Monday, Dec. 01, 2003 | 10:33 AM

It was nice to hang out with Angus yesterday evening and I feel much better now that I made the decision to no longer have any romantic involvement with him. I adore him and he is, besides my sister Beth, the best friend I have ever had. We�ve been through lots of bad times and lots of good. I am pretty sure that he will be someone that I can still call when I�m forty and we�ll go out and bring the night to its knees. I am glad that we got to have our little affair and have it be done with because it�s certainly been simmering for years and it was hott as hell�something I will always look back on with tremendous fondness. But we aren�t right for each other romantically and I�ve always known that at some level. We goad each other into bad behavior�drinking too much and being jackasses. Our relationship is carnal and debaucherous and all kinds of other wonderful stuff, but it�s not conducive to �Real Life� if that makes sense. I have a feelingthat if we made things official and continued on, we�d wind up in some slacker version of who�s Afriad of Virginia Wolf.

Anyway, this all works out beautifully since one of his extra curricular activities looks as though it might turn into something more than that and honestly I am really glad for him. Unlike his last girlfriend, the crazy Brittney Spears worshipping fundamentalist Christian, this girl is a fantastic person and I like her a lot. She has a nice stabilizing influence on Angus�he seems more grounded hen he�s around her. The only thing I worry about is that his pattern has always been to jump headlong into relationship after relationship which strikes me as profoundly stupid. I hope he takes it slow with this one. I love him and I want him to be happy.

I wrote Matt (Boy from the bus) back today and I listened to his CD on the way into work. Jesus it�s really good. He has a magnificent voice. I�m not really sure who I can even compare his band to. Matt has great taste in music. That was how we first started talking. We both agreed that people who only listen to indie rock usually suck big time. Matt loves Nick Drake and the Beatles and Etta James and the Velvets and Sonic Youth and Beck and The Carpenters and he has a weakness for big seventies rock like Journey. It made me really happy that he could admit that with a straight face. I think it�s our guilty pleasures that make us interesting. He appreciates The Shins and Guided By Voices but doesn�t love them. I think I am going to make him a mix.

In other news, I read Cash by Johnny Cash and I dug it beyond all reason. Highly entertaining. Oh, and if you haven�t seen The video for his version of Hurt then you really should because it�s so moving and vulnerable and honest that I bet you a million dollars you�ll be in tears by the end.