19 February 2004 In one week Julia is coming to visit for the weekend! I talk about her a lot in here, so I thought I'd give a run down of our life together. Julia and I met through our friend Matt. They went to college together and Julia dated (actually still dates) Matt's old roommate. I'm not sure if Julia was friends with Matt first or dating Matt's roommate first, but it doesn't really matter. Julia is one year younger than Matt and me so the first time I met her was when I visited Matt in (I think) the fall of 1998, my sophomore year. It could have been the spring of 1999, I'm not really sure. Anyway, my first impression of Julia was not good. Matt went to a very rich, snotty college and when I met Julia I thought she was the same. She was playing nintendo when we met and she barely looked up at me when we were introduced. Typical, I thought. Now I know that Julia wasn't being rude in particular. She, like me, doesn't enjoy meeting new people and she loves playing video games. After that I did not see Julia for a very long time. Matt and I didn't go to college near each other so we pretty much only saw each other on semester breaks, when Julia was home in New Jersey. I learned plenty about Julia, though. She and Matt had become great friends and he talked about her all the time on the phone, in email, whatever. I actually grew to resent Julia a bit. It was like that episode of Seinfeld where they talk about the "summer George" who took the place as Jerry's friend when they weren't in school growing up. I felt like Julia was the summer me, except she got to see Matt a whole lot more than I did. Matt even gave me the impression that he had a crush on Julia. I don't know to this day if I imagined that, or if it was miscommunicated as so many things are via email, or if Matt was actually trying to throw me off the track of his gayness. Fast forward to June 2000, the next time I see Julia. It was Matt's 21st birthday and Julia was coming down for the weekend to help us celebrate. I knew Julia was coming down and I was a little apprehensive. Generally, if my friends are good friends with someone else, chances are I'll like them. Unless that friend is Matt, in which case all bets are off. Simply because Matt likes everyone. I was worried that having this stranger around would cramp our style. Julia arrived in the evening after we had gone out to dinner with Matt's parents but before we went out to celebrate Matt's birthday. When she got there she was wearing a skirt and high heeled strappy sandals (isn't it funny that I remember all of this?) and I remember thinking "oh my god, who is this girl?" Also, she was UNBELIEVABLY skinny. Like, too skinny. I was very unsure about her. As unsure as I was, I knew that Matt really liked this girl so I'd try to make an effort to like her too. We went to this horrible dance club that Matt wanted to go to. It was loud and obnoxious and there were bras hanging from the ceiling. Julia immediately went out on the dance floor in her high heels. I eventually followed her, because what else can you do at a dance club besides sit around and be miserable? So we were dancing near each other and our eyes both caught this crazy looking asian guy who was GETTING DOWN. It was the most hilarious thing. We looked at each other and busted out laughing. Now we often look back on that moment as the first time we ever bonded. After that I liked Julia. I don't know why. It's as though my heart realized that this girl was destined to be my close friend. We spent the rest of the weekend together celebrating Matt's birthday, and when it was time for her to leave I felt like I was saying goodbye to a good friend. Of course, at that time Julia was really still more of Matt's friend than mine. I didn't talk to her much after that. I told Matt to tell Julia I said hello and the like after they went back to school together in the fall of 2000. I think maybe I saw her when I visited him once or twice. But there were two other instances that really brought us closer together. Julia spent the summer of 2001 (after I had graduated college) living in Baltimore and taking some classes. I hung out with her a lot on those occassions, mostly with Matt but sometimes without. One night we watched about four hours of Friends on tape, went out to dinner, and then engaged in our next serious bonding experience. I'm not going to say what it was because it wasn't very nice. Let's just say we did something dishonest together and afterwards we felt horrible. But our crime brought us together. My last job had me travel a lot, and my first month long assignment was to Northern New Jersey. My hotel was a fifteen minute drive away from Julia. That was in June 2002. That is the month that I learned to love Julia's family as much as I loved her. We spent several days a week together and I got a glimpse of what it would be like to be normal friend with Julia, the kind that live in the same geographical area and call each other up to go shopping and see each other on a whim rather than planning it for months. It was the most fantastic month in my life, really. And since then Julia and I have been closer than I can describe. Since then it's just been one great moment after another. We talk almost every day and visit as often as possible. We dream of the day we'll live in the same state and go shopping together and watch tv together. We think of things at the same time and say them to each other in delight. We're really quite nerdy, actually. Here are some things about her that make me smile: She loves Michael Jackson. With no apologies. She calls her parents Mommy and Daddy. She has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Despite the fact that she has had the same boyfriend since I've known her and she plans to spend the rest of her life with him, she claims that if he didn't exist she'd be a lesbian. She LOVES Britney Spears. She wants to lick Britney's stomach. She eats Dairy Queen as often as possible. She listens to everything I say without thinking I'm silly or stupid. Her family is amazing and I can spend the day shopping for cell phones with them and have a fabulous time. She is a super feminist. She wishes she had the courage to not shave her legs. Her love for the New York Yankees is so genuine that I can't even trash talk them to her without feeling guilty. When I didn't get an ipod for my birthday this year like I thought I would, she sent me an Apple gift certificate to help me pay for one myself. She watches all manner of reality shows without feeling guilty. This includes Temptation Island and that new show where the midgets try to find love. She loves history. She'd be laughing her ass off if she read this. Last Next
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