Jul. 16th, 2003 01:43 pm
"Okay, but you have to buy me things."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
muckefuckSometimes unfortunate events have positive consequences. Thanks to Nuphy's hospitalisation, I've seen more of some friends--like Zompist and his wife Lida--in the past few weeks than I have all year. The Swiss Miss is receiving an important life lesson, as am I, and I find myself growing closer to Nemuci.
Saturday night, I stayed with Nuphy until visiting hours ended. Nemuci had asked me to call her and tell her how her father was, which nurse he had, and so forth, but she and NLB happened to be online when I rang. The bus took me near Treppenheim anyway, so I decided I'd stop by and tell her in person. Walking the last two blocks, I noticed the most fantastic moon. The west was still glowing and lent it the colour of the off-round pearls I bought for my sister's graduation with Gorgeous Girl's help. (I only now made the connexion; at the time, the pale golden shade was tantalisingly familiar, but I just couldn't place it.)
When I got there, I immediately suggested a trip to the roof deck. I was prepared to drag them if need be, but Nemuci readily assented. She had just slipped in an MST3K DVD, which the Swiss Miss had agreed to watch it with her, but he was clearly not getting any of the humour. (He is Swiss, y'know.) The moon was behind a massive renovated warehouse to the southeast, but Nemuci and I clammered onto the stile connecting the roofs and used it as a moon-viewing bridge. Then we all plopped down on the decking and started chatting. About Nuphy, of course, but also about clutter, the nature of experience, and other trivially important things. The Swiss Miss said little. Nemuci mentioned a desire to go out for sushi sometime and I told her we'd make it this week.
Last night, I met her and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monshu at Green Tea. We were all so tired, there were more pauses than conversation, but I found that amusing rather than uncomfortable. Chef Jeff didn't show up until we were finished eating and deciding our next move. monshu, who had swooped in and paid the check before I had a chance, headed home to stay up too late watching QE4TSG. Nemuci and I went shopping for gifts for her boyfriend.
Why do the shops in my neighbourhood close so early? Nothing was open past 7 p.m. except Urban Outfitters, Cost Plus, and the bookstores. The "World Market" is a great place to pick up the kind of inexpensive whimsical items Nemuci was looking for and I found myself lingering far too long in the internationsal snack foods. 71% cacao Valrhona chocolate bars! Orangen-Stäbchen 2 for $5! Bonne Maman tartlets! I have to say, I showed remarkable restraint.
We wandered down Halsted, past the house where they used to live, and back to where she'd crossed three hours earlier. Earlier, I had offered to pay for a cab, but she insisted on taking the bus. I kept trying to break the conversation off at the right time for her to cross with the light, but we kept finding reasons to draw it out. It felt good. I've always been fond of Nemuci. When I first started dating her father, I thought I'd be content just to have her not hate me. I knew being a parental figure was out of the question (she's only a few years younger than me) and instead we managed to find an amical rapport. Since then, I've been so impressed by the choices she's made and the woman she's become. At one point, talking to her and NLB at the hospital, I told him, "You could do a lot worse in this life than to emulate Nemuci." I don't think he understood what I was driving out, but she got the compliment, which is all that really matters to me.
She's repaid the glowing assessment in more subtle ways, the most noticeable of which is how she holds me on the phone some nights long after we've said all we have to about Nuphy, his bills, and his visits. Still, it's a bit of a ways from confiding a bit to taking me shopping with her like a girlfriend. I found a nice perch in the park, ate three tartlets (I didn't mean to, but they're so tasty), and read a bit more in The discovery of heaven. How appropriate.
Saturday night, I stayed with Nuphy until visiting hours ended. Nemuci had asked me to call her and tell her how her father was, which nurse he had, and so forth, but she and NLB happened to be online when I rang. The bus took me near Treppenheim anyway, so I decided I'd stop by and tell her in person. Walking the last two blocks, I noticed the most fantastic moon. The west was still glowing and lent it the colour of the off-round pearls I bought for my sister's graduation with Gorgeous Girl's help. (I only now made the connexion; at the time, the pale golden shade was tantalisingly familiar, but I just couldn't place it.)
When I got there, I immediately suggested a trip to the roof deck. I was prepared to drag them if need be, but Nemuci readily assented. She had just slipped in an MST3K DVD, which the Swiss Miss had agreed to watch it with her, but he was clearly not getting any of the humour. (He is Swiss, y'know.) The moon was behind a massive renovated warehouse to the southeast, but Nemuci and I clammered onto the stile connecting the roofs and used it as a moon-viewing bridge. Then we all plopped down on the decking and started chatting. About Nuphy, of course, but also about clutter, the nature of experience, and other trivially important things. The Swiss Miss said little. Nemuci mentioned a desire to go out for sushi sometime and I told her we'd make it this week.
Last night, I met her and
monshu at Green Tea. We were all so tired, there were more pauses than conversation, but I found that amusing rather than uncomfortable. Chef Jeff didn't show up until we were finished eating and deciding our next move. monshu, who had swooped in and paid the check before I had a chance, headed home to stay up too late watching QE4TSG. Nemuci and I went shopping for gifts for her boyfriend.Why do the shops in my neighbourhood close so early? Nothing was open past 7 p.m. except Urban Outfitters, Cost Plus, and the bookstores. The "World Market" is a great place to pick up the kind of inexpensive whimsical items Nemuci was looking for and I found myself lingering far too long in the internationsal snack foods. 71% cacao Valrhona chocolate bars! Orangen-Stäbchen 2 for $5! Bonne Maman tartlets! I have to say, I showed remarkable restraint.
We wandered down Halsted, past the house where they used to live, and back to where she'd crossed three hours earlier. Earlier, I had offered to pay for a cab, but she insisted on taking the bus. I kept trying to break the conversation off at the right time for her to cross with the light, but we kept finding reasons to draw it out. It felt good. I've always been fond of Nemuci. When I first started dating her father, I thought I'd be content just to have her not hate me. I knew being a parental figure was out of the question (she's only a few years younger than me) and instead we managed to find an amical rapport. Since then, I've been so impressed by the choices she's made and the woman she's become. At one point, talking to her and NLB at the hospital, I told him, "You could do a lot worse in this life than to emulate Nemuci." I don't think he understood what I was driving out, but she got the compliment, which is all that really matters to me.
She's repaid the glowing assessment in more subtle ways, the most noticeable of which is how she holds me on the phone some nights long after we've said all we have to about Nuphy, his bills, and his visits. Still, it's a bit of a ways from confiding a bit to taking me shopping with her like a girlfriend. I found a nice perch in the park, ate three tartlets (I didn't mean to, but they're so tasty), and read a bit more in The discovery of heaven. How appropriate.