Another Archival Nugget

Today's alternate email from the depths of a soon to be deceased email account is to a different girl in a different situation. I realize I'm taking the blogging to an overly selfish area with this stuff, but it's a strange and wonderful thing to be able to read what you wrote to people 10 years ago.

rolling tamborine men and a perfect day toastTuesday, March 26, 2002 11:18 PM

well then...
i just finished running, i thought about a lot and nothing. i raced a train. the train left me with a valuable metaphor, which i'll now relate.

approximately 3.5 miles into my run, a familiar chug pushes it's way over my breath and into my ears. my first impulse is to speed up, out there even i can become competitive. the engine passes me by in no time. i'm feeling vaguely annoyed.
trains are loud and rigid. they go where they are told, and they have no appreciation for beauty. the trail i'm on runs parallel to the tracks for another two miles, no matter what happens i decide, i will beat this train to the point where our paths divide.
i notice the pace of the train slowing...naturally i accelerate. the train moves at or near my speed for about a quarter mile, then slows to a stop. victory? i remember what vencil smiley once told me "hot pockets, never count your chickens before they move out of your house and get a full time job." i focus, i know god can be tricky. i'm gaining ground on the engine, and only half a mile to our separation point.
at almost the exact moment that i pass the engine i hear the breaks release, this fucker means business. i'm just a quarter of a mile from the goal, and i have a safe three hundred yards on the machine, but i can hear him loud and clear. this train wants to win. about fifty yards from the finish i realize that i'm sprinting...thinking maybe i'm a little carried away. just as i make the turn i hear the whistle blow, but i've won by a clear second and a half.
i like to think dinah blew the horn in honor of my victory, it probably had a little more to do with the fact that an intersection was rapidly approaching and all trains blow their horns there, but i figured i deserved a favorable mis-interpretation.

that may be a metaphor, but now that i've bothered to relate it, it just seems confusing. realize i decided to write about that while it was happening, and it seemed like a much better idea then.

in response to your deal: i must explain that i make no title distinction between "friends" and "more than friends". the two are not all that different for me. you are my friend, and i've thought about you a lot. i think your changing faster than you are prepared for, and i know you'll handle it fine, if you remember to think.

i'm here and i'm very versatile. office hours are flexible, call whenever necessary.