It's a bad news / good news situation.

The bad news is that my best friend from high school was in a terrible traffic accident last week, and is recovering from his injuries and several surgeries in Massachusetts General. I drove out to see him this weekend, and between trauma, sedatives and painkillers, there's not much of him responding at the moment. I believe his condition is still critical, after nearly a full week.

So that's the bad news. The good news is my Utilikilt was a hit in the I.C.U. I was visiting and trying to get a response out of him when a flawlessly put-together nurse from, I believe, India (whose name I later learned is Diamond) stopped in, saying, "I had to tell you, all of us on the staff love the kilt think you look terrific in it."

Naturally, before I left, my friend's wife got a "prom picture" of the two of us.