2002-07-31 - 12:51 a.m.

So it wasn't snowing, and I didn't gush as I recited Guided by Voices lyrics.

It's true. I didn�t even have to unleash a simple clich� just to make a point.

I did meet up with the Art Girl, expecting everything and nothing, as always with her, and the two expectations finally reached a peace accord.

It's funny, seeing someone I haven't seen in awhile. A shitload of stuff has (hopefully) happened to me, and the other person wasn't there for the day to day updates.

Of course, same thing with her.

So I got a chance to be the person that I actually am, or perhaps could be, removed from all of the crap that deters me from being said person.

It's an interesting situation, and one that I'm not used to being in.

And the beauty of it all is that I can, if I run out of stuff to talk about, draw on my most recent experience, which will be fresh material to my long-lost companion.

The best part about seeing the Art Girl again is that she was a better person. She was more like the Art Girl that I wanted her to be, and less like the Art Girl that I remember her as.

That sounds kinda catty. No. Let me rephrase that. She was more like the person that she should ultimately be.

I did still get the feeling that she was a philatelist, collecting curios from other cultures; and that I had better do a good job performing as the white American male (and therefore most easily replaced).

And I.

That's the best thing about seeing someone you haven't seen in awhile. You get to measure your own progress.

I'm doing better. Than I was, mind you. I'm more like the person I should ultimately be as well, which is hard for me to say, �cause that�s boasting.

The night ended so perfectly. I walked her to South Station, and we took opposite Red Lines. The two trains came to pick us up at the same time. I got on mine, and said hello to finally living on the Red Line. Coulda got off at Park and changed for the Green, but wanted to stay on my train.

Got off at Harvard, to wait for the 66.

Missed it.

Stood by myself, bus schedule in my bag, wondering what time it was, and if I had missed the last bus, and if I should embark on the long walk home.

Waited 20 minutes.

Some chick approached, and I asked her for the time. I then learned that she was waiting for the same bus, which wouldn't come for a long time, and that she was going to the same place as me, and I then suggested that we split a cab.

And she agreed.

Splitting a cab with a total stranger might be commonplace to some, but it was a milestone for me.

My first.

A spontaneous yet civil transaction with another human being, with pre-agreed-upon terms?

Yeah, that was awesome.

We fortuitously set out on a mini-adventure that required trust as fuel, and neither of us got screwed.