Add a Friend

• 3 bottles Brrr - the Barking Lamb
• 1 egg nog - the Barking Lamb
• 1 Bushmill's & Bailey's - the Barking Lamb

The first friend I really remember having was in 3rd grade. This was in Palo Alto, California and his name was Ken. I don't remember his last name or really anything else about him, (although I could look it up in the my 3rd grade yearbook) but I do think he was kind of a nerd. His family may have been one of the first in the city to own a Radio Shack TRS-80. In 4th grade I had two friends whom I hung around with named Kirk (whatwashislastname?) and "Tiger" Rodriguez. Tiger's real name was Paul, but everyone called him Tiger and I'm not sure why. I really looked up to him. He wore cool clothes and I remember the way he tucked his shirt into his jeans showed off his homemade embossed leather belt. I also had another friend named Peter who was a bit of a nerd. He was into Battlestar Gallactica and all the other science fiction shows and movies (which I wasn't into). Peter was also a "softy", whereas Tiger and Kirk were solid; they always had something going on and were interested in doing things. In third grade I had heard about sex, but it seemed kind of a strange thing, so one afternoon in the back of my 4th grade classroom while the teacher was teaching, I looked it up in the encyclopedia and found it to be true. After school I told Kirk and Tiger about my findings and Kirk immediately offered up his family's Encyclopedia Brittanica's for further research. We huddled in his family's den with the EB opened up to "SEX" and read all about it. We were really fascinated! And that's the kind of stuff Tiger, Kirk, and I liked to do. Peter wasn't that type of friend.

I've had many friends through the years - in many different cities and states. Some have been short-lived acquaintances, others have started strong, only to fade away, and others have grown slowly over time. Since the Internet, friendships that I have thought to be lost, have resurfaced. It's wonderful to connect with a person with whom you once shared interests. It's amazing really.

I can have friends for different reasons. There are "movie" friends, or "artsy" friends, or "beer" friends, or "I need someone to talk to" friends, or "you're fucking funny" friends, or a combination of some of the above. It is so rare to find a person who really satisfies all of what a friend can be. Of all my friends that I have known and that I still remain friends, no one knows everything about me. That might seem like a strange thing to say, but I guess if you had been friends with a person since say, age 5, you really might know most everything about that person. My sister is really the only person that knows more about me than anyone. Anyway, some friends know things about me that I would never tell others, some friends know me so well that I don't have to tell them anything.

This post isn't really going in the direction that I had intended, but it had been rolling around in my head because tonight was our Urban Fam Secret Santa Gift Exchange and it only reaffirmed that I have a great group of close friends who are wonderful to be around. They make the world a better place. And if any one of you ever needs information on sex, you know who to ask. ;)