I headed home to New York today on a morning flight. Marv, MeiMei and their wonderful hound Nile (who slept nearly on top of me last night), got up at the crack of dawn to drive me to the airport, which was incredibly thoughtful. Sunday morning at SFO is a cakewalk and people are in easy moods. I thought for sure I'd have the luxury of a half full flight and some spacious legroom, despite the knowledge that American Airlines had shot down my upgrade request the night before. At the gate, I heard the words I dread droning from the loudspeaker, "We have a very full flight..." Jesus Mary Joseph and the Donkey they rode in on. My travel karma simply sucks this year.

In the end, it was actually a blessing. I sat next to a man who looked like he had a late night and a few hours sleep (in fact, he had). But he was also good looking and very engaging. He was one of those charming New York types--easy going, funny, a decided point of view and fun to be with. I had dragged along a stack of rag mags to plow through on the flight (and well, a copy of Newsweek to maintain some respectability) , but in the end, he and I spent the entire flight talking. He was totally my kind of guy--the kind you play poker with or shoot the shit with over a beer. He was one of those people you become completely at ease with in short time.

At the end of the flight, we were talking about nicknames and he told me a great story which should be repeated here. He has a close friend named Jimmy that he'd known a long time. The guy had been his best man at his wedding and the godfather to one of his children. Jimmy apparently had a fondness for giving himself nicknames over the years. Because of the propensity, his friends gave him the nickname of Jimmy NoCock. Jimmy apparently accepted this nickname good naturedly, which stayed with him longer than most of his previously adopted monikers. Eventually, there came the occasion when someone said to Jimmy, "Why do you let them call you JimmyNoCock?" Jimmy responded thoughtfully, "It's like when you call a fat guy 'Tiny'."

It's nice to be home.