here she is!

EVERYONE!

I would love for you to meet, the beautiful, wise, witty, intelligent and very dear to my heart, Mikael Bingham.

Seriously, she's amazing.

And yes, her name is Mikael. (I'll give you a moment to come to terms with that).

Ok.

I met Mikael very briefly @ keats one summer -- she came to my cabin and wanted to borrow a vaccuum. That week at keats was awful for me -- and I've always wondered what it would have been like to be in her cabin. However, had I never gone to keats, I probably wouldn't have met her (or Jessica, Anna, Jenny, Ted, Aaron, Sarah, Ange, Dave and Nola, etc) at all. That is someting I can hardly imagine -- I can't really imagine it at all. Mikael has been (and continues to be) one of the most important people in my life.

She lived in Mexico for 9 months, and when she came home, spanish would flow in and out of her sentences.

She's got this gorgeous, naturally red hair -- seriously, people pay for that.

She's got superb taste in music, without being a snob, and she can sing. Also...she'll play ukelele on my next album...I hope.

Umm..she's got 4 siblings, and her parents are wonderful and hilarious and bizarre, and I love them.

She's got a door that's always open, and I love to just walk in and grab a snack or a cup of tea from the kitchen.

Her boyfriend (pictured here) is Aaron Braun, also quite amazing.

Actually, they've both, in their own ways, been examples of grace and forgiveness to me. And Mikael -- well, she's been with me through some stormy times. Hence, I've taken to calling her my best friend. Hard to categorize that, but in so many ways she is.

Anyway, here she is -- the pink-wearing red head (and once, someone I was with told her she didn't have red hair -- that was...weird).

26 days...