MAN ON THE MOON

A stranger is a friend you've never met. And some friends, you don't even get to meet at all.

". . . so here's a toast! Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends."

"I think I'll call you Speed Date Girl."

It was past midnight when I saw that she was online. No, I didn't meet her during speed dating and no we're not dating. The best friend of Becky, my college friend just happened to, all of a sudden, hit me through messenger after . . . come to think of it, she never sent me a message nor even talked to me before. Aside from the occasional nod, smile or "hi." (which is hardly even talking) as we passed each other in campus, I couldn't recall any other form of exchange we ever had.

I'm still suffering from post break-up insomnia and she's working the graveyard. What started as, "My friend's organizing a speed dating event on Saturday, would you like to come? Meeting new people might be good for you." was followed by nights of exchanging remarkable similarities of interest. Gaiman, Dishwalla, perpetually staying on line, poker, a fondness for alcohol and even food. And though speed dating's not exactly my thing, I was glad she was around, night after night, to keep my mind from caving-in due to depression.

It's the darnest thing ain't it? To have none of all the countless "friends" you thought you had in times that you're in a slump only to find that there's someone else with you, who you didn't expect to find. And you get crappy sounding advice which you inadvertently follow which apparently makes the situation you're in, not a long way better, but better nonetheless.

"Why don't you go out? Get a life!"

The next day, I went to a medical mission with two of my closest buddies, had a road trip and had the most fun I've had in months. But that's another story altogether.

"Do I have to put something in the title or just paste the HTML code?"

"No, but you could. Like, AM I FAMOUS YET?"

"Hahaha! You crack me up!"

I don't know if I'll ever get to see Speed Date Girl again or even get to hear the sound of her voice. And she might not even know that she's helping me through this extremely tough time. But one thing's for sure, even after all the zero's of my AM I FAMOUS YET? blog visits counter become all 9's, I'll remember her. And maybe then, we'll meet and knock back a brew to toast famous little old me.