ive met a few fellow bloggers in real life and lots of times its nice to finally hang out with someone who ive read, but in the case of raymi and zulieka it was better than i could have ever imagined.

today z recounts the second time that we met, which also happened to be the day that she discovered that she was pregnant. at the time she was living in beverly hills and looking for work in hollywood.

I woke up that day with a headache and ate bananas and tylenol and went to the beach, then met Tony around two o’clock. I popped 6 or 7 tylenols total carried loosely in my pocket, and Tony must have thought I was a drug addict though he didn’t say anything. For lunch he took me to a restaurant named ironically Fred. Fred 62. I knew something was wrong with me when I couldn’t eat the food I had ordered.

Tony wanted give me an idea of L.A.’s grid so I drove around while he directed for the next four hours. I was starting to feel pretty sick by then, and he periodically asked me in which direction the Pacific Ocean lay to help me get my bearings but despite his pedagogical talents I wasn’t a quick learner. (If you ever DO land in Lalaland though, and you’re lucky enough to get his attention, Tony Pierce is THE best tour guide of this city he so unconditionally loves.)

We pulled over in Venice at a bar and I had two martinis and he had–I can’t remember, maybe a couple of rum and cokes–and I took more tylenol. He confessed that he was 116, and I said incredulously “Holy shit, I don’t believe it. You look about 23 to me.”

Then I thought I was hungry again so we went to a Mexican place and took the food back to his apartment. And again, I knew something was really off-kilter because I had this authentic chicken burrito and I couldn’t eat it. I stuck a fork in it and pulled the fork back out and inspected the tines but it didn’t make it to my mouth.

heres what i remember from that afternoon and evening: i had a great time, zulieka looked waaaay better than in our first meeting and now i realize it was probably because of that maternal glow that everyone always talks about, i didnt care that she kept saying outloud that she might be pregnant i just didnt want her to be drinking if she was, and i really didnt care that she didnt eat her burrito because i took care of that for her in the morn.

we’re all lucky that she has kept her blog going during this magical time in her life.

zulieka + porn happy + michèle changes my rules + wildbell