We were 23, 24, and she said she was sad because she knew she'd have an ordinary life, and I said that greatness came from within, and she could step into something incredible at almost any moment, it just took a slight shift in perspective and commitment to the dream, a certain recklessness that disdained all normative achievement, which was - and in this she was right, although I didn't say it - clearly out of reach for average dullards like ourselves who had no talent, drive, connections or luck, never mind ambition.

Time proved she was right, as she usually was, and she mapped out a decent, secure future that's now mostly in the past, with everything expected in her class.

I did worse, of course, but still feel I've lived, and live, a remarkable life on the margins, one marked by self-indulgence and contentment, albeit mostly within my own head and inexplicable to sensible people like her.