My Imaginary Friend

For the second successive week, my Sunday has been consumed with discussing the World Cup and talking to my international friends. Logistically, The World Cup planning is proving to be tenuous and stressful, even though it is still a year and a half away. Here are the issues involved in solving this puzzle:

1. I am helping to organize the trip for about 9 people in three continents and five countries
2. Tickets for the games go on sale in two weeks
3. We won't know who is playing in what group until December (kind of like buying playoff tickets before the beginning of the season, only any team can be playing at one of eight stadiums)
   
4. Each game has different pricing
5. Everyone has a different opinion and has different teams

So, the issues are numerous, and the logistics are a nightmare. But, we're working on it. For me, the important part of the whole event is that I'm going to be meeting up with my friends from South American and Europe once again. Of course, there are two different sets of friends, which always makes things interesting. My goal is to not end up with two sets of friends annoyed with me because I'm favoring the other set. It sure sucks being so popular ;o) ....

I've also discovered something cool that I can do with my instant messaging client - MSN Messenger. For the first (actually, second) time, I am successfully having a discussion with my friend in Slovakia over a free program and over the internet. The interesting part of it is that he doesn't have a webcam or a microphone (which is what I have), so he can see and hear me, but I can't see or hear him. It's kind of like having a dog - I can talk to the dog, I know the dog can understand me ("Hanna, wanna bone???"), and I know the dog watches everything I do, but the dog never talks to me. So, I've been sitting at my desk or nearby for a large part of the day while Roland works the night shift at his hotel and he sends me an instant message and I answer him in person. It's pretty funny. And he's been watching me all night as well as I go about my daily tasks, provide technical support, and entertain my guests. Pretty funny - it's like I'm talking to myself or to an imaginary friend...

Last night we went out for dinner to a nice little Cuban restaurant in the West Village with a waitress that looked an awefully lot like Ashley Judd. The food was outrageously tasty, as was the dessert at a small cafe that made me feel like I was in Paris afterwards. The cafe pretty much had a wall made of glass, so we could see people stumbling out of the bars around the area and listen to the Louis Armstrong and Billy Holiday music quietly serenading us and the other guests at the cafe while we sipped Cappuchinos and ate our dainty desserts. Does it really get better than this?? If only I had "someone special" to share it with.....

J. Riley...and his not-so-imaginary friend on the other side of the continent