He started talking to me about his plans with his quartet, how he is really excited about the new permanent replacement violinist, and how she is really taking charge. There was an awkward moment when he said, "It's really good to have a new woman [pause] in the quartet". But I don't think that he was trying to "tell me" something, I think he just realized what it sounded like and added "in the quartet" to clarify. He has talked before about how the replacement balances out the extremely stubborn female cellist in his group. Even though they haven't even had a rehearsal together yet, the new replacement violinist is already spearheading efforts to improve the website, and organized a photo shoot that they're doing tomorrow to make sure they have new, better photos. He discussed at length the difficulties he's had setting up a concert with his alma mater in LA. They finally (after a year of talking) got a final date for their concert this february. He said that working with his alma mater was so difficult he just wanted to rock out with his quartet, pack the hall with all his friends, and then wash his hands of the entire endeavor. He also talked about being excited to prepare for an international competition next year (2010) in Canada. Throughout all of this I was smiling, nodding, and saying things like, "congratulations!", etcetera. I asked him about the repertoire they were preparing for their next concert, he told me about it, and how he was excited to work with the new violinist because she also seemed to think outside the box. He also talked to me about how sometimes he wonders what it would be like to have a different cellist in his group, but working with other cellists this past year he's realized that everyone just has different flaws, and he is very familiar with his group's cellist's flaws and might as well continue to work with her for now. I thought this was interesting, because I have wondered at times why he has chosen to commit his career to these people. I didn't say anything, but I told him I thought his attitude was really mature. (In retrospect, it sounds a little bit like my philosophy of committed relationships, but I did not point that out).

When we finished our food, he asked if I wanted to get dessert or something at that restaurant, or check out another place nearby. We looked at the dessert menu but I said, "hey, it would be nice to experience two new places in one night," especially since he seemed interested in showing it to me. He mentioned this really special secret bar nearby-- it is inside a famous hot dog restaurant, and there is a phone booth. You go into the phone booth, press the button on the phone, and then a secret door opens! I *THINK* he said he tried to get reservations by calling at 3.30 (today??) but the only reservations he could get were for before 6 or after 11. I'm *almost* positive he was talking about reservations he tried to make for today, in which case, that would have been Good News #3--he tried to create a special experience for me.

We walked to a little tea house, but it was totally empty except for the lady working behind the counter, and it seemed like it would have been awkward to have a conversation, so we left. A couple doors down was this hot dog place called "EAT ME". They have this incredible logo of a woman lasciviously embracing a really phallic hot dog. We went inside and looked at the menu and B pointed out the phone booth that was the secret entrance to the "please don't tell" bar he told me he couldn't get reservations for. On the way out we admired the "eat me" brand merchandise, including thongs emblazoned with the "eat me" logo, and I made a joke, "Santa didn't bring me an 'eat me thong', here is my opportunity..."