My next friend is out there somewhere. I've met most of my best friends in conventional settings: the classroom, across the hall, or out with one of my friends. A few days ago at The Swamp I shared in some brief but sincere conversation with my waitress. Later that day, I wondered how much I had in common with this girl. I could not remember her name or even reconstruct her face, but I wondered if maybe she liked to play frisbee, if her favorite character on The Sopranos is Christopher, if she works out but doesn't mind gorging out on some buffalo wings, if she's had four-hour conversations with her best friend about love.

I want to meet more people like this, to be blown by surprise and discover that person in the DVD section of Best Buy likes jazz and would love to have lived in the 1950s.