Saturday

Dave calls to invite me to drinks on Saturday night. Dress up in tailored white shirt purchased in Paris ages ago. Think of shirt as Lucky Shirt. Think the white sets off tan nicely. Roll up sleeves to above elbows. Take a very long time arranging hair and trying on different belts, shoes and pants. Finally settle on dark cotton pants and brown leather shoes (the Weather indicates wearing flip flops, but do not like to have bare feet able to be touched by street.) Take subway to Lower East Side. Careful toilet undone by humidity. Ourside of bar, extremely young girl says to her companion, in tone of disgust, Let's not going in go in there, it's just a Dark wine bar. That exact description is what I look for in a bar. Meet Dave. We order wine. Talk about Edith Wharton (Dave halfway through graduate English program before dropped out to learn how to Cut Hair.) As wine gets drunk, we make increasingly clever points about the parallels between New York then and now. Dave says, I like her much better than Henry James, he stops talking. What? I ask. He nods with his head. See extremely plain looking young woman with limp brown hair, wearing horn rimmed glasses, sitting at table with five other women. Dave whispers, That is Sofia Coppola. Am very glad we were talking about Books instead of Us Weekly. Have idea (no idea from where) that Sofia Coppola is somebody who Reads. Begin fantasy about being asked to be in her next movie. Dave and I order another bottle of wine. (Fantasy of being in Coppola movie very well developed, will be filmed in Cuba and Paris. Am offered part of the second best friend to the hero.) Finally draw self away from conversatin to go go to bathroom. Walk past Sofia's table, keeping head held high and back straight. On way back from bathroom, am stopped by one of the party. Say, yes? Think, Very, very rarely do fantasies turn out like this! Incline head to hear proposal better. Sofia says, We're done with our plates if you want to take them. Say, stiffly, I'll get your waitress for you. (Later, think up much, much better responses.) March back to own table. Dave thinks this is very funny. Makes me re-enact the the scene several times. Fail to see the humor in it and say so. As evening progresses, however, find Funny Bone.