July 11, 2016:
People ask me, "What kind of girls do you like?"
Especially the wives of good friends, hoping to set me up.
I answer, "Tall blonde sk8ter girls with dreads." It's a clever joke. It makes it impossible for them to continue searching, because they'll never find anyone like that in NorCal.
But there's truth to it. In code, it means, "Someone who grew up in the Southern California culture, west of I-5." Surf, sun, sk8boards, fish tacos. My tribe.
So that there's real shock when, profoundly unexpectedly, I meet someone who matches my only partially pretend ideal, an actual sk8ter girl from actual SoCal, and of all things she seems to like me as well as I like her.