Nerding it up

George of the Jungle

George Kuchar, one of my film teachers, passed away recently. When I was in school for photography I took a few classes with a guy who was in the film department. He had come to the San Francisco Art Institute to study with George but couldn't get a class with him for a year. He had never met George and when he finally walked into George's classroom he was confused. He'd seen this homeless guy hanging around the school who carried a plastic bag with him and took showers in the bathroom. Turns out it was George. George was one of those teachers who would remember everyone's name on the first day of school and he never forgot it. Ever. Here is a letter to my friend Francis sent 18 years after I took his class.

Moving Up

I recently graduated from a meditation class that took up three nights of my week. One of my classmates asked me what I was going to do with my free time. "Maybe I'll go on a date!" I said.

"I thought you already had a boyfriend," she said. I looked confused so she went on. "I thought you were dating that man that I've seen you with around here." I had no idea who she was talking about. Later it came to me. Gerald! She thought I was dating a 24 year old black man. 24 is not a man that is still a boy. I do think black men are the bomb but I like them about 26 years older than 24. Like, say, Idris Elba.