Yesterday we got together with my friend Ellen. One of the (many) things I like about Ellen is that she always pushes our boundaries with her suggestions for what to do. She’s the one who took me cross-country skiing before Benji was born, and left me practically unable to walk for like a week (the blog post title: “A Litany of Aches.” Ah, good times). She invites me and Benji to parks in the city of Seattle that we otherwise never would go to. She encourages me to eat odd things and try tea I wouldn’t normally have. It’s good to have this kind of friend.