May 11: back (25 minutes)

I'm running hither and yon, went to Houston to sit with John, got back this morning, left yesterday morning, but right now it's like I wasn't even there, like I lost twenty-four hours (twenty-seven more like, and then some).

Jeff and Marcie both called me night before last. A friend of a friend was coming to town and they wanted me to meet him/wanted me to help entertain him (according to which one you asked). I think they both had the idea in the backs of their minds that they wanted to set me up with him, and that they are a little leery about having to meet strangers, but this guy came with a good recommendation -- The Art Guys -- and so they readily agreed to put the stranger up at their house as he was on his way to the next thing.

I was at body Choir when they called, didn't get their messages till I got back home. By that time I was ready for bed and so I didn't call back. But I always call them back, even if they don't always call me back when I call. (That's not a complaint, by the way, just an observation.)

But Marcie called me again before I had a chance to call her, yesterday morning. I had just gotten to Houston and was wandering around the Rice Village waiting for Nit Noi to open so I could take some lunch to John. I got there too early and had to kill time. I called John back and told him I could go somewhere else, but he really wanted ginger fried rice with tofu (for me, otherwise he would've gotten it with shrimp, but one is big enough for us to share, particularly since I had just come off a fast and wasn't eating as much).

I went to the Back Be Nimble store to look for something to make all of this driving I'm doing less hurtful to my back and tailbone but they wanted ninety to a hundred dollars and I guess I'd rather tough it out and/or get a massage. My friend Charlotte just got her certification and she's pretty good, though she "specializes in deep neck massage" and not back massage; it doesn't matter.

I went to Ten Thousand Villages to get a hummingbird knick knack for my mom (carved out of a tagua nut). I got her one for her birthday but she dropped it when she was hanging it up and it broke, so I thought I'd give her another chance (that's kind of supposed to be a joke, but it's not really funny so I take it back...!).

While I was doing that Marcie called and told me again how much she wanted me to meet this guy, how much we have in common, blah-blah-blah, and she put him on the phone and we said hello. Oh, and she told me that he was gonna be in Houston and I should definitely get in touch with him. So when we were on the phone we exchanged numbers and I told him I wasn't sure what my schedule with John would be but that I would call back, and I did, and we set a tentative plan to meet at ten p.m. John said, "Go, go, don't look back!" or something like that -- we share a sort of dark or silly sense of humor.

It was a stormy night, and this guy, Max, was staying with a friend, a mutual friend, the friend of a friend Jeff was talking about: The Art Guys. Steven and I sang at Jack's wedding. I know them. And it was great to see them again -- and it's nice to feel like we're back in touch (I packed up a copy of the movie and soundtrack since they said our music is and always has been in constant rotation on their high-tech jukebox

Mike built a warehouse work space/studio/home and it has a guest room in back which was where Max was sleeping. We drank beers (all of us, Max and me, The Art Guys and Mike's girlfriend Rainey.

I didn't think about it till I got back to Austin but Mike and Jack both have girlfriends with meteorological names: Rainey and Starr. I wonder if that was planned or intentional.