magicbeans. nothing if not awkward.

so i had mentioned that sonali was going to be teaching at a prep school in massachusetts. we had exchanged some emails about getting together. the other day she sent me her new phone number. yesterday i left a few messages. early this afternoon she called me back and we made plans to meet in boston for dinner.

it's been a couple of years since the last time we had seen each other, when she was on the east coast under the guise of looking into grad schools. the last couple of times that i have seen her i've been overwhelmed by pheromones or something and ended up acting like an idiot. in a way this was a test. i haven't been attracted to anyone but stef, and if anyone else could do it, sonali's certainly a candidate.

and well, she's still incredibly attractive, but there was nothing more than platonic feelings. of course she's also in the most serious long-term committed relationship of her life so that might have had something to do with it. and in a way, although its hopeful to see someone's relationship is working out, it's also a little depressing. in college, she was, in some ways, a lot like stef (in her words). selfish. bad for the people she got involved with. but now she's growing up and taking responsibility for her life, and loving someone. but, just as i said to stef, 'we're not your parents,' we're not sonali and brent either.

anyway, all that aside, it was so very nice to spend the evening wandering around boston with sonali. we saw steven holl's new dorm at mit. ('who's steven holl?' everyone asks. an architect. the dorm was actually featured in the arts section of today's new york times.) also saw the new frank gehry building that's under construction. dinner was good. veggie chinese.

and sonali's advice. 'don't ever get back together with stef. just because you're attracted to someone doesn't mean they're good for you.' and 'sleep with a lot of girls. there's all those impressionable freshman. tell them a sob story, and you've got a good one, but make it out so that you're completely the good guy. then get them drunk.'