Gullible, and Updates

When I was in college at San Francisco State, I became friends with Deanna, another ceramics student. I'm sure we seemed alike at first glance: long brown hair, thin, young, quiet, art chicks. But we were different in some ways. She was a vegetarian (ovo-lacto), and I am a gleeful meat-eater. She was a double-major, ceramics and psychology, Golden Key Scholar, and worked at the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. I was pure art-major, and though I got good grades I don't think I was nearly as studious as I could have been, and aside from a couple of months working at Discount Fabrics on Irving, I only worked during the summer, at a series of temp office jobs and a few weird temp jobs. Like counting passengers in the cars on the Golden Gate Bridge. That is another story.

Deanna and I carpooled on a ceramics department road trip to the Lincoln Clay Pipe Factory, along with Gona, the department hippie freak. Gona slept, and on the drive out Deanna told me how Stewart, her current boyfriend, thought she was so gullible. "He thinks I will believe anything, he told me there are buffalo in Golden Gate Park!"

I said, "well, there are buffalo in Golden Gate Park"

"You, too! There are not!"

"Yes, there are, a herd of them."

"Right. What, just roaming around the park?"

"No, they live in the buffalo paddock. Look, when we get back, we have to drive through the park to get to my house, so I'll just detour over there and show you the buffalo."

But we ended up giving not only Gona, but also Jeff Downing a ride back from Lincoln, and Jeff convinced us all that we needed to detour to coastal Marin for tequila shots before returning to the City (Deanna and I did not drink the tequila, Deanna because she does not drink and I because I was driving), so by the time we got back it was late at night, and the park was pitch black. I drove Deanna past the completely inky dark field, and pointed into the nothingness, and said "see? Buffalo." Deanna wasn't impressed or convinced.

A few weeks passed, and one day Deanna runs breathlessly into my little ceramic hideaway under the stairs, and says "you won't believe it, I was riding my bike through Golden Gate Park, and I turned a corner and THERE WERE ALL THESE BUFFALO!"

Just like I said. I know sometimes my stories seem a bit far-fetched, and I may dramatize a teensy bit, but I don't LIE.

Anyway, Deanna is now married with two girls, and living back in her hometown of Auburn CA, but she emailed me this week to say she will be in Chicago next week. We haven't seen each other since February of 2000, when she was pregnant with Lily Rose and I was planning my marriage to Michael. Even hugely pregnant she could lap me at the pool. Let's hope the weather is decent enough to drive up to Chicago.

In other news

My cousin, Michael C, went in for tests last week, after 6 weeks of aggressive chemo treatment, and the scans show that the tumors have grown by 30%. This is hard news. Although I knew the chances were low that this would reverse the growth of his cancer, I hadn't expected to hear it would be worse. They will wait a few weeks to let his body recover from the last treatment, and then begin another, more aggressive treatment.

I've been making stitch markers for my knitting, and having fun with them. Today I went and picked up a few more findings to make some more sets ...

These are what I made with some toggle clasps and findings, beads and charms that I happened to have on hand.

Arabella still really likes being an older sister, and Sabine is growing. Fast.

And yes, it is really stinking cold, here. My poor Southern blood is about to ice over. I am amazed that my father hasn't called every day to tell me that this is further proof (to him) that global warming is a hoax. I just have two words: seat warmers. The Honda has them and I love 'em.