I Wish I Was Special

Meeting a friend(s) for brunch on weekends is always fun. Especially when you have one brunch on Saturday and one on Sunday. The Saturday brunch was with a grad school friend, who is still finishing up her Ph.D., and is where I was exactly a year ago. Which is to say, she is stressed out about her dissertation and job search and wanted to know how I had gotten through it. Although it wasn't a gossipy brunch, it still included some gossip about a mutual acquaintance whom, although always polite in demeanor, seemed to have this just-beneath-the-surface bitchiness that made me wonder a few times in passing how her husband (super nice guy) deals with it. As it turns out, my friend (who is the downstairs neighbor of said acquaintance) says she thinks they got divorced over the summer because she saw the hubby arrive in a Zipcar to load up his stuff and move out. And now she often hears wailing and crying from the apartment upstairs. Oh, the drama-rama.

Are things officially over when someone officially changes their marriage status to "___is no longer married to___" on Facebook, with that little red heart? Just like the heart that appeared next to "ArchitectBoy is now married". And incidentally, has a "current city" of Bangkok, Thailand, thanks to a wife who works for a particular government agency which you have probably heard of, that provides US economic and humanitarian assistance.

Sunday brunch found me catching up with a college friend, and her husband, who live about half an hour away. College friends hold a unique place in my heart. Her husband, a philosophy professor at a small liberal arts college an hour west of here, is up for tenure this coming year, and shared a bunch of pearls of wisdom about academia, and the academic job search in general. And my friend and I have another unique bond because we both deal with autoimmune issues. Although she has presumed MS, and mine is of the arthritic variety, the base issues, like overwhelming fatigue, etc. are the same. With M, there's never any explanation needed, which is so very refreshing. But health is far from the dominant topic in our conversations. She went to her 15th reunion last May, which makes me excited to reconnect with my classmates. 15 years? Makes me feel old! If finances and schedule allow, I'd love to go to my college reunion in May, though in truth, if Ihave to choose between my doctoral hooding, and reunion, should they fall on the same weekend, then it will be the hooding. But I promise to make it to the 20th. I may not have tenure yet by then, but maybe a husband? A baby? A house? I guess most of my classmates' kids will be old enough to babysit mine, if I should have them by then, right?

Have you seen the Social Network movie? I I love this movie trailer. The use of a choir version of Radiohead's Creep is brilliant, and it's a good way to leave you today.