Despicable Me

It's always good to see people you know in the New York Times, even if it's about them being fired. Still, it clearly had nothing to do with my friend's talent as she "oversaw the extraordinary breads that Isa baked in the wood-burning oven each day." The sous chef is her longtime boyfriend and if there's anything I've learned from being friends with cooking people, it's that job hopping -- and restaurants closing/changing -- is both constant and unavoidable. There's always another opportunity available though, especially if you're as good as they are.

Pam's the only one of my college friends who really defined her (non-corporate) dream early on, chased after it, and kept churning, even when faced with a multitude of challenges. I don't even recall what she majored in. She used to run the fashion magazine at school, doing all the editing, graphic design, and some of the photography. Somehow after graduation she decided to get into desserts and away she went. Oh wait, I think I've sung her praises before already.

That ubiquitous Gotye song -- which I detest on principle -- is a break up song apparently. I'd never stopped to listen to the lyrics but they're pretty good. The thing with song lyrics is that it's always a little dicey trying to figure out which one you are, or which perspective to take. As Carly Simon pointed out, everyone thinks it's about them. Usually it's more properly sung as a duet, with each person switching off to the parts that resonate with them.

My friend is visiting this week after a tough break up. He called and said that he needed to come out. Boom, three days later he was here. Since then we've been talking through his relationship a lot. The whats, the hows, some of the whys. None of it really makes much sense, and he knows that only time cures these things. Most of our time has been spent trying to make that pass. Movies, television, some writing, more movies. He's counting down the days.

Remember in Swingers when Rob is trying to console Mike? "I mean at first you're going to pretend to forget about her, you'll not call her, I don't know, whatever...but then eventually, you really will forget about her." That's pretty much spot on.

Another friend asked me why in the world someone heartbroken would be heading out to come see me. I explained that my role isn't really one of emotional support, since I suck at that. Instead I'm mainly here to listen and to provide a warm body to keep loneliness at semi-bay. You'd be surprised how often I'm called for this service, considering how useless I am on the emotional support front. But sometimes people just need someone to be around, and there's nothing I'm better at. Just being around.

I am trying to figure out how I can help though, on a more emotional level. It's not something I'm equipped to do I think. Can you learn how to do this? Also, it's not lost on me that while I was so quick to help out my friend in need, I wasn't quite so open a few weeks ago when breaking a heart. That's not really irony or karma or anything, it's just mean. Now you're just somebody that I used to know.

Speaking of shit that breaks hearts. The Celtics' loss in Game 7 on Saturday was a gut shot. We gathered at my friend's new apartment in Los Angeles and then proceeded to suffer for the next six hours. Like in 2010, the Celtics had a lead heading into halftime of a Game 7 and then went ice cold during the last few minutes to drop a winnable game. Well, maybe it wasn't that winnable. Boston played poorly the entire second half and when Chris Bosh goes 3-4 from beyond the arc, what can you do?

We had some anti-Celtic supporters in the house but as the game started to get out of hand and George and I looked increasingly depressed, one of them quickly changed his tune. "Whoa, I didn't know you guys were going to get sad. I don't want you guys to be sad." This was as tears were threatening to drop from George's eyes. "Okay okay, I won't cheer for the Heat anymore!" Too little, too late. Sigh.

Since there would be no partying that night, we ended up watching the Pacquiao travesty. We thought a Manny win would cheer us up -- he's a die-hard Celtics fan! -- but instead it was another loss to cap off a crushing day. Basically if you want someone to lose, just tell us and we'll cheer for them. Mitt Romney, the Yangs are now on your side, start writing your concession speech now.

Later, I was explaining to George how most sports fans take things hard but rarely cry. The sight of her post-game crying literally froze everyone in the room. Our guy friends didn't know what to do. Sometimes the athletes cry -- like Doc almost did when he pulled the Big 3 out of the game -- but most sports fans don't. George said she would have to try not to cry in the future, but I told her that it's that kind of passion that will carry us to another championship. Let's Go Celtics.