"Oh what a beautiful - beautiful day!" I shouted at the top of my lungs ... to myself of course. I felt like screaming it aloud, but I didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention as usual.

I was walking down, or up the avenue, I'm not too sure of the difference or who decides such things. With me was my new acquaintance Denise. I guess you could call it a date. She was young and extremely attractive despite her best efforts to conceal her beauty. She wore little or no make-up, I really couldn't tell. Her dress was casual in a style I'm sure was all the rage a decade ago. She had long thin blonde hair that she haphazardly pinned up leaving little strands to hang over her Clark Kent glasses, which I'm guessing weren't even prescription. I suppose she thought they made her appear hip or maybe intellectual. Whatever the reason I could tell she was a Barbie Doll in disguise and I planned to unmask her the first chance I got ... hopefully this evening. I don't like to invest too much time in such pursuits.

I was waiting for something to say. I had only met her a few days earlier and wasn't passed the awkwardness of being completely myself, which in my case was probably for the best. I always seemed to do better in relationships when I slowly reveal my true personality. You know a little here a little there ... but never the whole thing.

Finally the strange silence was broke. Suddenly it seemed I had been assigned the role of entertainer. This suited me just fine since I usually find other people's interests quite boring and that's when they can actually make up their minds on what they really want to do. I've wasted a large portion of my life waiting and waiting for people to decide.

"Daniel?" She asked without looking up from her feet.

"Yes"

"I want to do something new today," she slowly raised her eyes to mine.

"Something exciting!"

"Isn't an afternoon walk downtown (uptown?) with me exciting enough?" I replied with a bit of cockiness.

"Of course, but you know what I mean, something new ... pleeese." half smiling in a type of whining voice that was cute for now but would probably be excruciatingly annoying after a few years, or perhaps a couple more hours.

"No I don't know what you mean, new to you, new to us, or something that no one else in the history of the world has ever done before?" I replied with a smug smile at my ability to completely dissect her sentence in a way that seemed witty but would probably be excruciatingly annoying in a few years, or perhaps a couple more minutes.

She remained silent. I guess she has yet to learn the art of stroking someone's ego with laughter.

Then I asked, "Have you ever been to The Deedle Stephens Gallery?"