Washington D.C.

About four hours into my first day at a new job today I discovered that the woman I'll be working with used to work at Interscope in Santa Monica with my brother about five years ago.

Hani > Ashley > Lobo

Our family friend, Camille, whom we know from trips to Vietnam turns out to be the mother-in-law of Bob Meyer who became a partner at my New York law firm's DC office in November of 2003. Plus, Bob and his family live only two miles from mom and dad's (where I spent my childhood) in Virginia. Two degrees to my mum.

Me in NY > Bob in DC > Camille in Vietnam > mom in VA

And to top it off, Matt's roommate Terry works for my friend George!
Hani > George > Terry > Matt

So I invited buddy Marni (I've known her since I was in the ninth grade) to go see Matt Yeager (who I met while working at Willkie) in a play, The MacGuffin? presented by the Lucid Theatre Company. Marni has already seen Matt in Our Town, presented by The Transport Group, and knows James, Robyn, and John who were three of his castmates in Our Town and Requiem for William.

Hani > Matt > James/Robyn/John > Marni

Today Kelly offered me tickets to Radio City Music Hall. Adam, longtime old high school buddy, says he'd love to go but he's got to go to a gallery in Chelsea first. "Oh," I say. "Doesn't happen to be the Robert Mann Gallery, does it?"

"Yeah, it IS." Adam owned photographer Michael Kenna's book who was having a book signing party at the space.

If you have any IDEA how many galleries there are in Chelsea, you would understand the magnitude of the coincidence.

"Cool," I answer. I was going too. My friend Dana, an editor at Blind Spot, invited me.

Next thing I know, I see Danny -- my sister Souris' buddy who I met on Halloween -- whizzing by me in a red blur. I went after him. "Hey Danny!" We chat, I meet his folks. Turns out Danny knew Kim, the Editor of Blind Spot (Dana and Kim make up two thirds of the staff). His father was Kim's doctor. And so it goes.

Hani > Dana > Kim > Danny & his parents > Souris

And to give credit where credit is due: To coin Dana's term, this site is called "the mayor" -- what she calls me -- because of all these funky small world experiences.

So today I get an e-mail from long-time friend Marni Penning, who writes:
Hani...
I keep running into your name! I'm working at Strategic Legal Solutions,
and your information pops up just about every other day. How are you doing,
sweets? What's new in your life?

So I say, Hey Marni, I temped for them by way of Paul Nasrani, one of the partners and a friend of mine. I also say, by the way, Paul knows Ralph from DBP (where Marni and I also used to both work at different times). I happened to know two people at the same firm and they didn't even know they knew me and not only that, they knew other people I knew as well.

A bit circular here.

Hani > Marni > Paul
| | |
V V V
RALPH

Last week, my colleague Stuart told me of an art auction he was going to with his sister, who was friends with a guy named J.A. who worked at "CRIA," an AIDS Organization. I said, "ACRIA?" and we figured the organization's name must have changed over time.

Turns out, my italian teacher & biking buddy Robert, who worked at ACRIA, knows J.A.

Hani > Stuart > J.A. > Robert

okay -- last week i sent out a mass mail in my determined belief that the world is a mere six degrees of separation from one another. Rough Guides had a job opening and I wanted it. So i sent out my mass mail, and within twelve hours, i found myself three degrees from the HEAD OF THE NEW YORK OFFICE. How cool is that?
Hani > Eddie Dalva/Uncle Mike > Alex Drosin > Andrew Rosenberg

huh... i forgot one from '99
the woman who interned at my old design firm, Julia, had a sister who worked for my friend paul's staffing agency. i knew paul from the '97 AIDS ride in D.C., met Julia at the design agency in '99, and somehow made the connection.
Hani > Paul > Sister > Julia

New York City
So about a month or two ago, I met Katy Nishida at a party in New York. Katy's friend, Kevin Malone, whom she met while living in Barcelona last year, lives in Miami and is working on getting a TV series produced. Kevin is friends with a guy named Charlie Privo. Charlie used to work with my Uncle Mike at Island Records... Four degrees to my unc.

Hani > Katy > Kevin > Charlie > Uncle Mike

Los Angeles / Santa Monica
May 2002
My sister Kaly is friends with Doug Miller & Sarah Meacham from high school who lives in the same complex as a girl who works at Interscope and knows my brother Lobo.
Kaly > Doug & Sarah > Interscope Receptionist > Lobo

Saigon. September 8, 2001
Jeff Dreiblatt, my dear friend I met while cycling in New York, is coming to visit me in Vietnam. His visit has led to meeting Kaly, my sister, so that she can send things back with him for me. And as it turns out, Kaly is good friends with Ian who works at BMG with her and Ian happens to be Jeff's neighbor. Only 2 degrees this time to a sibling...

