taken from some letters

# 1

the idea that common objects can be lethal is very interesting. chopsticks, when thrown accurately and with enough force, can kill. who knew? can rulers be lethal? or anything that has the slightest suggestion of a sharp edge (i.e. hangers)?

you would like my father. he believes he was a samurai in his previous life, which is why he does karate. he's a fourth dan black belt. he does his katas religiously, at least once everyday. to scare the shit out of my boyfriends, he makes them join him every now and then to "test" their skills.

# 2

my grandfather is a sculptor. it is unfortunate that i am the only one in my family who cannot draw or sketch, but i have taken pottery classes under the father of pottery here, Jon Petty John, and he says i can manipulate clay well. i've a clay dog on my desk at home that looks more like a mangled cat, but i'll believe what he said anyway.

# 3

before me there are shawls in three different candy colors: chewy tangerine, Cinderella strawberry and astonishingly fake cyan. what would the world be without color?

Edwin Land, inventor of the Polaroid, argued that we judged colors by the company we keep. we compare them to one another and revise them according to the time of day, light, source, memory.

i associate ice grey with my D.'s eyes, which were wolf-like and piercing; fire-engine red with my mother, who has worn that same color on her toenails for over five years now; and yellow with the butterflies that fluttered onto the hood of my car when i had my first real kiss.

# 4

both my officemates have taken off and i am alone here, holding down the fort. i am left to my own devices - hence, i am writing this reply. in a moment i will try to hack out a chapter, or rearrange the button magnets on our white board so all the reds and blacks face the whites and blues.