It's not too hard to bring out the gay boy in me, but Kristen did it with astounding skill. She wrote "grace" on my lower back. It was lovely. I didn't even see it until I got home. I was going to resist the temptation to look in the mirror (I wanted to wait until the photograph came out), but I couldn't! I looked and saw it backwards.

And then, it came out so great in the photo. I love the fish swimming just below. You see the fish?There're two of them.

This is my writer's outfit. A sarong and a tank top. If I could walk around like this ALL the time, I would. And I do. As often as possible. Now that I know how gay I actually look, I'm even more excited.

And thank you for the gift of grace!

Ji-Hye was very disappointed. She had imagined her day in the word light as an occasion to serve strawberries and chocolate, champagne and Billie. Holiday. Not Bragg. But no. It was the opposite of gracious or intimate.

We were parked in the sweltering heat of the afternoon Austin sun, a bunch of pre-freshman orientees swarming the sidewalks on the right. Cars in the beginning afternoon rush hour inching along Guadalupe St on the left. We were parked in front of some store. And I asked her to give me a word. After the shock of it all, she decided she wanted to write on my foot. I reached under the steering wheel and in some form of contained acrobatics, managed to pull my shoe and sock off which, by the way, I had only been wearing because I knew I was going to be inside most of the day. Normally, I'm a sandal/flip-flop kinda gal.

So, here I am stretching my wrinkly foot over the gear shift (hoping my feet don't stink) and Ji-Hye ponders for a minute. "What shall I write? This is not how I pictured it."

sombra

"For three reasons. One, because you helped me find Chavela Vargas. I had been searching for her for ten years. Ever since I heard her voice in the Flower of My Secret [a film by Pedro Almodovar]. Two, because it is your first language. And three, because it is so hot where we are sitting right now, I wish we were sitting in the sombra."

After we cracked up, I re-started the car and drove her the block and a half to where she was going. I didn't bother to put my sock or shoe back on until a bit later. When I knew the ink had dried.

So KT and I spent about 4 hours today putting up projectors in the theatre. Yes - they are suspended from the rafters. So, after all of this, I asked KT to put a word on me. She chose "labor" - not so much for the fact that we had been labor-ing, but because it's part of her alma mater's motto. I asked her what she thought it was in latin. Then I got really nerdy and looked it up myself. Her school's motto: Learning & Labor. In Latin: Perceptum et Laboris

I like how I kinda look badass with my sleeve rolled up. You would never guess that 2 hours earlier my arms had been shaking from holding a projector over my head at the top of a ladder. No. I don't lift weights. I lift pens. Thus, the shaking. Thus - I love how I look like a badass.

I was surrounded by people ALL day. I'm not just talking 9-5. I'm talking 8am - 9.30pm. But, something in me was not fully in the world. For good reasons. There's a lot on my mind. And I couldn't bring myself to ask anybody. I just felt...introspective.

So what a surprise, 10.30pm rolls around and no word. Yet another day of dilemma! Do I

a) leave my house - which smells like paint fumes cause they just painted today so it might not be a bad idea but do I really feel like it or
b) skip the word (and then what kind of artist am I?) or
c) have a repeat and ask Wura (Day 1) to write another word (again, what the heck) or
d) the dog print option (that is not my final answer but it might be my final lifeline - i've got 75 days to go people) or
e) think of something new.

hmm..

well, wura was the one who suggested i give myself a word. I took her up on her suggestion. So, I consulted with Audre Lorde, her book - Zami: A New Spelling of My Name and picked out the word "sleeping". Wrote it on my foot with my shaky hyperactive hand and photographed it right here in my own house.

And it felt good to give myself a word today. Yeah.

Yenchao, who I also know as Steve, was really excited to write my name in Mandarin. I was excited, too. Apparently, my name means "Where are the peaceful graces?" I know I'm messing that translation up. But, part of "A-Na" means `peace/grace' and the other part means `where is'. Yenchao was impressive. He was not only earnest about the word itself, he called his mom to get the correct spelling. Amazing.

I wasn't the only one to take a photo, either. Yenchao also took one. How awesome is that?!!

I'd like to note that today is DAY 25 of my 100 Day project - thats 1/4 of the way through. I can't believe it.

Just a reflection. There have been days where I barely make it - where I'm rushing to find a word. Days where I've forgotten that I'm getting a word. Days when I forget the date/time/place. Days when asking someone seems like a grueling prospect.

But not one day has passed where I'm not psyched about getting a word.

Today, it is the suggestion of a word on film, perhaps, though it's definitely on my arm.

I went to the library today, as I do when as often as possible, and Melissa, who is one of the many wonderful librarians here in Austin, wrote "malt". I had forgotten my marker at home, so she graciously used a fine point sharpie. Sadly, it doesn't come out strongly in the photo, but know dear readers that it is there. Malt "Cause I just had one", she said.

It's only 96 degrees here in Austin today, though it feels like 112 degrees. Not a bad day to get a word written on my arm.

La Vicki wrote LUV on my leg. Yes! We were chillin' following the open mic/poetry event at the Bolm Street Studio where W. works. Talking about her upcoming project in Rwanda - A Farm for Meme - and gettin' all kinds of excited and nervous. And I flashed my leg (with the disclaimer that I hadn't shaved in a week, so if she didn't care, neither did I), and she wrote on it.

Yeah. Loving luv.