Because life should be a date. Uh, what does that mean, exactly?

There is no exactly and it's important to say that up front. Your life as a date may be very different from my idea of what is date-worthy in life. OK, let me explain.

There I am shimmying up to the fish counter at the supermarket with my guy pal, Paolo, a librarian and blues musician. Mean enough on the harmonica to make you cry, that's Paolo. We're walking-talking pals and ours is the kind of friendship where you let it all hang out, sometimes pissing one another off, backing off, and then coming together afterward. This is how we know that anything other than a pal-ship wouldn't work.

So, when we're good, we're great together. "I'd make a great husband, wouldn't I?" says Paolo. "I mean here I am. We're food shopping. What could be more husband-like than this?"

I glance at him and smirk; you've got to smirk when he does his bragging thing. "Half a pound of the jumbo shrimps," I say to the woman behind the counter. "Please."

"Who's the lucky dinner guest?" Paolo asks me.

"Me. It's all about me," I say.

"So, you're having a date with yourself," he says.

That's when it clicked. This is life as a date.The whole deal. Being good to yourself every way you can. Eating, playing, hanging with folks who bolster your spirit, challenge you in good ways, support you when you're down, and even yell at you occasionally.

And when they're not around you've got your built-in self to hang with, talk out loud to in the mirror while you're brushing your teeth, and yell at to get to the gym. That ain't so bad.