other Canadian city dwarfed by Toronto or Montreal. Once you get to know people in a certain set – say the geekish community, or fellow students – you start seeing them around. And all of a sudden big ole Vancouver smells the same as the City of Roses (whether sweet or rancid depends on your state of mind).