9 Fabulous Hours

when was the last time you talked for nine hours with someone and never once experienced a lull in the conversation...?

yesterday i wandered over to have brunch with my good friend sister epiphenita of the sacred sarcasm. i arrived around 10:30am. nine hours later...at 7:30pm.... i headed home.

e2 (as she calls herself with me as i'm e.) and i often claim we are cut from the same cloth. i can only hope that one day i possess a quarter of the vocabulary and wit this amazing woman has to offer.

we spoke with no one else... we never once felt the need to turn on the television or the radio... we talked.

our conversation ranged from reflective moments pulled out of our darker pasts....to whimsical memories of our parents, her children and our friends. we discussed politics: hillary's future and obama's pitfalls. we seemed to cover every subject... even whether or not it's true what they say about black men. (for the record: it's mostly true...from my experience. but sometimes... disappointingly untrue.)

we talked about books and authors... mary gaitskill to michael chabon. dorothy parker to our own forays into writing.

we discussed film and art and new york and the midwest... and my past and her past and our hang-ups and weaknesses and phobias (of which mine are frightfully abundant, we decided). but we also talked about how....beneath our shared cynicism and misanthropic tendencies...we do share moments of hope and joy.

we understand the disappointment in the world around us and yes, VISHNU YES! do we judge... but we also enjoy the ironies of life. and we laugh at ourselves (and others) and generally have a joyous time together.

my emotional gauge has been inching up and slipping down as of late. my writing has become oddly personal over the past several months.... and i've had the opportunity to really examine myself and my walls and my fears and my weaknesses. i think by writing about these things i've been able to open up more about them.

i was surprised at the candor of our conversation yesterday... but e2 and i left no emotional stone unturned. it was almost an anthropological dig into our psyches. and it was one of the best days i've had in some time.

so thank you, e2. we must do it again sometime.

e.