ABOUT LAST WEEKEND…

It was not devoid of events. Indeed, it was not uneventful. One could go as far as to argue that it was… eventful.

I got to eat good food, carouse with good friends, and put a smile on a soon-to-be bride’s face. I got to explore Grand Central Station, ride a train to Westchester, play a round of Taboo, and travel back to Yankee Stadium in a convertible with the top down. I got to better acquaint myself with a couple whom, prior to the weekend, had been mere acquaintences. I got to listen to the soundtrack of "Storytelling," pet a friendly cat, almost check out a new apartment, and still get back to Mill Basin in time to have cake at my cousin’s birthday party.

I got to windowshop at all the fancy markets in Grand Central Station on Saturday, stare at the overpriced, marinated filet mignons and rack of lambs in the East Concourse. I got to fondle a $7.00 jar of spaghetti sauce, leave a fingerprint on a $3.00 tart wrapped in clingwrap at the bakery, shake a $5 box of crackers with Italian words and cursive font, while backlit by warm, overhead lights, like a ballroom scene in a costume drama. I got to chip in with K. for the largest cheeseboard we could find at Murray’s Cheese Shop, which cost less than a pound of Murray’s cheapest cheese, which was chipped from the cheeseboard Rock of Gibralter by chisels wielded by the martyred hands of tiny orphans, which was smoothed into Moses tablets under the martyred feet of abused street urchins.

I got to buy cookies from "Hot and Crusty," while waiting for K, and man, do I wish I had bought them from the other cookie shop instead, and not been such a cheap bastard.

I got to help giftwrap the giant cheeseboard on the train to Westchester, got to hold hands with K. almost the entire way, got to talk to K. about Chinese bakery food, South Korea, and life in the Northwest.

I got to drink champagne, see Maggie and Ryan cheer after she unwrapped the cheeseboard (They no longer have to display their cheese atop a dry paper towel!), eat sesame crackers (but no cheese), devour strawberry shortcake with thick whipped cream and cupcakes.

I got to do surprisingly well on the first round of Taboo, sucky on the second round, better on the third, and overall, give back less points for my team than I earned. I got to test how well my friends really know me, by giving a clue, "I need to be fitted for one of these," to which Hal answered "A straight jacket!" (The right answer in only four seconds flat.) I got to arrive at the realization that I know a little too much about pop culture, that my friends know just as much, if not more, about pop culture, that my taste in movies is probably different than Jay’s, less anime-centered than Adan’s, and that Dan rents things I wouldn’t pony up cash for in a million years.

I got to hitch a ride back to the city at one in the morning in Maggie’s friend J.P.’s snazzy convertible, which K. wanted to ride in with the top down (the convertible’s top, not hers) on a blustery winter night. I got to feel the cold wind whipping my face, got to see the signs on the highway rush past my upturned eyes in a green-and-white blur, got to lose myself in the expanse of night sky, all the while holding hands with K. in the backseat, unable to hear a word spoken by Hal or J.P. up front, the sounds accompanying their mouth movements drowned out by the funneling air, K. and I conveying almost everything between us through squeeze and touch, squeeze and touch.

I got to have brunch Sunday morning with K.’s friends across the street, got to discuss the art of frying eggs, fruit salad, hurting peoples’ feelings, and ‘zines. I got to put off seeing that new apartment in Bushwick, because my ex-co-worker was not home. I’ve got another chance in the coming weekend.

I got to hug K. a lot, which made me feel happy, the kind of happy that leaves you on edge because it cannot last forever. I got to walk to the subway station with K., and talk about how great a time we had, and to make plans to keep seeing her, if not forever, than at least another week. I got to kiss her goodbye.

I got to come home to Mill Basin for my cousin’s first birthday. I got to watch him tear the gift wrap (with some assistance) off his new toys. I got to eat more cake with heavy whipped cream and strawberries. I got to feel big in wholly unexpected ways. I got to sleep very late that night, having stayed at the table until the very last dregs of the weekend had been drained from the bottle.