Lessons Learned

As usual, it was rainy. The twice weekly trip from Olympia to Seattle and back is not exactly what I would call fun, but it is a great time for just me and my mom or dad to have nice conversations. I was in the passengers seat, passing Tacoma driving down to Seattle in our little black Saab, yabbering to my dad. I don't remember exactly what started the conversation, I never really do, but somehow we got on to the subject of introverts and extroverts. My mom is strictly an extrovert, she gets scared of introverts at times. When people don't plainly show their emotions on their face, she has a tendency to take that as an 'I don't like you!'. My dad is an introvert. "The best kinds of people are ones that take a while to get to know. Its more fun to think that someone's shy and uninteresting and realize that they are the most amazing people you have ever met, than to figure out that the cool outgoing person you just became friends with is really a poser." I will never forget this.
Since then, I have looked at things with a slightly different light. I am drawn toward the outgoing people in my class naturally, but I realize my best friend is a total introvert. then again, I find myself being interested in not only the extroverts but the quiet people in the corner who don't speak out in class. When I meet someone new at the Free Choir or at school, I make sure I don't judge people by what they look like or how much they talk. Everybody has a different story to tell.

Madera

Her messy faded blue hair tucked behind her ear, Madera flips through the Stranger, settling on the weekly Dan Savage column. Its fairly warm outside, but as always, she insists on wearing the usual tights, spankies, knee-high socks, and finally, her beloved leg warmers. Nothing ever matches, yet that's just so much of her character. Each day is something new; an idea for a comic book, an interest in zines, a song she wrote, a book she is writing, a musical she is directing.

Few people actually get to know Madera, she's quite the introvert, but I would be a completely different person if I hadn't. Madera is a feminist, pro-choice, independent, amazing person and no one in the world could equal the girl she is. Madera taught me how to be the spontaneous creative person I am, and I never stop thanking her for that.