07:27:41 | 2001-03-18


I've had the strangest night. Strange in a good way. Strange in a great way.

I went out with Joana, who rocks, and we just had a great time sharing stories and getting to know each other.

I ditched my crew, both New Yorkers and visitors, and elected to meet J. for some low-key drinks at a lounge I know in the East Village.

And that's exactly what we did. We just chilled and smoked and drank. Her friend came late night and they headed out to a club and I begged off.

So I stayed to finish my beer alone. The place had closed out and there were just two guys at the bar.

I was sitting in the back, just sipping my beer and thinking. About nothing really, just relishing the time I had to myself.

I'm not sure how it happened but one of the guys at the bar came back and before I knew it he had sat down on the couch with me and we were talking.

At first, it was slightly awkward. Both of us were approaching the conversation with a "I don't normally pick up people in bars but..." kinda vibe.

The next thing I knew, the guy and I are totally talking and his friend, the painter, joined us.

It was a funny volley. The painter was a bit of a cynic and obviously not happy about being odd man out, so I found myself paying extra attention to keeping him entertained, while talking to the guy.

The guy, it turns out, is a writer. He's a writer and a teacher at an art school in the city and an adjunct professor at a college nearby.

But it's totally weird, because he was like, fleece and jeans guy. Short hair, clean cut, wire glasses. The kind of guy I would probably steer clear of in a bar, but when we spoke, I couldn't think of anything more comfortable. Nothing more right, than sittingon a couch next to him, trying to explain to him that I am lost right now, but finding my way. And he totally got it.

They made me tell them what I did and when I finally did, he was so kind. He almost cheered me on. I think he did cheer me. "I bet you are soooo good at that," he said. (Hello, adorable?) It was so sweet.

He had an easy smile. And I was back and forth with the friend being a smart ass, and the guy, didn't know what to believe. At one point, I had told the friend that I speak in tongues - that satan possesses me, but it's not something i can just "turn on" - and the guy was confused at first. I told the friend after I speak in tongues, I sacrifice chickens. This caught his attention. Was I in a cult, he wondered. Absolutely not, I said. he wondered if I was a Witch. A Wiccan, I asked? No, I replied.

Just possessed by the devil.

So the guy and I spoke about writing and at one point he asked me what I wrote and the friend chimed in and wisecracked, "Do you write a journal?" Yes, I said. What do you write about in there, he asked. I shrugged and smiled. He said, Oh, I shouldn't ask that, it's private...

I had to laugh, thinking to myself, no, in fact, you can google the last year and a half of my life, if you so desire. Or, "Hey, you ever hear the phrase, 'I'm an open book?'...well haha, the thing is..."

But I held back. So the next thing I know, I am standing to leave, and the guy is standing and he is asking me for my number and I am apologizing for being cheesy and giving him a business card and he is carefully asking me to read the number to him with the sweetest smile in the whole world...I mean really, in the whole world...on his face.

So the friend is still pleading with me to pleeezzzzzzzzzzzeeee speak in tongues before I leave and I am begging off, and the guy steps in and says, "Partygirl will speak in tongues when she and I go out next week" and without missing a beat, the friend says, "but that's you and her and I won't see her" and I am just staring at the guy with this stupid smile...because he just totally stepped up to the plate.

Here I am thinking I am just giving my card out for the 80 millionth time and he just goes and puts it out there that we are going to see each other again. Not, "I'll call you" or "can I call you," oh no, he was like, we have more to talk about and you are coming with me. No game whatsoever. It was a breath of fresh air and it hit me hard and fast.

I was speechless. I tried to cover up my surprise with something witty but I can't recall what exactly came out of my mouth. Everything that happened after that is a blur. I have no idea how I left...did I shake his hand, did we hug, did I kiss his cheek? I don't know.

All I remember is being stunned and feeling my way out of a very dark bar feeling very safe.

More to come on this strange circumstance...

PS - Hey, you, you aren't off the hook. I still expect you to come and save me;-)

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