Ladies and gentlemen, my F.S.O.
I have a friend named Alicia. We dated ('96-'97), so now she's what I call my F.S.O., my Former Significant Other. After we broke up, I began working in Hermiston, Oregon, about 200 miles east of Portland. I remember having a chat with the father of a friend and co-worker; he and I got talking about relationships, and I brought up Alicia as "my ex-girlfriend." And the dad, usually a goofy, jokey guy, gave me a deeply serious look and said "Never call her your ex." And then he was goofy and jokey again. Which got me thinking, "Y'know, 'ex' is harsh, and I don't feel harshly about her -- I'm fond of her, we were a good couple for a year-and-a-half...yeah. Don't call her my 'ex.'" So I coined "F.S.O.," which amused me. It sounded official, almost military. It's an easy shorthand, I think... Anyway, we keep in touch, and we talked last night. Here are a few reasons why I like this woman:
* She read Stephen King's Dark Tower series -- all 3,700 pages of it -- in two weeks. She takes her reading seriously.
* She said the true cause of the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel was not Johnny Depp but Cthulhu. (Personally I still think Naomie Harris had a lot to do with it, but I'm a heterosexual man.)
* She geeked out about getting to see the unused ending to Army of Darkness, which not even I've seen yet.
* She wants Good Omens to be made into a film...with the demon Crowley played by...Danny Elfman. "He played a great devil!" she said. And he did. (Yep, she just saw Forbidden Zone...)
* She read Stephen King's Dark Tower series -- all 3,700 pages of it -- in two weeks. She takes her reading seriously.
* She said the true cause of the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel was not Johnny Depp but Cthulhu. (Personally I still think Naomie Harris had a lot to do with it, but I'm a heterosexual man.)
* She geeked out about getting to see the unused ending to Army of Darkness, which not even I've seen yet.
* She wants Good Omens to be made into a film...with the demon Crowley played by...Danny Elfman. "He played a great devil!" she said. And he did. (Yep, she just saw Forbidden Zone...)
