Mr. Daniel Levine wrote to me this week after he read Thoughts From My Early Twenties.  He wanted to talk about The Ring.  He said he had other things to say but he wanted to start with The Ring.  The kid is so well-spoken – I don’t know why he doesn’t pick up the pen more often.

Writes my dear friend:

In The Ring I like the line, “Even if she was laughing just to be polite I at least got to see her teeth.” It lends to the infatuation.  The level or degree of smile.  She didn’t grin or smirk.  She smiled wide enough to see her teeth.  The flash of pearly whites was more relevant than his friend’s advice or a ring on her finger.  Wrong as it may be, and knowingly so, it gave him a feeling in his gut that trumped logic and reasoning.  And fuck my rusty sheriff’s badge if we ain’t all been there.

I like that it takes that turn in the middle and they’re back and forth and it’s biting yet clearly genuine and loving.  I enjoyed that a lot.  The two friends of opposite relationship status and possibly mental status on “one of those nights,” but it’s understood that their connection is strong and that they make each other a priority.  And the “she was definitely not wearing a ring tonight” line was the fuck you knock-out punch that said, “Let me think, let me wallow, let me work this out on my own time. I know how this story ends but let me take this ride.”

Rock on, buddy.