4/13/00
Cast of Characters
I know a lot of people. Sometimes it really amazes me how many people I know, as my childhood was rather solitary. I believe you can't have enough friends.
Hopefully this will help in keeping them all straight.
But before the people, there's
THINGS -
The Hospital - Where I work as an administrative assistant. It's a fascinating place to spend 40 hours a week.
Burning Man - A yearly arts-type festival in the Nevada desert. I went for the first time in 1997, got hooked, and have been very involved with the year-round social and volunteer scene ever since.
Detox-list - Members-only email list I belong to that links a loosely-knit group of individuals who have Burning Man as a common interest. The group's unofficial motto: Sex, Guns and Duct Tape. Detox-list members are marked with an *.
The Greenwood - Where I went to school, 5th-12th grades. Also The Prick's alma mater.
FPEAO - Stands for: Formerly Prominent Environmental Activist Organization. My workplace, and family, for 4 years in the mid-80s.
OK, now the people:
FRIENDS/LOVERS/ETC.: Major Players -
Mac - My long-distance lover (lives in Texas). I met her last fall at Burning Man and we fell in love in spite of the miles between us. A biologist, a Wiccan, a polyamorist, and a very very smart cookie.
Kittyboo - Small, energetic, moody indie-girl, college-radio DJ and adventurer. One of my best friends - she has the gift of making you love her even though she drives you totally batshit. *
Delta - Possesses a very dry wit and a mind sharp enough to poke your eye out. A true friend, reliable, thoughtful and trustworthy. I am lucky to be her friend, especially after our experiment in dating last year didn't work out so well.
The Maestro - Outgoing, hospitable genius, planetary biologist and Mac (the computer) expert. The first real friend I made in my Burning Man phase, and one of the truest friends I've ever had. The lynchpin of the Emeryville breakfast scene.*
Beach - My neighbor at Burning Man in 98. Our friendship has grown slowly and quietly since then. Very sly in her wit; makes chain mail and haunts metaphysical bookstores.
Gigglegirl - We became friends after she sublet my apartment while I was in Nepal. The loudest laugh of anyone, male or female, that I've ever heard. Fortunately, it's infectious too.*
Wallawalla - Belly-dancer, hairstylist and former girlfriend. Since our breakup last summer we've tried to be friends; maybe we'll be successful someday. I care about her a lot still.*
Redhead Dancer - Ex-girlfriend who teaches aerobics at the Berkeley Y. Funny and sparkling and a person of great vitality.
Sheena - One of my three longest-standing friends in California. Smart, tough, 6 ft. tall with an attitude, ex-hippie girl/Deadhead. Gemini like me. Mr. Bone's sister. Part of the FPEAO family.
Mr. Bone - Another of my three longest-standing friends in CA. Good-hearted, capable, a world-class yipper, will be late to his own funeral. Another Gemini - his birthday is the day after mine. Part of the FPEAO family.
Fuhged - The third of my three longest-standing friends in CA. Aspiring actor of Assyrian descent, ex-railroad worker, missed his calling as a midway barker in a carnival. Part of the FPEAO family.
Wiseguy - My twice-monthly writing partner. Has a smart-ass comment ready for any occasion, and knows how to change a flat in record time.
Lambswool - Part of the FPEAO family, author and long-standing friend. Tough on the outside, soft and sexy on the inside, and very dedicated to her writing. We've recently resumed our dating/friends relationship after a gap of almost 7 years.
Terriergirl - One of the few friends I have from my years in the software industry. Short, sparkly, fast-talking, and veddy veddy English.
FRIENDS/LOVERS/ETC.: Not-so-major Players -
Goatprincess - My unofficial sponsor to the detox-list, Reiki master and water-ballet organizer. We dated for a little while and settled into being good friends. She's very very cool and very very sweet. *
Artful - Kittyboo's boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend, depending on which month you read this). He could put Humpty Dumpty back together again.*
Foolonthehill - Goatprincess's housemate. Quiet, thoughtful, and bearded, he keeps his own counsel. And he likes to blow things up. *
J1/J2 - Couple that loaned me their cats for a few months.
Lifeguard - Massage therapist who I was sort-of dating late last year. *
P2 - Wallawalla's sometimes bellydancing partner.
Academic - Friend and occasional writing partner. Works at Grace Cathedral in SF, self-described as an Episco-pagan.*
The Prick - High school classmate and author of literate trash. My love-hate relationship with him predates my first pubic hair.
Wife Author - The Prick's wife, well-known for her own books.
Bwitch - Prominent member of the detox-list scene. We tried dating with disastrous results. Currently near the top of my shit-list due to her poorly-developed rejection and communication methods.*
Yaki - Artist, performer of way-out music, owner of one of the most devastating wits I've ever known - were she to use it as a weapon we'd all be dead. Went to Reed with The Maestro.*
Poundcake - Local poly group matriarch.
Poisongal - Fellow member of my writer's group.
WORK -
Redsea - One of my favorite co-workers at The Hospital.
A. - Hospital co-worker, my nearest desk-neighbor. She prefers her spot next to the window to a private office, bless her.
CARE PROVIDERS -
Baldie - Acupuncturist. I started seeing him last fall on my sister's recommendation. He's good at what he does, and very funny too.
The Crane - Bodyworker specializing in Rosen method. Tall, quiet, and an odd mixture of gawky and elegant.
ANIMALS -
Ofalturn - On-loan cat. The sluttily affectionate one.
Guissyrt - On-loan cat. The sensitive one.
FAMILY -
Yes, I have one, but they don't figure very heavily in the day-to-day narrative. Enough to have given them names, anyway, beyond:
Sister - lives in Oakland too. We both have busy lives and don't see much of each other, or even talk a lot these days. She's a holistic health-care practitioner, concentrating on the interaction between mind and body, and very good at what she does.
Mother - lives in Pennsylvania, in the house that she and my father bought over 50 years ago. I'm currently not speaking to her while I work on some very difficult issues related to her.
Brother 1 - lives in Salt Lake City with his wife and her two sons. Haven't spoken to him in over a year and I sense that we're drifting apart. I call him Brother 1 even though he's my second-oldest brother because he's my favorite - whatever that means in this family.
Brother 2 - lives near Boston. He's the oldest, at 13 years older than me. He's a prick and I haven't talked to him in over 4 years. Don't see much point in it, as we don't have a lot to say to each other.
Brother 3 - the next oldest to me. Lives in the woods in New Hampshire. He more than anyone made my childhood hell and I've never really gotten past that with him.
