strangers

this morning i was asked to research an art critic for biographical info, so into google i dove. this is one of my favorite things. digging up things about people i've never met. usually it is someone i'm about to consider a potential coupling with, so the first date can be probed for lies and surprises. this time a potential professional aquaintance. i found the bio as usual, an episode of CSI (that i think didn't actually belong to him), and a picture of his back as he looked out over the balcony of his waitlisted rent controlled apt., and another picture of him on an art magazine site. finally! i knew what this person looked like. different than i expected though. anyway, i'm on my way to lunch, and out of the corner of my eye, i spotted him across the street smoking a cigarette! no way i thought. this never happens. i felt like a bonafide spy. alas, i could not say hello, as that would break all the modern social norms of networking and professionalism. maybe one day he will think it's a funny story...