One of the things I like to do on my days off is to go have breakfast in a cafe and watch all the people who don't work 9 to 5 jobs drift in and out. It's always fascinating to me who can afford hours in the morning hanging out with friends or the paper with no apparent place to be.

Today two women were sitting at the table just next to me, catching up. After awhile, a guy with a ponytail and sunglasses walked in, recognized one of the women and hugged and kissed her, then noticed the other woman and realized he knew her too. He got his coffee and took a seat next to them and started in with the usually niceties.

I didn't really pay much attention for awhile, then began eavesdropping (I like to believe that it's OK for me to listen to other people's conversations as research for future work. But mostly I'm just nosy).

Turns out he is a musician, and he was blathering on about the projects he's working on, with this guy and that guy, and the kind of studio he is looking for and his vision for the next album. Snore. I'm the ex-girlfriend of a musician, and recognize all too well that endless absorption in their own lives; they can tend to monologue about their "projects" for a long, long, long time.

I tuned out, but the next thing I heard was the guy saying:

"I had this girlfriend once, and she asked me if I'd write a song about her. And I said, 'Sure, but I'll have to break up with you first!' Ha ha ha ha ha ha."

I glared over at him. Because that's what my musician boyfriend used to say to me when I asked him the same question. Is that some standard answer they learn in music school or something?