jai, who has been my friend since we were 8 years old wrote me this once, "i can just see you and silvio in your 80's running a small youth hostel on the moon." i hope that one day, this will be true.
my friends are upwardly mobile people. they are requested to speak on panels. they write books. they make music. they teach. they are true to themselves. they are perpetually on holiday. they have many excuses to visit us in new york. no matter which coast we live on, they make the cross country trek.
i love my friends. each and everyone of them has something to teach me. it's not that you have to offer me something to be my friend, but i do need things from you. i need you to keep me interested. i need you to be yourself and just shine. i need you to help me move the world.
last week, jee came for a week-long visit. during her latest new york adventures, we went to several galleries, storm king art center, and a string of restaurants: palacinka, blue ribbon, shabu tatsu, and fresh. jee is one of my best friends from college (but we did not go to the same school). a keith haring day planner ignited our friendship in 1992. we've been friends ever since. jee's pedigree is mind blowing. she's a rare bird; super smart and equally sexy. she also actually keeps me in check. when i fall into my god complex, she reminds me that my shit does stink.
jee was traveling with her friend scott. scott knows one person in new york and i know the same person, young kim. scott and young have been friends since the mid 80's! i met young a decade later and scott five years after that.
over the weekend i ran into matt, an old high school friend i hadn't seen in a long time. he's been out of town, acting in the play, proof. he found me in a shop in soho. i met his new live-in girlfriend and her parents. i also ran into eric on the streets of soho. eric reminds me of my jewish family from la's encino valley. i then ran into akane, ryan's assistant at storm king. shit fire! an hour and a half out of the city and we're still running into people we know.
today, i got an email from new acquaintance, jonathan. i met him through the new york gaming community about a month ago. he is really good friends with my now visiting friend, robin.
robin is in town from chicago. she is a sparkplug. and she also happens to be studying AI and games. she is really excitable and i am trying to figure out how much information is in that brain of hers. robin has an infectious laugh and actually throws her head back when she finds things extremely funny. she spoke at columbia earlier this week. she even stayed a few extra days for eric's book launch for rules of play: game design fundamentals because our mutual friend, jane was on a panel discussing game design and game culture.
ahh, jane...i had been following her gaming blog for a very long time and when i finally met her, i told her i had a crush on her. when she smiles she has little crinkles on her nose. and she doesn't smile with a full grill exposed, instead, smiling with her lips sealed and eyes twinkling as though she knows a secret and may share it with you someday. jane's also in a band and man, if i were a boy, i would've struck a deal with the devil a long time ago.
jane got to meet jee at our smartgirl's dinner. it's amazing that they both live in san francisco and share a lot of friends, yet, they've never met!
after jane and robin leave early next week, team hp's casa is going to be quiet again. the silence will be bittersweet.
i talked to marxy on aim for a long time tonight. i told him i love my friends and am excited by all the things they do. i hope i stay excited forever.
my posse's gettin' big - and my posse's gettin' bigger. some voices got treble - some voices got bass. we got the kind of voices that are in your face! - beastie boy's the new style
