can't find my way home

happy happy joy joy

Only I could get lost getting from my neighborhood to the lower Fillmore. The debate is still on as to how someone can manage to get that turned around in their own city, but I did it. And therefore made maisnon & I tardy to our meetup with oodles and ads. Luckily, maisnon's sparkling new car served as a shiny object of mass distraction to gloss over this. After the appropriate cooing, we headed into Happy Shabu Shabu.

The place is quite new, as you can see by the cleanliness of the exterior (a rare sight in the lower Fillmore until recently). You can also see that maisnon's the only one of us that isn't camera-shy. The inside was equally spotless, although it was also devoid of other human beings. We remained unphased. We were not disappointed (although I personally found the techno beats a little bizarre at lunch time). Afterwards, maisnon made fun of oodles & me for our tendency to wear sunglasses at the slightest hint of natural light. She laughs now, and come to think of it, since she is living on the peninsula, I suppose she will continue to laugh for the foreseeable future.

It might have just been a two hour escapade. It may have seemed short to the folks like ads and maisnon who travelled a considerable distance for this get-together. But it was perfection for me. I have been raising the ire of friends lately because I haven't been able to play in all of their reindeer games. The problem is that the clock is against me. And meeting up with people out of guilt is not a pleasant way to socialize; once again, I master the knack for stating the obvious. What I am (very poorly) trying to get at is that it was nice to see everyone, because it was just what I needed to catalyze me into getting my work done. After HSS, I spent the rest of my afternoon in a fit of surprising productivity.

By the end of the weekend, I had completed all my reading for class. I'm convinced this was due to the collective coolness of the HSS meetup, and dinner Friday night with LS and Mr. LS. Those two operate on some different vibrational frequency, I am now convinced. Here I am, on a path that seems to proceed at a sluggish pace, and they are on some sort of femtosecond course. Engagement, marriage, moving to the suburbs, in the blink of an eye. The most impressive aspect of this is them: they are so serene, just all chill and peaceful-like. If I were in their shoes, I would be on medication right now. Everything in its right place, indeed.

Oh, last night, upon picking up the bro-seph, I told him about Happy Shabu Shabu. He wrinkled his nose and said, "That's like calling a place Happy Hamburger." That b*tch cannot bring me down this time- the place was cool.