Gerd Ludwig talks at Syracuse University and Brenda Ann Kennealy talks at RIT.Nothing could be finer than when friends comes to town to give talks. Well, maybe there are some finer things but it sure was nice to catch up with Gerd Ludwig and Brenda Ann Kenneally in the last few days.

Gerd came to Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communication - which happens to be where my wife teaches interactive design - and showed a compelling selection of his work from the land that once was the Soviet Union. Gerd and I worked on two stories together at National Geographic. We got to catch up.

Brenda gave a talk at Rochester Institute of Technology just last night, showing a broad swath of her work, talking about what motivates her and more. Her work is a jigsaw of a myriad of complex relationships. Our paths have crossed several times, the best time was to teach a workshop in The Dominican Republic that was created by Lelen Robert and Loup Langton.

Proximity to New York and Washington, D.C. is a bonus to living in Syracuse. Here's to friends.