I did my usual daily stuff... errands on foot, lunch with Philip at Roly Poly Sandwiches, continued working on my fifth BLATHER column for outinamerica.com... but today was really all about waiting for the finale of FRIENDS.

I know I've mentioned this before in my diary, but I didn't always watch FRIENDS. I was one of those cynical people who thought (back in the mid 90's) that FRIENDS couldn't be a smart or worthwhile show because so many people liked it... I just knew if it was that popular it had to be trite. But one of my friends convinced me to go out to a local gay pub on "movie night" when they would show an episode of FRIENDS before showing a full-length motion picture. The episode they showed was the one where Ross marries Emily but says Rachel's name (in May of 1998). I totally identified. I was hooked from that moment on.

I quickly caught up on all the episodes I missed from preceding seasons by way of the numerous syndicating airings of FRIENDS (three or four times a day already at that point). So, I got a concentrated dose of the FRIENDS universe.

Sure, there was a lot of slapstick silliness, but there were just enough genuinely touching and real moments that made me grow to love this show and the characters on it and the actors who portrayed them. I then understood how such a brilliant show could be appreciated by people of various brain capacities... and be ignored by intellectuals and fools alike. I feel so sorry for the people who are unable to "get" FRIENDS. And I feel sorry for the person I was (back in the mid 90's) before letting FRIENDS into my heart and brain.

Lesson learned? You don't necessarily have to start from the beginning of something to get the full benefit of it. I started watching FRIENDS in the middle of its decade-long run but was easily able to catch up. In other words, it's never too late for redemption (don't get me started with Darth Vader analogies).

Okay, was that sufficiently sappy?