i had dinner with a. last night at the old spaghetti house. so at least the four-cheese pizza isn't as alarming in its radioactive yellowness as at chef d'angelo. it's good-enough food for the price. as in most cases when the food is alright (at least for me - a. enjoyed her vietnamese pasta), stretch the worth of the bottomless iced tea.

though we manage to see each other as often as we could at the workplace, time for conversation doesn't seem to be enough. (is it ever enough, anyway?) the usual topics: the constant need to find another line of work, indecipherable people we work with, the university library we love so much.

people who ask us if we knew each other from grad school are surprised to find out otherwise. see, it was her summer poetry class that was the venue for my teaching demo. then we learned of our common denominator - same school, same beloved adviser.

i couldn't quite remember how we ended up taking lunches together or me planting my ass in the other chair in her very spacious and well-lighted cubicle (you can probably take a hint here) and raving about the same people at work or, well, being a bit skeptical about others.

i couldn't quite get her appreciation for the care and she my panic attacks about everything these days. but for sure we both relish the fact that we don't put on game faces when we're together. that was certainly made clear last night and it brings small comfort for lil' ol' me.

my hope for her is that she find the comfortable little corner in the house that i know she seeks and truly deserves.