A Facebook conversation with childhood friend, Pete Sutton where he removed all his comments. My feelings must be hurt.
You were the first Pete I ever knew! When you lived on Arroyo Road... Somewhere between that long distance of almost 5 and maybe 6. Nick was in diapers. You're older than me. I remember my grannie stopping off to visit your mom on the way back from the store or church—we had no car. It was always a long walk home. When did you move to Lagunitas? I remember visiting you once or twice. But it was too far away.
Remember red-haired Miss Lenz and her pet skunk? Miss Lenz was the best. They let her go after we moved on—whatfor? Perhaps a tad too rainbow? Then there was the longterm sub, Mrs. Brennan. OMG! And to think we went to LSD school....
I totally forgot her name—Smith. I remember making cut-out trolly cars in math—a measuring exercise. I just wanted to look at the model and make my own which was far quicker way to go to my way of seeing, but she insisted that I had to follow directions (never my strong suit). All I could think of, was that was not the best way to approach it. But that wasn't the lesson. I don't remember her being British! Was there a rotund Mrs. Smith and a spinsterishly thin grey-haired Miss Smith? OK, so then I had MRS Smith! More like midwestern. Did we have two 4th grade teachers? I think not. I guess my ears, attenuated t my grannie's Irish English, didn't notice. So there were 2 4th grade teachers! I think I had Mrs. Smith.
Oh no! That's Miss Smith? Tall angular sunken chested. I had her in 5/6th grade for art (awful). So there wasn't another 4th grade teacher? Mrs. Bryce for 5th grade, then we began to rotate classes. Mr Sliney and Bob Plant for science, Coach Harry Roche (the eraser & chalk thrower if you got it wrong) for math and Miss Kolanoski for chorus. Who am I missing?
No Pete, I said we went to LSD! Not on it.
Remember Mr Brown at Drake? Yes, Jim Brown instilled a love of clay and Thano nurtured it. You used to throw these BIG pots—you practically had to crawl inside to throw. I was duly impressed seeing these HUGE pots grow up to the ceiling. Eric Ahola was in that class too.
Pete, is Thano Johnson still alive? Last I heard he was in Colorado. I ran into his ex-wife on the Airporter returning back from Amsterdam ca 1999—he wrote to me and I never wrote back...horiffic car accident knocked me for a loop. A lot fell by the wayside.
I was in your effing class with David Best for 3 years running ferpetesakes! I was a painting major and minored in ceramics—even took glassblowing with a crabbit of a man whose name escapes me. Yep, Al and I didn't exactly see eye to eye. Good thing I never took clay with him. I did love glassblowing so I gritted my teeth with Al.
I can't believe we hung our teabags up to dry in the glaze lab. What did we ingest? I did an ash glaze project—very timoku. We had a wood-burning stove (as did most folks in the Valley) and I gathered ash. Newspaper—lead
Oh gawd, the names are churning: Bernerd Leach was at the De Young in the early 70s—a huge show. He was quite charming. I adored him. Sasha the Russian, Ron Blett. There was a guy who had a studio above San Quentin. My first boyfriend Sweet Old Bob (Hamilton) was a clay major so we visited everybody in N. CA. We often went to the big Daly firing at Waddell Creek ... Yeah, some of those guys got famous. Sasha Makovkin—we helped fire a dinnerware set. Oh what a drunken feast followed as we broke in those newborn plates. Vodka. Lots of vodka.
Also was in the theater dept w/ Robin Williams... Yep. Malvolio—Jim Dunn blew a gasket. Ha! Robin Williams' cross-gartered yellow-stockinged Malvolio was, er, innovative to say the least. I was ushering and I laughed so hard I wet myself—a different Malvolio every night.
Shit, Pete—tyou do realized this is probably the longest conversation I've had with you since i was about six... :-) and it takes Facebook? LOL. This makes for a surreal thread, as Pete removed all his comments. Should my feelings be hurt in retrospect?
