"A Small World, Indeed"

It’s weird how life is interwoven. It’s weird how life is so chaotic and complex. It’s weird that we find order in disorder. It’s weird that simplicity is the most beautiful thing of all (slightly ahead of symmetry).

And it’s just fucking nuts that my neighbor downstairs in Venice was roommates in NYC with my NYC roommate’s good friend and assistant chef at Franny’s in Brooklyn. What the fuck!?!

My neighbor and I have been running parallel lives now for almost two years.

He lived in Brooklyn for a 1 ½ years during the same time I did. He lived in Park Slope that entire time. He lived with the aforementioned assistant chef the entire time.

I lived in Brooklyn for 1 ½ years. I lived in Park Slope the entire time. I lived with the executive chef of Franny’s.

Our two roommates were great friends. My roommate talked about his roommate all the time – how he was the only one he trusted to run Franny’s when he wasn’t around. Trust and cooking go hand and hand. (As does trust and love, but that’s a whole different subject.)

My new neighbor and I both chilled at Franny’s innumerable times. We both became friendly with the other person’s roommate’s friend (who was the other person’s roommate!). (I know: confusing!)

We, however, never crossed paths in New York.

We both felt out of place in NYC.

We both decided to pack our bags and move to California.

We both decided to live in Venice.

We both landed on the same street in Venice.

We both landed in a blue building. The same building – he on the first floor; I on the second.

Two months or so after being neighbors we figured out we both lived in Brooklyn, in Park Slope. Crazy. A few blocks away. Solid.

It was when we connected on Facebook today that we realized how connected we both were.

We just thought we both lived in Park Slope a few blocks from each other. Turns out we were very connected.

More often than not, things in life seem random. There are instances like this that make things seem less random and really small.

Either way I marvel at the mystery that is life. It’s just weird.