Hi, may I geek out at you?

That is what I asked Lynda Barry tonight. And then we had an actual conversation. I met her teaching partner Kelly Hogan, too. We talked about touring and young adults and how hierarchy in the literary world is bullshit. I said that events like the one we were at could be awkward because of the lack of name tags. (Clearly I have grown too accustomed to parties at library conferences, where name tags are de rigeur.) Lynda said she likes it better without, because when there are name tags, then you just feel bad if you don’t recognize someone’s name. I decided she was right. But I was also glad I knew what she looked like.