Get your own
 diary at DiaryLand.com! contact me older entries newest entry

2000-03-19

Despite the fact that its author and I have both been hanging around the online journal universe for quite some time, it wasn't until last week that I discovered Exempli Gratia. Daria's writing grabbed me from the beginning. Imagine my excitement as the clues she drops about where she lives began to coalesce into a familar picture: she lives in my town!

I wrote to say hi then set about devouring her archives, feeling vaguely stalker-like, taking pleasure in identifying the places she'd referred to generic fashion ("most pretentious coffee shop in town," "faraway mall"). She wrote back and I wrote back and we exchanged phone numbers and were soon making a date for coffee.

We met late yesterday afternoon in the basement cafe of the independent bookstore in town. I knew she worked at a cafe but not which one, and after she'd suggested this one, I had a moment of panic. During January and February of 1999 I took an unpaid leave from my old job (it was either that or quit) and spent a couple hours every morning working on my novel in that same basement cafe. I'd somehow gotten off on the wrong foot with the girl who usually worked the counter; we had a mutual hostility going, and though I loved the ambiance of the place and got a lot of work done there, I always dreaded having to interact with her. Of course I began to fear that she and Daria were one and the same.

So I was extra relieved to find that Daria not only harbored no grudges against me but was as charming and engaging as her journal would lead you believe. The hours flew by and the conversation was so fun I had a little lapse. We talked about grabbing something to eat and seeing a movie, my conveniently forgetting I had a husband at home waiting for me to bring home ingredients for dinner. Maybe it was talking about personal ads -- and discovering we'd both met the same guy through them -- that transported me back to my bachelorette days. Daria graciously understood my decision to cut the evening short and gave me a raincheck for the movie.

previous - next

join my Notify List and get email when I update my site:
email:
Powered by NotifyList.com