by the way, it's friday

last night, i was at a bar with a friend when a stranger said to me, "by the way, i like your wolf t-shirt."

well, it wasn't my t-shirt (though that's not going to stop me from wearing it again today). but what i appreciated about that sentence was the by the way.  nothing had come before the compliment. nothing came after.

but it got me thinking, why don't we start more conversations this way? especially with strangers. it's so much more intimate. it makes it sound like what you have to say is so much more valuable. and you could probably unleash some great honest gems with it.

by the way, it's not polite to speak to your busser that way. or, keep it friendly, by the way, that's a great lipstick shade for you.

aren't we all just in the middle of one big convesation anyway? if we'll never connect with 98 percent of the people we meet further than one or two sentences aren't all our remarks by the ways?

this is coming from a girl that no longer has a solid grasp on the spoken english language.

yesterday on the way to the bar, i commented to my friend how it would be fun to see a graffiti artist actually at work. one of my favorite things to do while waiting for the subway is looking to see how all the movie posters have been defaced. it's never anything brilliant. jennifer aniston is missing a tooth. george clooney has zombie eyes. you know, usual stuff. but it's funny.

my friend looked at me and said, "you realize you just said, 'i wanna see it when they do that stuff to those things.'"

clearly, i am best when edited.