Oral

Edinburgh, 1973

Truly an odd couple—the aimless rebel and the aspiring medievalist.

Touring ‘Fair Albion’ on a shoestring. The trip had gotten off to a rocky start but by the time we made it to Scotland things had improved—somewhat. She did manage a smile or two, but it quickly became obvious to the both of us that our relationship would never be the same.

Once the bond was broken all those little quirks which we once found adorable in each other quickly became insufferable. Vanity prohibits me from enumerating mine, but her disgusting fixation of chewing on some ratty shards of her acrylic ‘blue bankie’ soured any remaining enjoyment I might have had on the trip. She used it to fulfill the same needs as Linus Van Pelt did with his ‘security blanket’ in the Peanuts comic strip.

When we chanced upon The Blue Blanket public house in Edinburgh, I thought it would be amusing to snap a picture. I suggested that we dine there, but she perceived it (and rightly so) as a thinly veiled insult.

We came back to the States and even lived together for another eighteen months. The ‘blue bankie’ finally disintegrated completely, as did our relationship. Both our lives really began then—she went off to Harvard Law School and a degree, I got married and pursued various artistic interests.