the birthday party for nicholas was at a pizza place called chuck e. cheese. wherever you live i'm sure you have places just like this. for the kids it was a real bacchanalia. for the adults the scene was a house of horrors. oh man. but nicholas loved every second of it. and i just finished the last of the really awful cheese pizza. it was a tuff job, wolfing that pie down. but i was up for the task. and did it with gusto.

anyone have an alka-seltzer?

* * *

last week got an email from an old friend, catalin kaser, i've not heard or seen in 16 years. catalin and i, along with a group of young writers, would hang out, share our writing, and give readings together. man, my heart soared as she told me she'd been in touch with a few other old poet friends and wondered what the hell became of me. so to find me she used, yep, google.

we met i think in '88 when we were all taking the same creative writing class at a jc, american river college. we all got published in the lit. journal. me, i think i was too fucked up for much at the time. i knew i wanted to be a writer, but i had a long way to go and much to learn. catalin on the other hand, was one of the most talented of the group.

after a long, long adventure she is now living in oakland with her husband. me, i've stayed put, and learned that the longest distance traveled is done by keeping still. it's been a lifetime since i've heard from catalin. however, the pics of her on her blog show me that the more we change the more we stay the same.

pretty wild, i think. and i'm happy and floored she found me after all these years.