David Braun

Of course I want to meet anyone who wants to meet me. Do you really live in Puebla, Mexico? That would make meeting a little more difficult, but it could happen. It sounds like our lives are roughly parallel already… cooking, gardens, house revamping, teaching, travels (even some identical destinations).

I would be more than happy to discuss cooking with you. I have some clearly defined ideas and some good references.

So, gobsmacked…. are you Irish?

Just read about your conversation with Husband and I’d like to talk about cooking, especially with someone who REALLY knows. I think I can cook, but I’m more improvising than knowing. So, for me David Braun seems a cool guy to hang out with.

I was sifting through some threads here on 43 things when I noticed a bunch of posts by Husband. I also noticed that he was from Bakersfield. You might want to check out my post on Bakersfield

http://www.43places.com/people/progress/dbraun/1412690

to get an understanding that it is not your usual sort of town. I have been stuck here on business for the past 4 months and have great difficulty finding intelligent people with which to have dinner.

So I invited him. Cold. No preamble, just “Hey, I’m from 43 things; let’s eat.” He said “yes, what about tomorrow. I’ll bring my girlfriend” That’s my kind of can-do personality.

We decided on Indian food and met up outside the restaurant, but let’s cut to the chase: the food was great, the conversation lovely, the camaraderie friendly and warm… now about Husband. (I didn’t actually call him “husband”, he was kind enough to give me his real name, but I don’t want to out him here without his permission.)

Husband is an amazingly goal oriented guy. He has it all written down. Days are planned and orchestrated. This guy has a plan. That’s good because most people I meet just drift. Even the intelligent ones, the ones who could make a plan still float between encounters with life. Not Husband he knows right where he is going and how to get there.

He is a little apologetic that parts of his plan haven’t been enacted on the schedule he dreamed up. I think that’s just fine. It’s how the universe communicates with us and tells us to lighten up a little.

It was interesting having three people at dinner. On the one hand, in our 3 hours together, I learned less about Husband simply because time was spent also getting to know a third person, but on the other hand, his girlfriend is a Bakersfield native and I loved dwelling on the insider insights that are so elusive in this town.

Eating dinner and telling stories is one thing, but you really have to get out and do stuff to get to truly know a person. Hopefully we will meet up again and pick an activity that brings out our personalities more fully…. Maybe we’ll cook a meal. I’ll keep all y’alls posted.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006 we met in front of Bakersfield’s Taj Mahal Cuisine of India, off California Ave.

David and I are about the same height and weight, which surprised me. His photo indicated he would be heavier, and I “assumed” he’d be taller than my 5’6”. His is obviously a recent photo, the one you see displayed here.

Appearently David has a hobby involved around, and participates in a group concerning fine dining. Just listening to him discuss various methods of preparing good food, and his tales of having sampled the better places, left me speechless.

If you are fortunate enough to dine with him, do not attempt to pull the wool over him concerning this subject because David appears to be an expert.

And, his conversational skills were so interesting and stimulating that 3.5 hours flew by in less than 45 minutes (or so it seemed).

I felt so lucky after this that I purchased a lotto ticket, something I do maybe once every 2 months.

The number one reson I want to meet “Husband” is that he lives in Bakersfield. There is a dearth of interesting people in this town and “Husband” has quickly risen to the top of the list of people to meet.

I like your style and want to see your photography

Ok… I finally figured it out (I am new to this). It was unclear to me how you said “why you wanted to meet someone”.

Now that the technology is all straightened out….

Thanks for the coment on my list, so of course I checked out your list and liked your style. Probably, we will never actually meet, but it is nice to know there are people moving in a similar direction. I like seeing your name in my “to meet” people so I have a bookmark to check on what the future holds for you.

Good luck on grad school and you really should get that fiddle fixed :)