Young Gego is staying with me again. He was last here two or three weeks ago. His mother, my friend Isabella, left for Ireland with her boyfriend today . . . I told her that not only will I watch him anytime she needs me to, but that I actually really like having him here too. I want him here! His presence is a gift. Gego is kind of insane and weird but he’s also sweet.
Generally he sleeps in his little fort on my couch:
. . . but he also chills in this box:
Often he sleeps on my bed:
However, glancing over just now, I see him asleep on the rug beside my balcony:
This guy is all over the place!
Honestly, Gego is so cute is almost makes me sick. I can’t stand it. It is good to have a cat here though. This is the only time in my life I have not had a cat and it’s destroying my soul. But when there is a cat in my house, even just temporarily, it brings me joy and I feel at peace. It makes all the difference in the world, is what I’m saying.
Earlier tonight, I received this message from my friend Elina, The Estonian Girl:
Never mind that she thinks a bagel is, as she put it later, a “flavorless donut” . . . I thought it was cool that she did not ask if she could come over. She just told me she was coming over. I’m serious as a heart attack, I love that. I’m always telling my friends they can just show up whenever as if my apartment is Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment. I tell them, you know, just go ahead and open my refrigerator without asking, and eat whatever you want, just like in Jerry’s apartment. It’s like having Gego here: I like the company. GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR.
Anyway, Elina, who says she “doesn’t understand cats”, befriended Gego simply by sitting on my couch. He came over and rubbed his head against her leg, and then perched himself on the couch next to her:
She said, “OK, I like this cat.” I don’t want to know someone who doesn’t!
Around 11 I walked Elina to the U-bahn station so she could catch her train home. We stopped at the späti near my house and she bought a beer for the ride back. She is three inches shorter than me, but with her massive platforms on, she towered over me like Frankenstein.
We waited for the U7 to arrive . . .
When it did, she leaned down to hug me and Off She Went. We HAVE PLANS to make macaroni and cheese (she’s never had it!) and watch WILD AT HEART. I like Elina a lot. Ain’t it nice to meet someone and immediately know they will be your good friend??
And, so sayeth Scottish game designer Cara Ellison (whose book I’m in):
Listen: I am as He made me. And also she’s not wrong.