Killing Distance..............................Dear Mella 7

November 28, 20071

Dear Mella,2

Mark dyed his hair green. I told him not to without bleaching it first, but he did anyway, so the brown in his hair mixed with the green and now he has puke green hair. That was this morning, and now I'm helping him bleach his hair and redye it, and multitasking because I want to answer your letter as soon as possible to tell you the great news.3

You've probably already heard this from my mother/will hear it from me in a phone call later this afternoon, but I just spoke to my older sister Madrid. She's in Minnesota right now with her husband Nick (you remember them don't you? I think I took you to their wedding in D.C. two years ago... Who knows, I have awful memory) but anyway, she's pregnant with her first! I don't know if it's gonna be a boy or a girl, but she's due early next summer, just in time for my break so I can go see him... or her. I hope it's a him. Then they can name him after one of the Beatles, or maybe after some cool movie director like Quentin Tarantino. Besides, little girls are prissy and whiny, while I would get along well with a little boy. We could go tie all the laces to my sister's shoes together and I could show him all the best places to go ropes swinging in D.C., and teach him to rock climb. I have to admit, a girl would be nice too, as long as she wasn't super girly. As much as I love girly nights, a lifetime of that sorta stuff would kill me. Either way, I can't wait to meet my little niece (oh my GOD I'm gonna be an aunt!!).4

Aspen sounds awesome, even though I use that word so often it's probably lost meaning to you. But really, people like that don't just pop up and happen to like you. You and I were quite lucky, dear friend! I love my Cimon as much as I did the day I saw him... Actually, that's not true, because when I saw him I had no idea we would end up dating or being best friends or anything. So I love him more. I guess you get the point though. Aspen is majorly cute, maybe so much so he would have a chance at competing with Cimon, though he's pretty damn hard to beat. 5

I like the photos you sent me, and I hardly recognized you! You look good as a blonde, you should consider dying your hair that color, as long as you don't make the mistake Mark did (bleach it first). Your height difference doesn't seem that bad in the photo, but then again I'm guessing you were wearing twenty inch heels or something, considering it's Rose (does Rose wear heels?? I can't remember). Your friends look really fun, and Aspen makes a good tree. Kinda ironic that for the evening you were a rose and he was a tree, good combo eh?6

I think your class must be freakish for liking our recording. We were hardly professional, though I quite like flattery. I showed my friends the card and they signed it too, writing in stupid messages and attaching photos (I put it in a separate envelope because there's a lot of stuff they wanted to send, including May's sister's cd [she and her roommates have a band called Radiant Dusk]). 7

Cimon, Mark, Forrest (telescope man) and I went to Lake District National Park, which is all mountainy and cool, and we ended up camping out in a nice field by a lake and having a nice bonfire with sausages and things that we cooked. The view was amazing-- for the stars, at least. Every single star was crystal clear and we had a really good view of Andromeda and the Pleiades, or however you spell that. Forrest was really engrossed in the stars and even left us for most of the night so he could hike up one of the mountains to get a better view. Mark was testing out his new night vision lens so he was gone for most of the evening too. So pretty much it was just Cimon and I, curled up in a sleeping bag on a beautiful, crystal clear, if not a little chilly, night. It was wonderful. It was beautiful and silent except for the soft crackling of the fire, but we were laying a ways away from it so we could see the stars more clearly. The darkness of the forest was intense, much darker than in the big city. After not seeing pure darkness for months, it was a pleasant shock to me. We saw four shooting stars, two of them devoted to Cimon though I won't tell you what they are or they'll never come true.8

Anyway, life here is pretty much the same, depending on what you call the same. Cimon moved in with me officially, not that it's that different (he spends most nights here anyway). Zoe, Tessa and I are always cooking up something fun to do, and not your run of the mill fun either. Well, you've heard of my tales here so far, use your imagination. Now multiply that by two. Jealous yet? =P9

Give Aspen and all your friends my regards, and don't forget there is such thing as a phone if something cool happens. I'm always free to talk, unless I have an exam or something, but if I'm having one you'll probably be asleep, so it works out anyway. 10

Last thing! It was Zoe's birthday on the 20th so me and Tessa made her a really cool skirt out of pieced together bandannas. I managed to make one for you too! It's the one in the brown package. You'll like! Think of it as a month early birthday present.11

Ta ta for now! Cimon, Zoe and Tessa await. We're off to the movies, then... well, who knows.12

Much love,13

(how uncreative was THAT?)14

Clarissa Diego Winfrey15

AKA Clay16

P.S. I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!