Today is my friend Joe's birthday. Since I'm writing about that, I suppose it's time I let everyone know that Joe is going to be abandoning leaving me soon for a new job in the Midwest. Joe moved to Los Angeles to attend graduate school, and so his leaving is something we both knew would be coming one day. I've got him til mid-July though. Congratulations and Happy Birthday Joe!

Friday night, the Cute Little Red-Headed Girlfriend, Joe and I went out to celebrate Joe's birthday at a local ex-pat Italian restaurant. We enjoyed a very leisurely meal, toasting Joe's birthday as well as the recent death of Jerry Falwell. Joe remarked, "When I heard he died, I thought the only thing that could be better than this is if it happened on my birthday."

There was a certain "last hurrah" feeling in the air, knowing that Joe would be leaving soon. Though you never would have guessed mourning was on our minds based on how Joe and I wolfed down individual chocolate souffles. I will miss seeing Joe's sly looks, like the one he gave me as he gazed at our empty souffle dishes. There will be a whole lot of Google Talk in our future, I'm guessing.