As few of you already know, one of the girls here is no longer with us. During the weekend, a dear friend of mine along with her boyfriend passed away. I still have difficulty accepting this. She and I kept contact regularly despite the distance between us. We met three years ago on a whim, really. I'd known
Evangeline for maybe a month tops, chatting about random things like The Mighty Boosh, indie movies, up-and-coming bands and whatnot... then one day she messages me about coming up to San Francisco for the first time ever and
I WAS THE ONLY PERSON SHE KNEW FROM THERE. Naturally, I thought
"oh, boy. HERE we go." 
I never meet anyone so early in a burgeoning online friendship yet something about her made me feel comfortable and not so anxious.
I laugh about it now, how we ran into each other in Union Square. She was bumbling about like she hadn't been in a big city before, and when she recognized me, her eyes lit up. Not soon after, we were going about town like we'd been friends for years. I hadn't met a person so enthused about life, it was refreshing and invigorating. To see the same old haunts in SF through her eyes was an exciting experience. It made me appreciative of how blessed I was to be living where I reside, and to have this new friend in my presence.

It was one of the best days of my adult life.
I'm really going to miss you, Ari.
So sad about Evangeline