Brooklyn

Had dinner in Park Slope with Dakota(!!) and Michelle(!!) and Brian (well, I've seen a lot of him lately) and some other random strangers who I will hereby dub "random strangers one through five." Dinner was mexican, and surprisingly good. I've got an authentic Mexican place downstairs, owner operated, I found out, and so I've got a comparator.

Dinner was good. When I called Dak on the phone to get directions, she responded "Here, let me put my friend Michelle on the line" and her friend proceeded to give me directions to Grand Army Plaza, from which I walked down to fifth ave and President.

What I didn't realize, and I guess that this shows that time changes everything, is that the friend Michelle is also my exgirlfriend from the late '90s. I only discovered this when she walked in the door. Bizzare to realize that she was who Dakota was referring to when she said "My Friend Michelle" but not that bizzare.

Dinner was uneventful but fun. Just seeing Dakota in the flesh was cool (yay! She's alive!!) and her friend R-something (Rachel? Rebecca? Ramalamadingdong?) was charming and nice to talk to. Michelle and I even had a conversation about cooking - a surprise after not speaking in person for what must be a few years now.

After dinner, Brian and I headed out to Fort Greene to pick up the subway. We walked (did you know it's still not warm out yet?) the few blocks from the Slope to Ft. Greene and commented along the way that it's surprising people make a big deal about what neighborhood they live in in Brooklyn when they're not that far apart. Sure, Marine Park is in the middle of nowhere relative to Dumbo, but still.

At the Lafayette stop, Brian locked his bike up, and we toddled down (I'd had two margaritas, I call it toddling at that stage) to pick up the C, and eventually transfer to the F.

We talked about my minor existential crisis (Ok, things are going pretty well in my life and I'm not sure what next steps to take because they're going pretty well and I'm happy) and had a brief moment about "what does it all mean." Reminding me that I'd asked him that just yesterday, I pondered it in silence. Still don't have any answers.

But then, I'm reminded of the opening sequence to Red vs. Blue.

"Hey" says Simmons
"Yeah?" says Grif.
"You ever wonder why we're here?"
"It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or is there a god, you know, watching everything, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night."
*pause* Cut between Simmons and Grif. Staring. At each other. Back and forth. *pause*
"I mean why are we out here, in this canyon?" says Simmons
"Oh... uh.... yeah..."
"What was all that stuff about God?"
"Uhhhh... heh... nothing..."
"You want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Sure?"
"Yeah."

Don't know why I'm here. Just know I'm enjoying myself, and that's not a bad thing.

Made it into Manhattan and met Clark for a cocktail at Tribe, where we discussed things that didn't have to do with "why-am-I-here" questions. The bartender (a new one I don't know, particulary) was a bit friendlier than expected, with shots for us and comps on most of the drinks.

All in all, a fine, if existential, night.

Posted by Swerdloff at March 30, 2004 09:08 PM