2 57 pm pdt   [ Halloween's approach ]

"You're having dinner with four women."

"Four women? Are you trying to kill me?"

"Would you like me to invite more boys?"

"No, no. I can handle it."

And so it was arranged that Charles and I would have a sushi dinner with three of my female friends.

It was an odd day at work. We arrived in the morning to learn that someone had broken in the night before and stolen our Macintoshes. This apparently also happened four years ago, and at that time the theives came back several months later for the replacement machines. So now we are on super security detail to prevent our replacement machines (which were ordered immediately) from being absconded.

Some work was lost, as the back-up is performed weekly on Friday. There was milling about in the halls and joke-making galore. That general feeling of violation settled in the halls.

I was glad to get home and unwind before my guests began arriving. At seven they descended upon the house one by one. There were introductions made. I hoped the awkwardness of being around strangers would be easy for each of them to shake...

I asked Charles to pick a place, and he made reservations at the delicious Asakuma (at Wilshire and Barrington). The players were Charles, myself, Alexandra (who I have known since first grade), Karina (who was a fellow film student at Berkeley), and Jo (who was another classmate at Berkeley). We rode in my "ghetto car" as Karina termed it; I made Charles drive so I could imbibe ample quantities sake. After trying to be a social drinker, and then giving up on alcohol, I have developed quite a taste for the clear rice wine.

Matthew said getting too many of my crazy friends together was bound to cause an explosion, but the evening went well, with only a modicum of the expected uncomfortableness.

After dinner, Jo and Alexandra took off while Charles and Karina came in to chill to conversation and the music of Maxwell. The chatter turned to Halloween costumes and I went to fish out my devil gear. Charles snatched up my camera as soon as I had donned the horns. He contemplated the tail and Karina just laughted at us. Twas a lovely night.