Dylan

I have a friend named Dylan.

My roommate Mike and I met her when we were moving beds from The Abbey (our old place) to the Boar's Nest in August. We were having some major trouble fitting two bed mattresses, a lamp, chair, and all nine seasons of Seinfeld on our three-wheeled bike.Things weren't not going poorly. We put the mattresses on the bike and it tipped skyward as if B.J. Raji jumped on a teeter-totter.

Then Dylan rolled up. She was on her zoom zoom with a heavy-duty trailer.

Anhong cooking up a mean plate of fried rice.

She said in flawless English, "Do you guys need some help?"
"Are you an angel?" Mike asked.
"No, I'm Dylan."

We piled our junk on her trailer and she spent the next two hours helping us move. Two guys she never met before. She didn't want any tip or payment, just to help.

It turns out Dylan runs a restaurant about 17 stone throws from the Boar's Nest. I go there about twice a week for dinner. Anhong, Dylans' older sister, does all the cooking. She is phenomenal! Just one little wok on a portable stove in a little kitchen and she whips up the best food I've ever had in less then five minutes for less than $1.50.


Galancai siji dou:  green beans cooked with soy sauce, vinegar and a little integrity.
Lao doufu:  tofu fried up with ground pork, some spice and love.
Qiezi roumo:  eggplant that tastes so good it would make Clint Eastwood blush.

Left to right - Dylan, homeless gringo, An Hong.

I made a Nazaritish Vow to not cut my hair or shave my beard until February 13th. I haven't shaved this semester, so I've gotten used to people touching my beard (mostly men) and commenting on how old it makes me look. Dylan utilized the priceless literary device known as the double negative to inform me of my homeless appearance, "You have not become more handsome."

Thanks Dylan.

Tonight at dinner she suggested that I photoshop my "trunk" of a nose in my pictures.

You gotta respect honesty.

Dylan was a professional soccer player for eight years in southern China. And Anhong is a professional in her little non-OSHA-approved kitchen.

I'm so thankful that Abba let our orbits collide.
mijia 米佳