11 58 am est [ jet plane ]
I'll be on a plane leaving New York at 3:20 and
arriving in LA at 6:24. More to come when I land...
3 48 pm est [ exquisite ]
I had an absolutely exquisite after-dinner encounter
last night. I found myself in familiar territory, passing by The Tomato and the Limelight on the
way to my rendevous. Knowing nothing about Jennifer, I was able to spot her across the
street, waiting in front of our agreed upon meeting location -- a lovely
eatery called Champingnon.
"Good evening. My name is Nancy I will be your hostess
for the evening." A loud woman greeted us when we stepped inside. She
quickly rattled off dinner suggestions. Jennifer indicated that we would
like coffee. Nancy explained about the coffees and desserts. "What if we
want to have just coffee?" Jennifer inquired.
Nancy actually paused, as if seriously considering
whether or not to seat us. Only a single table in the place was occupied
and the couple seated there were preparing to depart. "Well, since its a
slow evening..." her reply finally came. Nancy showed us to a table and
announced, "My name is Nancy I will be your hostess for the evening." I
had to keep from laughing that she repeated herself so verbatim.
Jennifer asked for any herbal tea, and was eventually served chamomile.
I requested Earl Grey and honey. We each imbibed two cups of our
respective selections over lively conversation.
I didn't encounter even a tenth of a second of tension
or awkwardness in the course of the evening. Jennifer was absolutely
delightful, and I do so wish
that my camera battery
hadn't died, so I could share Jennifer's inviting smile.
The conversation rolled off our tongues, and I could
have spent ten hours sitting alone in that cafe with her (no one else
entered the eatery, despite Nancy's efforts to solicit customers from
passers-by outside.
I do so look forward to getting to know Jennifer better
in the future.
Jennifer's take on the evening:
Let's see? What to say! After I left you last night,
I went up to my apartment and called my boyfriend. I was so excited, and
I wanted to tell someone. He was very busy, but he let me regale him with
details of our first meeting. He knew that I had been actually rather
anxious about meeting you. When else in life do you meet someone whose
life you know somewhat intimately over 2.5 years, but who wouldn't know me
if she fell on me, and even then wouldn't know anything about me! While I
waited briefly on the bench for you, I kept wondering if our meeting would
go smoothly, and if you would be like I expected. Sure enough, the
meeting went wonderfully for me (even with the strange woman who wanted us
to eat more and sprayed us with air freshener). As I told you in my
e-mail, your diary was one of the things that renewed my faith in the
World Wide Web and the Internet. After seven years on the Web, I felt
like I had pretty much seen it reach it's pinnacle, and I was watching it
descend into some hellish porn mall. Finding Rachel's Daily Diary reminded
me that there are faces still on the Internet.
This morning I was upset about some personal things in
my life, and I got a little weepy at my desk. I saw one of my bestest
friends on his web cam, but he wasn't on LambdaMOO where I
could talk to him. I sent him an e-mail that said:
Hi Ross.
I am having a very bad day. are you out there?
J.
Within a few minutes, he logged onto Lambda to cheer me
up. As I sent the e-mail, all I could think about was how I was sending
this message off into cyberspace (I hate the word, but it's appropriate
here), and I was hoping he would catch it like a Frisbee and come find me.
And I knew that he would. And that is the magic, I think, of the Internet.
All of these little people spread out over some convoluted matrix, making
connections and touching each other's lives.
Your diary has very much touched my life, Rachel, and I
feel I am much better for it.
|
[Wow! Thanks for being so lovely Jennifer!]
3 19 pm cst [ dessert ]
Becoming vegan wasn't difficult for me at all. Most people I know say they
could do it, except for giving up _________. The blank is cheese,
chocolate, milk, or eggs. For me, I found it hardest to give up ice
cream, and milk for cereal in the morning. Lunch and dinner are easy
enough, but being vegan makes breakfast and dessert difficult.
For breakfast, pancakes, waffles, and french toast are
all out. I make a mean crepe, but when ordering out I invariably wind up
with potatoes (home fries, hash browns, latkes, etc.).
Dessert is harder. I am not a fan of cooked fruit
unless it is in the form of apples or bananas/plantains. Apple pie and
fried bananas or plantains are always welcome on my plate. My favorite
dessert of all time is strawberries and chocolate [chocolate is usually
vegan unless it is milk chocolate].
4 26 pm mst [ too honest ]
I made my aunt angry the other day. You see, I had
plans with Darren for Tuesday, and plans with my grandfather for
Wednesday, so I told her over the weekend that I would only be free on
Monday for dinner. She called my on Monday to say that my grandfather had
invited her to dinner on Wednesday. "Looks like you screwed up again,"
she announced for some reason that still baffles me. "No," I soundly said
over her laughter. She put me on hold. When she came back I calmly asked
if she had anything nice to say to me, and I informed that if she didn't,
I didn't want to talk to her. She immediately began backpeddling --
saying that she had been joking -- and I impressed myself by remaining
very cool as I explained that her comment clearly could not have been
intended in any way that would make me feel good, but rather bad.
When I told Matthew about the incident later in the
evening, he said that if I didn't feel guilty several hours later, then I
clearly hadn't done anything wrong. He hit the nail on the head. I tend
to be very guilt-driven, and if I don't question an incident at all, then
it really was ok.
And that is how I feel about the other evening with
Darren (which I promise to rehash here for the last time). I don't feel
at all bad for how I behaved, so I know that I didn't do anything really
wrong. But the evening was an eye opener. You see, I interact with
people a bit differently than the norm. I am very honest, forthcoming,
and blunt. Subtlety is not my strong suit. I tend to lay all my cards on
the table at all times, and I forget that some people aren't used to such
forthright interactions.
I suppose I have simply gotten lulled into forgetting
that fact due to the ease with which I spend time with my family and
friends -- for they all know I am forward and truthful. But there is a
nuance to many encounters that perhaps requires one to not be completely
straight forward from the start. My evening with Darren was a startling
reminder of that. When I told him the whole truth I was trying to put him
at ease, but instead I created a distance between us -- a yawning space
like the Grand Canyon. Thankfully, my evening with Jennifer was
magnificent and carefree; I was completely myself and had no problems
meeting her on that level. She is a gem.
* * *
two years ago
today: "There is nothing like working hard and still not doing well.
I will be having dinner with my man this evening and hopefully we can
pretend to still be on vacation for a few hours."
one year ago
today: "I am fascinated by the cyborgization of women and I have been
trying to get prints of Taco's Sexy Robots for nearly a year. The
article informed me that XXX stuff is 'the third biggest money-maker
online, after e-trading and shopping.' One of my teachers said that 20% of
internet usage comes from the Bay Area..."
* * *
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