Cafe Leila

I went with Christina to her art group meeting. The group meets monthly at Cafe Leila. That's a Berkeley coffee house with a mellow atmosphere: good food, spacious premises, and a garden/patio area out back. We usually sit inside, but it's relaxing to look out the windows at the greenery.

When we arrived, there were a group of girls dressed in pink arguing with the owners of the cafe, who are Muslims. The girls were Christians trying to convert the Unbelievers. The Unbelievers tolerated their missionary zeal with good grace until the obnoxious little group finally gave up and trudged away to harass someone else. It's so rude to attempt to browbeat someone into your way of thinking, especially a perfect stranger, but these girls have been bathed in the blood of the Lamb so what else can they do? So young, so misguided. One just hopes they'll see the light in good time and drop the whole Jesus thing. One also hopes they'll drop the pink wardrobe.

Besides Christina and myself, only one other person showed up, Cheryl. The smallness of the gathering was nice for me because it gave me an opportunity to get to know her better. The three of us talked about everything under the sun and I loved it. It felt so luxurious, just sitting there wiling away the time with good food and conversation. Christina and Cheryl spent a long time discussing Japanese pens and sable paint brushes. It was fun to listen to them ooh and ah over the soft silken feel of sable and how excellent the brushes are, even though expensive.

From there, we went on to the American Civil War, Walt Whitman and Mary Chesnut. I didn't know who she was. Cheryl explained that she was a Confederate woman who kept a comprehensive diary throughout the war. Then we talked about art on the Web and copyright issues. I can't remember what other subjects came up. All I know is that the conversation flowed easily from one thing to another in the way it does when everyone is enjoying herself. When we finally left the cafe, I felt more refreshed than when I arrived.