March 23, 2003 10:08 PM

So the truly amazing thing about get-togethers like the one last night at Casa del Min Jung y Jhames is . . .

Well, you have to understand, I was an avid reader growing up. No, beyond avid . . . I was obsessive. I often couldn't sleep until I read first. I would read during family events, in the car, on camping trips, in the bathroom . . . . anywhere, really. At recess and lunch in grade school, I would sit in a corner by myself and read.

It wasn't that I was anti-social . . . I just found my books way more interesting than whatever else that was going on around me. But ultimately, my parents and teachers conspired against me and - get this - I was actually threatened with PUNISHMENT if I was caught reading during recess.

That strikes me as pretty lame when I think about it now.

Anyway, one of the most amazing, intense and emotional experiences of my young reading life was when I would get so attached to a character that when I closed the book after reading the last page, I would get a knotted, unhappy feeling in my stomach - sometimes I would even cry - because I knew there was no more to read. The character with which I had spent so much time, to which I had developed such an attachment, was gone . . . disappeared into whatever sad void fictional characters are relegated to when no one is writing about them.

I think that's why reading blogs makes me so happy. They go on and on. If you fall in love with a "character," you can pretty much be assured that every day or three, there will be more "story" to enjoy.

But beyond that, you get to enjoy the surreal experience of actually meeting your literary fascination in the flesh. Imagine walking into a party and finding, say, Frodo Baggins or Aslan the Lion sitting on a couch, drinking a coke.

It's great!! You get to ask them all the things you've always wanted to ask, you can appreciate all the many wonderful facets of their personality that are only hinted at in the stories you read about them, you get to hug them, and interact with them, and suddenly the world seems not so one-sided and lonely.

Even more surreal, imagine that Frodo tells you that while you've been in your world reading about his adventures, he's been in his world reading about yours. And he's so glad to finally meet you!!

Its almost too much joy, really.

The absolute pinnacle of the night was hearing Min Jung channel her father singing Patsy Cline's "Crazy." Or, to spell it phoenetically the way she sang it, "Clajy."

Oh, my. You SO had to be there.

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