How Much Postage WOULD You Need To Ship A Teenager To A Remote Location?

Today my best friend's baby sister turns thirteen! I say to myself, "I was at the hospital when this kid was born. That was thirteen years ago?! That can't be right!"

Alas, ti's true. I've known the monkey all her life. Glorious right? Well it would be were it not for the fact that it makes me feel like someone will soon yank my brains out my nose, and kill my cat long before her time. It serves as a reminder that I have been alive for a quarter of a century, rather than (in an airy Marylin Monroe flight attendant voice)twenty-five years. Say it slowly, "a quarter of a century." Of course, it's also kind of nice.

I grew up in, for lack of a better way to describe it, a gypsy family. My Dad's a loving alcoholic, with the best of intentions. A.K.A. not around. My older sister was just old enough to not really be in the picture. I'm getting to know her now. And Mom...she did the best she could, which involved us moving every few years. When I was eight, nine, ten, thirteen...like I said, "gypsies." I was born in Indiana, really started to "grow up" in Kentucky, and ended up in Alabama. This is where we stuck around long enough for me to work through being moved around so much, always being the new kid and such. I think that sort of thing is easier for girls, but it still sucked. So, twenty-five means I'm "adjusted," which is nice. I can deal with that.

Kayla's a teenager. Gag. She's probably one of the coolest kids on the planet. She's a really wonderful little person. Bright, kind and beautiful. We won't talk about the little "boyfriend" she's got, that I'd like to ship to Abeu-Dabi.

That's what inspires me to make art. Not shipping thirteen year old boys to remote islands. Although, that's an idea. :D Relationships amaze me. I have so much to say about them, and about resiliency...or so much to ask rather. I guess since I had such strained relationships growing up, it overwhelms me to think that I could know someone that well. I can know someone from the day they're born, and help shape that person.

Happy Birthday Kayla! Punk!