11-11-2005

What a day! Yesterday was one of the biggest roller-coasters I've ever ridden. In the morning I was in a state of traumatic shock. A blood test had strongly indicated that my 3-year-old grandson Fin had multiple myeloma, a semi-rare form of cancer, and was being taken to Yale-New haven for further tests and diagnosis. I was having flashbacks from 30 years ago when my daughter had a disasterous bout with leukemia, which she survived but the treatment left her with brain damage. I was fighting a black cloud of despair, trying to function at work with a mountain on my back. Then, at about 10:30, my son called from the hospital. "They think he's just got a bad viral infection", he said. Shakespeare never wrote more beautiful words. A surge of joy went through me such that I have felt maybe twice in my life. The room went Wizard of Oz, from black and white to radiant technicolor. I spent the rest of the day on a high like I was on halucigens.

Fortunately, fate had provided appropriate vehicles for my spectacular mood. I had a dinner date with a new friend who I knew would share my mood, to be followed by an evening at the Wood 'N Tap, where we were conveniently scheduled to have class. Perfect.

Dinner went as expected. There's nothing like a warm, attractive, friendly female to enhance a good mood. Then on to the Tap.

I arrived an hour before class. The bar was crowded with young people , mostly in their 20's and 30's. My classmate Brett was at a raised table with maybe 10 stools around it. These were filled with a group of teachers from the school where Brett teaches, and some young women who worked at a local newspaper. Brett, who is in his mid-twenties and single, was seated next to one of the most attractive women I may have ever seen. None the less, he was looking around the room for some amorphous female with whom he'd made very vague plans. She never showed, occasioning a lot of good-natured (?) razzing of Brett about his imaginary friend. When I asked him later why he would look anywhere else with the outstanding example of feminine pulchritude sitting 3 feet from him, he told me that he would never date anyone from work. Foolish, to my mind. Lots of boats, few close-trimmed yachts. This one parted the waters beautifully.

Meanwhile, I was carrying my euphoric mood well into the evening. I love women. As I've gotten older, I find my appreciation expanding. I think at this point that all women are beautiful in one way or another. But by even the most rigorous standards, the distaff side at the Tap last night was genuinely gorgeous. In addition, the ones I was lucky enough to talk with were also intelligent with great senses of humor.

A good example of this was Marie, a raven-haired beauty who promised she'd read my blog if I mentioned her in it (what a great way to increase my blog audience). I'm honored here to do so. Lovely woman, a treat to look at, more so to talk with. Thanks for your company. Another charmer was Kerry, whose sharp wit and sardonic world view really brightened my evening. Yet another beauty, whose name unfortunately I can't recall, spent her time taking photographs, mostly close-ups of drink glasses. Odd, but somehow appealing. Time for class.

For the last 2 weeks, McE has really brought his A game. Maybe it was my mood, but the discussion really crackled. I didn't even get chopped down as much as usual. Actually I probably did, I was just feeling too good to care.

After class, seven or eight of us went back to the bar to do some shots. After only one round, reality set in and we decided to just carry on conversationally, sobering up to drive home. Big shock, McE the Private Soul brought in his date. Very pleasant surprise- pretty, bright, up-beat, funny. She really added to the evening, and to my respect for McE.

One last thing, Brett, Joe, Eric, Ellen, and John have all mentioned that leaving commens on the blogs we read is the best way to expand my participation in the blogosphere. So be it. Watch out world .Here I come.

Enough. Later.