Murray and Geo's Excellent Weekend 

or there are no friends like old friends 

Okay, so Geo's always busting on me for being on the interweb too much...spending waaaay too much time with virtual folks rather than real people. 

He's right, of course. 

Twitter is like freaking crack. Seriously. Even when I tell myself I'm not logging on today, I end up succumbing to the lure of the beast and taking my place as a twalker (twitter stalker), peering into the lives of those more famous than I. Turns out only a handful of them are the least bit interesting or creative tweeters--Rhett, the king-of-all-my-things, being one. Rob Huebel and Paul Feig being two others. The rest are rather boring. I'm sure those misguided souls who follow me feel the same disappointment with my offerings. I have, however, had lovely "conversations" with a young woman from N. Dakota after connecting over, of all things, a mediocre CBS cartoon named Horseland where the collie sounds like Sean Connery... or at least Darryl Hammond portraying Sean Connery. Turns out she works for a CBS affiliate and also gets paid to watch cartoons. Small world. 

Every Sunday when I suffer through...er, I mean watch Horseland, I keep waiting for the collie to spout off something like "Just like your Mother last night, Trebek" from SNL:

That skit cracks me up every time.

Anywho, back to the topic at hand...

 I justify my time spent on Facebook by noting the folks on that social network actually ARE my friends. People I see at work or play. It's a quick way to keep up with the happenings of others so when I actually do call or visit, I have an idea what's been happening in their lives. 

But bottom line is nothing compares to flesh and blood contact with flesh and blood people. 

I'm happy to report Geo and I spent quality time over the holiday weekend in the company of actual friends. And it was good!! 

We began our social splurge with a sumptuous sushi dinner in the company a wonderful couple, Marco and Amy, whom we've known for over a decade. Over those years, we got together sporadically due to the normal time constraints of life and living. Two months ago, after dining at an Indian buffet, we vowed to convene on a more regular basis to dine on the varied cuisines offered in our city. They're one of the few couples in our friend barn who are adventurous eaters, so these culinary exploits should be big fun. 

Marco's a fabulous freelance writer. He's extremely skilled and witty. I keep telling him he should post his own blog. So far he hasn't bit, mainly because he's, you know, busy freelance writing. Amy's a notable supervisor in the monsterous machine that is health care. They have three kids, 19, 17 and 10. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to spend time with a couple who truly dig each other. Sure they love each other, but they also really, REALLY like each other. After three kids and decades of marriage, they still hold hands while walking down the street. It's so sweet.

Anyway, after copious rolls of sushi and lively, varied conversation we took our act on a stroll down E. Carson Street in search of an outdoor table for coffee and dessert. We found our refuge at a diner midway along the road where the chatting continued over coffee (them), cocktails (me-surprise!) and coconut cream pie. 

The evening could not have been more perfect--mid 70s, low humidity, steady breeze. As we sat kibitzing, above the din of traffic rose an unexpected musical rift from across the road. A young waif of a girl was playing an accordion. I immediately got the sensation of being at a cafe in Paris on a movie set. The music created a beautiful layer of atmosphere which capped off the evening perfectly. An evening very well spent.

The rest of the weekend was played out as such: 

A) A spontaneous gathering replete with Chinese take-out and victorious Penguins hockey; 

B) An evening split between my always entertaining family--with or without limoncello (written about here) and old college friends lobbing wit and witticisms on their deck on another gorgeous summer-like eve. 

C) And finally finishing off with a Memorial Day gathering in the company of our next door neighbor and her family who has pretty much adopted us as one of their own. 

And get this... they served homemade pulled BEEF! Okay, so it's not as salacious sounding as pulled pork, but hmmmm..mmm! It was mighty tasty!!

In between all the social events, we managed to open our deck for the season. The grill's up, the deck's ready, the mint is in...can the Mojitos be far behind? 

Computer? What computer? Let the summer festivities begin.