How could I forget...She *always* smells good to me! Some people just smell right to us. She's one of my favorite scents. :P

Here it goes...I have tried many times to write this most amazing being a testimonial. If these were Victorian times I would just lavish her in flowers with beautiful meanings. We'd sit around having tea surrounded by all of our plants and fabrics, discussing the meanings of words and the plants. :)

I adore Promise! She make me feel all warm and snuggly. Few people posses the fiery energy and grounded earth energy this Goddess radiates. She speaks her mind, which I respect. She walks the walk...and can she ever talk the talk! Promise has a way with words that I admire greatly!

Besides, she's a Virgo... and I can't seem to live with out my Virgo's.

I love you lots!

You're just beautiful. Period.
Nothing more needs to be said.

Promise is as Promise does. The bottom line is that I trust her to always speak her truth regardless of the consequences and in spite of the opinions or protests of anyone else. She is impeccable with her word and strong in her beliefs and stead fast in her loyalty to friends. If ever I were to be drawn into conflict I would want her at my back to defend me from arrows and other sharp pointy things that may be flung at me.

Promise and I share a love for dancing and most things other folks might find to be nerdy. She is dedicated to making the world just a little bit better through setting a good example and doing her best to make a real difference.

Promise is fun, generous in spirit, and sensitive to a fault. It is her sensitivity and humility that makes her a real person who I can turn to for compassion and wisdom. I am happy and proud to have her as a friend.

i don't know why, but each time i've started to write this,
my brain stops at this: self-portrait in a convex mirror.

first, my favorite book of poems is entitled just that:
Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, by John Ashbery.
the poems are erudite yet plain. complicated yet simple.
mundane but also breath taking.

when i first read them, they made me feel important:
perhaps because most of the poems turned my brain into an absolute pretzel.
or perhaps because there are passages about old men peeing,
worms in the compost, you know, deep thoughts about everyday things.
but perhaps because the language was so haunting and beautiful,
almost painting that perfect picture of melancholia, just never quite.

what's most significant about these poems, however,
is that i carried them with me for almost 5 years:
each new day i put them in my backpack & carried them along.
at night, i put them on my night stand.
they accompanied me to europe & back.

second: have you seen a convex mirror?
i mean, have you taken a moment to examine
the utterly bizarre reality that boomerangs back at you
each and every time you peak & expect to see yourself?

uncanny.

even as i write this, i want to say: Promise and i are so different.
but here's the correction, or, the catch: Promise and i act so different.

having you in my life, Promise, is like looking into a convex mirror:
when i look, i find an uncanny version of myself,
complete with a broader and quirkier perspective ;-)

the experience makes me laugh.
makes me think.
makes me appreciate.

Promise is the wind that blew in from San Francisco to the Beach that fateful night. I had heard she was the Chill inclined director of the Chillage at the Beach and I wanted to provide musics for the masses therein. Hookah in hand, she was instrumental in the setup of that whole scene and that weekend cemented her, in my mind, as one of the nicest, most open people I have ever met. She also pays big complements and while I doubt that she remembers saying it to me, I still consider it one of the best I have received. For that I am endlessly flattered and consider that I am the richer for her friendship, albeit rare that I am able to come into contact with her. Thanks P.

Intense and passionate. Sly and witty. She can get to the center of a person within minutes. Integrity and honesty are second nature to her.

Promise is willing to take chances on new things and also willing to pull back to restore her center.

It is this honesty and willingness to be true to herself no matter what the swirls of fashion around her say should be done that makes me squeal with delight when I get to spend time in her presence. Not to mention her wicked sense of humour.

fair and fem, with the deep blue eyes of an angel, but do not be deceived: she is as serious as death. or apple pie. i'm never sure which.

her mind races back and forth between contemplation of the infinite and wondering what flavor body oil would taste best if licked off the back of her knees. are these things separate?

she goofs as only those who know the secret do, and thus you are warned: no one who sees the world like she does should ever be underestimated.

Promise wrote me a testimonial today.

I then wrote to her, "You see? That's why I don't write testimonials!"

She said I could use the whole message as my testimonial to her...but it wasn't a testimonial. It didn't begin to hold the scope that my testimonial would, assuming I could write one....in fact I actually said, "but there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that I could write one half as good, and strong, and meaningful, and incredible as the one you just sent me."

Which is true.

You see, I make things...you know "things", "stuff", thought provoking objects...oh yea I write now and again, but I usually write silly little crap. I write instructions for things. I write stuff to help my students understand what I am teaching them. I write smart-assy things to make people giggle. But those "things" I make? The solid objects? I take that very seriously (even when I am making smart-assy things.)

So I got to thinking about that. If I ever made a thing for Promise it would be a thought provoking thing...a beautiful one too. It would be sassy, and smart, and sexy, and cool. It would make amazing things from humble squash, and it would do what it did without making it look hard. It would have this smile where its lip hung up just so on this one tooth, while it made sure you read its eyes and all they were saying. It would also scare the living shit out of you if you ever asked it the wrong question at the wrong time...but even then it would make you feel okay about it.

One last thing...and this is the most important...about that thing I would make her? I can guarantee that its ass would look amazing in those jeans.

Promise is nifty.
Promise is NOT for the faint of heart, however.
Promise has this earth-mother-fire-being-kickass-mojo-redhead-superpower thing going on, and it just oozes out her pores, and flashes in her eyes, and makes her hair stick up a little bit sometimes, with the energy of it all.
Promise is complicated. But in a good way.