This is me and Shannon.

This weekend we attended Shannon’s 36th birthday in Ukiah at her snazzy new house that she shares with Ryan. Shannon has been my friend for many years and, together, we have had many wild adventures. In an effort to preserve my sparkling reputation, I will not go into details about these adventures, but will say that during NO time did we ever do anything fattening, immoral or illegal. Ahem.

Shannon is a great friend for many reasons. First of all she also is a Gemini, and the 4 of us get along swimmingly. She writes really great stream-of-conciousness emails that go on paragraph after rambling paragraph (no doubt a side effect of the precision writing she was a slave to in law school). She is the best friend to do absolutely nothing with. She is a thoughtful listener. She has great penmanship. She has this amazing freak-of-nature hair that never has to be washed (literally — she doesn’t even own shampoo), yet never looks greasy. She is an ‘extended length hugger.’ Her priorities just make sense: good food, good wine and you should ALWAYS have dessert. I can talk to Shannon about anything, and I mean ANYTHING. It is comforting to know that no matter how banal or abstract or long-winded or redundant, she is always willing to listen and give productive feedback.

And so to you, Shannon, on your 36th birthday I tell you this: my life is so much richer with you in it and in a nutshell, you rock.