Superman in San Francisco, originally uploaded by yaznotjaz.

I realized the other day that I hadn’t talked to my buddy S in months – so many months that the last conversation I clearly remembered was back in January. Worse, he had left me a voicemail a couple of weeks ago, wishing me Eid mubarak, and I had never gotten around to returning his call. So, while aimlessly wandering around in downtown the other day, I settled myself on an empty bench, dug my phone out of my bag, and called S.

The details of the conversation aren’t that important; needless to say, I can always depend on S to deliver a good kick in the ass just when I need it. When I whined about how I “need to focus, and I just don’t seem to have any incentive to get my ass in gear and be productive,” I could almost see S rolling his eyes at the other end of the line.

“You need incentive?” he scoffed. “Why don’t you check your bank account. That should be all the incentive you need.”

“I know.” I started laughing. “You’re right. Thank you.”

The conversation continued, meandering through various topics – work and mutual friends and life updates and dramas and finances and family and academics. At one point, I went off on a bit of a rant about something, and S said forcefully, “See. You haven’t changed at all.”

“I haven’t changed? Is that a good thing?”

“Yes. You get it.”

Later, still smiling to myself about the conversation, I looked up the old post I had written about S. It made me even more grateful to have a friend like him – and his bluntness and sarcasm and generosity and text-messaged reminders about the moon – in my life. I think it deserves a re-read, so check it out:

[Shiny smooth automotive goodness, and goodness of another nature]