This Fish Needs A Bicycle

meeting fish (by benjamin wagner)

Here's where the story ends: Heather is one of my best friends. That she and I should remain so close so far down a long and often rocky road is testimony, above all, to her goodness, and her patience.

I was late to the blogging phenomena. Yeah, I was posting journal entries to my site, but I had no idea there was this whole thing burgeoning around me. One evening (a dateless Friday no doubt) I found my way to Fish. I remember two things distinctly:

1) She wrote with terrific voice.
2) I immediately considered applying for the bicycle job (but didn't).

I have no sense of time, so I have no idea when this was. But shortly thereafter, I posted something about spending the night alone at some bar during one of my tours up in Cambridge, MA, and got an email. "You were so close! We could have had a drink!"

And that's how it began.

At that point, Fish's site was anonymous -- remember that? She "came out" to me immediately, though, and we began emailing every day and IMing every night. "H!" I'd type. "B!" she'd reply. We'd talk about our days until the typos became frequent and sign off as if we were laying next to each other.

"G'nite, B."

"G'nite, H."

What drove the dialogue? Well, I'm a pretty good pen pal. I like the email. I like having friends in Sydney and London, Tampa and Chicago. And honestly, yes, I do have the alterior motive of creating and sustaining an audience for my music.

But with Heather, there was more. We clicked. We flowed. And we flirted ...

Tomorrow: Kissing Fish

Posted by at October 31, 2004 09:51 AM