Swell times last night at Varnish, at The Lesser Evil event organized by Elise Proulx (her organizational skills made even more impressive by the fact that she has a four-month-old at home).

Gary Amdahl kicked off the event with an intriguing story about identity; Tamim Ansary followed up with a story about a car crash and the decisions made in its aftermath; Tom Barbash’s story also began with a crash but with very different consequences; roguish FBI agents made an appearance in Terry Bisson’s hilarious piece; Judy Budnitz’s character lost a leg and wild hijinks ensued; I wrapped up the evening with a story about conspiracy in the jungle.

In the mix: Ran into Inside Storytime folks James Warner andRansom Stephens. Tara Weaver is saying adios to San Francisco and settling down for good in Seattle–she says it’s true love. Rodes Fishburne promises the Grotto litcrawl event on Saturday will be fabulous (the theme–rejection); Peter Orner is off to Prague for a few months; Stephen Elliott says galleys of his new anthology Sex for America are in–the book will be off the presses in Jan. Several CCA folks there, including Matthew Jent, fresh on the heels of the SF Zine Fest–view Matt and Amy’s work here.