7:07 p.m. | 2003-02-15 New Discoveries and Old Friends. I fully intended to go to the art museum today but I didn�t because I really needed to do something else. As I couldn�t quite figure out what that something else was, I started my day by going out to lunch to ponder it all. I just wasn�t in the right frame of mind to fully appreciate great works of art so, on a whim, I decided to check out a new antique store I pass by everyday. As an added bonus, I discovered a home furnishing store next door which I explored first. They have some very cool stuff there. On to the antique store. I wondered in and, instantly fell in love. With the store, I mean. It�s now my second-favorite antique den � Spin�s store being my most favorite, of course. Mostly because of Spin himself. This den of antiquity is large, two stories and full of character. And characters. I now own a framed lithograph of D�sseldorf. I�ve been to D�sseldorf (Germany), or more precisely, the D�sseldorf airport. However, I bought this little gem because 1) I love lithographs and 2) for whatever reason, I love saying the word �D�sseldorf�. It�s just one of those odd little Cruel-Irony quirks. And, get this, they also carry a small assortment of British groceries including boxes of Weetabix (breakfast cereal), which reminded me of, well, weetabix, and Spotted Dick (pudding). A rather odd coupling, don�t you think � antiques and British grocery items? I just love MyTown. After all that excitement, I headed home. The route home takes me right past the home of one of my most precious friends, Drummer. Now Drummer is the most amazing person I�ve ever had the privilege to know. We use to work together many years ago and became very close friends. He does in fact play the drums and a whole bunch of other instruments. He�s a musician (sings, composes music, writes lyrics, etc.). In fact, I own a couple of his CDs. But he does a whole bunch of other stuff too. He models, writes/reads poetry, is very active in the community and politics, he runs youth programs� literally the list goes on and on. (An interesting aside � I wrote a poem for him many years ago which, I found out later, he reads all over MyTown and MyState. Go figure.) As he�s quite busy, it�s tough to catch up with him. However, this afternoon he was outside washing his car so I stopped by. I quickly realized that what I really wanted and needed to do today was talk to Drummer. See, we talk about stuff such as politics, race relations, religion, money, sex, societal paradigms, etc. Our conversations are neither short nor shallow. We don�t argue, pontificate or berate. We have reasoned, and enjoyable, discussions in which we explore this world around us. We talk about stuff that most people don�t or won�t talk about. Especially people of different races. And, we both walk away having learned something new. Yup, that�s exactly what I needed today. I�ve had some thoughts on my mind that I needed to share with Drummer. It�s funny too because every time I really need to talk to him I always find him out front or he calls me. Oh, and I heard the music of one of the songs he wrote recently. The vocals haven�t been added in yet, but he sung them for me. Looks like he�s got another hit in the making. I so love his music. your thoughts? seed flower