Dinner with Sheepie

I finally had a chance to catch up with Sheepie over dinner at NYDC at Wheelock Place. It has been somewhat of a challenge considering that she has been bouncing all over the place. She recently spent a month or so in Istanbul, much to my envy, where she was carrying out research for a paper she is writing. A few days from now, she is heading over to Yemen to learn Arabic. It is really wonderful that we share such a deep interest in the Middle East and much else besides.

Sheepie is always wonderful because she has such a joy for life. She's full of infectious laughter and optimism. That's hard to come by these days in an increasingly cynical world. I find that we can talk about almost anything - relationships, dreams of doing a Phd, books, movies, the Middle East and a mutual love of traveling. I do hope I don't get too carried away sometimes. I joked that ultimately I am a bad influence though - the past two times we've met for lunch/dinner came almost in the immediate aftermath of her getting dumped (in one case without having actually gotten together with anyone!).

To top a nice evening off, we got to share a free mudpie thanks to a DBS card promotion (with more than $30 spent). I absolutely dig mudpies and NYDC desserts. Just the guilty pleasure needed to crown a pleasurable evening of conversation.