the love fest continues...

when i was oh, about fifteen, i met a boy named ryan lash who was travelling in nz from canada. he was a vegan and he took lots of pictures. he switched his pants with a friend of mine - the reason for this evades me now - but after this event we lovingly gave him the nickname 'pants'. because we new zealander's are super original and creative like that. ryan and i have weaved in and out of each other's lives ever since. he has many a time offered to get on a plane and break some knee-caps, and i kept vigil by his bed in the hospital in israel when he was sick with malaria. he put up with marabeth and i when we forced him to take glamour shots of us (complete with fan we set up to blow our hair back) and i put up with his lankiness.

the other day it was ryan's birthday. i nearly forgot because i now rely on facebook too heavily. and facebook didn't inform me of this event. although it manages to tell me everyday about yet another annoying 'what kind of zombie are you?' application that i am not - read my lips - interested in adding to my profile. and for that matter, no i will not rate your 'hotness' or take your 'survey to see if our musical tastes match so we should be soulmates' quiz. i might take you up on your offer to play scrabulous. but i've been known to be a fickle competitor who plays consistently for a few days and then drops off the face of the earth when i can't figure out a way to use 'z' for a triple letter score.

but i digress.

ryan visited me for about ten days at the beginning of june. it was so great to have him right here. not a zillion miles away in some dusty village (which i'm making sound lame, but in all reality was probably a thousand times more exciting than wherever i was). it had been far too long since we had inhabited the same patch of earth but as he's been traveling to 18 countries in the past year alone, he has been a little preoccupied. and as he reminds me, constantly, i haven't made the effort to be where he is. this is a sore point. but he forgives me because he has to. afterall, i was the one who chased down the israeli nurses when his iv ran out of fluids and started sucking the blood OUT of his arm. which basically means i saved his life.

the other thing about ryan lash is that he is the kevin costner (thanks anjali) bacon of the baha'i world. that whole 'six degrees of separation' thing? you could totally do that with ryan. everyone knows him, or knows someone who knows him, or wants to know him. i could put you all out of your misery and tell you that he's overrated and not worth knowing. but that would be a bold face lie.

ryan lash is one of my best friends and though i constantly threaten to kick him in the shins, i would be lost without him.

happy birthday old man.

x