Hani > Jeff > Ian > Kaly

Saigon.
Lan (who works for me) is dating Tri who works with Xuan My who went to Emory's MBA program with my sister (that's 3 degrees of separation to my sister)

Hani > Lan > Tri > Xuan My > Kiki

A discovery from Vietnam:
Hani > Eva Bullington > Trinh & Joe Murphy > Aunt 10 (mom's younger sister)

Last night, I had a few people meet in DC so I could see some of my friends before I head out of town next week. I was reminded of an old Small World experience - through Kimberly Griffin (which you can see from a previous posting; I used to work with Kim) that Kim knows Sean from sharing a beachhouse one summer who is dating Mary Anne Dolbeare who I know from the AIDS rides. The other connection I discovered this week is Matt Kolodny with whom I worked at CityBird, knows Bob Fleshman, who I met in the airport in Anchorage, Alaska. Then there was a nice woman named Sandy who I briefly met in Alaska through Bob, who knows Dan Kohan, who was also with us yesterday (and I know Dan from the AIDS ride as well).

Hani > Dan Kohan > Sandy > Bob Fleshman
Hani > Kimberly Griffin > Sean > Mary Anne Dolbeare
Hani > Matt Kolodny > Bob Fleshman

Christmas Day, I'm at the Dolby's where I spend it every year, and I remember to say to Ori, "Hey, do you know Liz Kelly?" Liz went to high school with us and was on the crew team and she was a friend of my sister's. Souris happened to mention to me that Liz worked at AOL at one time, and I knew that Ori did. So here we have another one to my family and via the AIDS ride.
Hani > Ori Hoffer > Liz Kelly > Souris

So I went out to lunch with friend Philip Graitcer and my sister, Kiki (a.k.a. Cathy) today. We discovered several connections that make me 2 degrees of separation from Ki and/or 1 to 2 degrees from Philip. Here they are:

Hani > Amy Leavell > Phil
I know Amy through Mike & Lori; Phil has met her through the promo work she did for Capricorn

Hani > Phil > Fred > Kiki
Fred and Kiki know each other from shooting, and Phil knows Fred from Emory

Hani > Phil > Dominic > Kiki
Hani > Kiki > Dominic > Phil
Dominic knows Kiki from the baker & gelato store

Hani > Phil > radio station guy in Atlanta > Anne Ledyard > Hani/Kiki/Kaly/Souris/Lobo
Anne is the radio station guy's aunt and my 10th grade English teacher in Arlington VA

THROUGH THE AIDS RIDE

Hani > Laurie Jacoby > CAKE manager (the band) > Uncle Mike (Bone)
Hani > Lori Dolby > Amanda Paisner > Gregg Grimaldi > Hani

Let me first post some old small world experiences I've had that I can recall at the moment... I'm often just a couple of degrees from my sisters. Other times, I meet friends who I later find I'm separated from through different channels.

THROUGH/TO SIBLINGS
Hani > Sapient employees > Linda Yeo > Souris
Kiki > Linda Yeo > Souris
Hani > Alex Melamid > Barbara de Wilde > Albert Lee > Kaly


THROUGH/TO LISA
Hani > Lisa > D > Friend of D > Friend's friend > Souris
Hani > Dietmar Petutschnig > Suzanne Dubose > Lisa
Hani > Robert Gwizdala > Jen Chapin > Lisa
Lisa/Hani > James Egede > Maggie Malone> Kia

THROUGH/TO ALBERT LEE
Hani > Alex Melamid > Barbara deWilde > Albert Lee
Hani > Jim Leff > Jim's girlfriend > Albert Lee

THROUGH/TO KIMBERLY GRIFFIN
Hani > Anthony Lopez > Kim
Hani > Jay Simbulan > friend from O'Connell > Kim's roommate > Kim
Hani > Kimberly Griffin > Sean > Mary Anne Dolbeare

I forgot about the time I was working with the small design firm. We pitched ourselves to a Chamber Society at Lincoln Center. They asked us in for a meeting, and after chatting awhile, it turned out that they knew my sister Kaly (aka Kelly) who had done some freelance work for them.
Hani > Chamber Society coordinator > Kaly