Late nights

There is no reasonable explanation for how I am still awake at this point in time. I just finished "Friday's" entry at 4:14 a.m. Sunday, and now I'm tapping away at Saturday's. In the last three days I have seen twenty movies, including seven each the last two. Talk about sheer madness...

Attendees swamped the festival, making it next to impossible to get to the food court to purchase supper. So I didn't. It was straight from one film to the line for the next from late afternoon on. I got recharged by dozing for very brief but very frequent moments during one film, and my emergency supply of granola bars in my messenger bag provided what little nourishment I had after lunch.

I had been debating whether or not to bother with the midnight movie, but I went to it anyway. Another colleague from Columbus was there and mentioned getting something to eat afterwards. I figured I'd be fortunate to be semi-conscious by then, but the promise of food must have been enough to sustain my energy.

Keep in mind that I had been at the theater for almost seventeen hours and was running on about five hours of sleep. I felt wide awake after my seventh movie of the day, so I went for a drive on Detroit until we ended up at My Friends Deli and Restaurant. The desserts in the case by the cash register looked wonderful, but I was interested in heartier fare. Actually, I was in dire need of some good food, not the passable stuff from the mall food court that I am sick, sick, sick of.

I ordered the honey dipped fried chicken, not the lightest thing to eat before going to bed. Who cares, though? I was starving, and the chicken was outstanding. It may be the best fried chicken I've had in years. Hot, fresh, and so very tasty. If not having eaten anything more than a granola bar in twelve hours meant that this was the reward, then sign me up again.

One of the unfortunate aspects of being absorbed in the single location event is that it doesn't really offer the chance to explore local places like this for meals. Luckily I had a friend who knew of this spot. Otherwise I wouldn't have ventured this far away from the venue, particularly in the early morning hours. What a shame it would have been to miss it. While I've seen many worthwhile films during my stints in Cleveland over the last week-plus, this meal is the most spectacular part of my time here. That's not the lack of sleeping overestimating it either...I don't think.