who are these people?

names have been changed to protect the innocent.

LJ: bff since high school.

kraeutle: the fully german version of the amischwab.

amil: dsm buddy, worked with him at the coffee place. a good buddy all around. thursday nights.

rolla: dsm sister-friend. shares the angst of being a 20-something. used to share every monday night.

kaka: dear friend from grad school. developed friendly codependent relationship. now lives in seattle with her husband frik and baby, sadie.

housemates: i.e. my parents. i lived with them in the iowhat. yeah, i was that cool.

iowhat: where i found myself for about a year. not the cosmopolitan city i am used to living in i.e. berlin, johannesburg, washington, etc.

peipei: another dear friend from grad school. shared many aspects of the journey, including dealing with large amounts of anxiety that came from nowhere.

mattynumbchucks: denver buddy, now lives it up in the east village. the real one, not the one in dsm.

rachel: she doesn't get a secret name. she's just that infamous.

aim: rambles amazing stories from the peace corps.

hf: amazingly happy and successful knitter. on top of that, she is hot.

vera, gueggs, la canadienne: three crazy canadians whom i've never net, but are my most frequent blog readers and in some strange internet world kind of way, there for me.

duncman: young friend from dsm. figuring out life. a caring buddy. major ADD. good kid. now saving the world in LA.

minx: the cat. drools way less than nawa. sleeps, mostly.

nawa: my ex (dog, that is). now resides with cute family in dsm. originally from south africa.

auntie M: motherly figure with whom i used to work at the coffee place. still talk to on phone regularly.

kliner: a mini-version of Auntie M.

a-squared: the closest thing to family besides family. fun and supportive friends from back in the day, now married.

foxer: i was instrumental in getting her her current job (i was on the interview committee, not sure she is glad now). ended up travelling to namibia together for work. we have IKEA competitions: who can get the most for $20.

MJ and jillywog: college friends. former landladies as well. now kind temporary roomates.

kel-lay: also a close friend. met in college, but have become better friends since then. lives in manhattan because she has to right now, would rather be singing arias under some douglas fir trees.

Le Continenal: the only watering hole in dsm worth mentioning. good food, mixed crowd, best bartenders.

and the list will continue to grow...