With the Porkchop out of town, I’ve been spending some time catching up with friends… friends who I’ve known ever since I moved out here, who have since graduated and moved. So today I went up to Boston for some shopping and dinner with E.

We met her “boyfriend” for dinner. I put it in quotes because according to her they haven’t decided what to call this thing that they are doing… they like each other, they spend all their time with each other, they basically live together, but calling it something would be just too much, too soon, lol.

At dinner, her guy and I ended up laughing over which of her friends don’t like us (me, for no real reason, and him because he’s apparently a little “crass”). During this conversation, I brought up his old roommate, who, if you remember, did this to me last May.

He looked at me, stunned.

You mean you don’t.

I in turn, looked at him, stunned.

Are you kidding?

You don’t have it? I thought you did. E said..

And we both looked at her.

E, what’s he talking about? What does he think I’m sick? You did tell her [his roommate], didn’t you? You told me you told her and to stop lying about it and that you talked to him [her guy] and that..

OK, it’s my fault. You shouldn’t be mad at her [the roommate], I thought you were. I heard it from such-and-such professor and..

What? I told you. We’ve talked about this. You know that I had an allergic reaction. E, what’s going on?

At this point she claimed sickness and headed to the bathroom.

I stared into my drink, wondering if this is what shock felt like.

I’m really angry right now, he said. I don’t know what’s going on, but I guess now isn’t the time to talk about it.

I’m so angry right now, I said, but I don’t really know what to say. I’ve talked to her, she knew, I asked her to set your roommate straight and she said she did. I don’t really know what to say right now.

She came back, claiming to have thrown up, saying it was the tequila or the fish tacos, and we paid and left.

He and I talked on the way back to the car, about mundane things, the weather, the walk and the crazy streets of Cambridge.

She was mostly quiet.

As I drove home, I felt an unbelievable sense of loss.

I am devastated, crushed and still in shock.

I guess I always thought I knew how to pick good friends. We’ve known each other for almost four years. We traveled together to Ireland, I’ve seen her through three boyfriends and the loss of a good friend, and while I knew she had a tendency for embellishment, it never occurred to me that she would so blatantly lie to my face.

And not just once, but several times.

I’ve been running a list of questions in my mind all night… did I make her mad somehow? did I embarass her? did I hurt her in any way? Every answer I have is no.

What I do know is that those who lie always have a reason. Not a good one, not even one that makes sense, but a reason. And in cases where it’s so incredibly hurtful and false, it can only be because that person is trying to not only hurt the other, irrevocably, but to discredit them as well.

I don’t know what I did, or why she is jealous? or angry? or just plain mad? But I do know that at that moment, when I realized that she had been lying to me and about me for months, I felt completely and utterly alone.

I like CNet. It’s entertaining, smart and I love how readers can comment on stories.

So I’ve been following the story of James Kim since he and his family were reported missing last week. And I was so happy they found his wife and daughters on Monday, and so sad when they found his body today.

It appears that he, like his father who hired helicopters and then purchased and had dropped several care packages along the route they believed Kim was traveling in Oregon, was willing to do whatever it took to save his family.

They stayed in the car for several days, burning tires for heat, before he set out on Saturday, looking for help. He traveled eight miles, and sadly ended up less than a 1/2 mile from the car.

He was a good reporter, highly entertaining, and obviously a good father.

I was really hoping they’d find him alive and it’s so sad they didn’t.

Update: CNet has a video up. I think one of the reasons I liked him was ’cause he’s a little bit nerdy, kinda like me.