Oh no...

I just had this thought which is both horrible and exquisite. What if Clarence isn't named after the angel in It's a Wonderful Life? What if he's actually more of an incarnation of Clarence the cross-eyed lion from Daktari?

And yet, I'm comforted in the quirky way that is characteristic of that which tends to comfort me. Large visually-impaired feline or Henry Travers...whichever...it's so helpful to live in a nebulous world where one is no longer alone in one's creative pursuit. Clarence and I--we keep each other accountable.

Fuzzy Lenz's real name is Gary Lenz. I know, because I wrote him a check to kick off the (lovely, as it's shaping up) patio out the back door. I tell Jeff. "Fuzzy's real name is Gary," I say. Now, every day, we have a conversation very much like this:

"Okay...so it's Michael," says Jeff.

"What is?"

"Fuzzy's real name."

"No," I say. "It's Gary."

"Ok, good," says Jeff, walking away. "Robert."