Aaron – An old friend that I met at Usdan during Oliver. Someone I don’t often speak to, but have many fond feelings for.

Aiko – An online photographer and model whose work I really enjoy. I have interacted with her a small handful of times, however I don’t think we’re really anything more than acquaintances.

Aiko’s Family – According to my dream, Aiko had a father, mother, and a sibling whose name and gender I cannot remember. To my memory, I only interacted with her father.

Allen – One of my former coworkers at Utopia. He is the body piercer. Extremely intelligent, and someone I look up to.

Amanda – My former roomate in New Paltz. We had been friends for about two years, then moved into an apartment together. She was still in school while I was working. Living with Amanda revealed a dark, selfish side that I came to strongly resent. I would like to believe she wasn’t that way before, but it’s possible that I just never had a chance to see it. Since moving out, I have not spoken to her and I am extremely resentful of the way she treated me.

Amanda 2 – Girlfriend of my former Utopia coworker Squire. Very friendly, nice girl.

Angelo – A former close friend. We are no longer on speaking terms and I am somewhat haunted by the circumstances that lead to this.

Anya Schwartz – An online artist.

Arshes Nei – An online artist.

Blonde Girl with curly hair – An imaginary girl who may or may not have been dating Angelo. She also had oval glasses, and her hair was pulled back in a pony tail.

Blonde Girl with shoulder-length curly hair – An imaginary girl who was a friend of Dana Copes. She helped Dana cut and dye her hair.

Business Men – A group of imaginary businessmen who owned a boutique in Smithtown that does not actually exist. I can remember no distinguishing physical traits about these men.

Cait – A girl who I used to work with at Utopia. After she was promoted to a position of authority, I would often waffle back and forth between being okay with her and having problems with her, partially due to her moodiness and partially due to what I perceived as being irresponsible despite her better pay/better position. Before that we had gotten along okay, though I don’t really think we ever had enough in common nor did we ever click well enough to be anything more than casual friends. I am somewhat resentful towards her due to the entire Utopia situation as a whole.

Caroline – A long-time friend turned nemesis. I originally met her when I was about 13, and by age 17 I only had negative things to say about her. However, for a time she was a treasured friend.

Chihuahua, black and tan – An imaginary, year old puppy I found and kept.

Chris – A childhood friend from Usdan. Chris was also my first boyfriend, though our relationship mostly consisted of us playing Gameboy together over the fone. I haven’t spoken to him in a while, but I still consider him a very good friend.

Corbin – A former close friend as well as romantic interest. Corbin and I dated for a short period, but he became way too attached and began to make me very uncomfortable. I broke it off and wished to stay friends, but Corbin harboured a lot of resentment towards me. Instead of handling his feelings like an adult, he used his father’s position on campus to get the campus version of a restraining order against me back in 2007. I haven’t spoken to him since. While I resent his childish behaviour, I do miss his friendship and wish he had chosen to handle the situation in a more mature manner.

Dan – The former roomate of one of my friends. I don’t really know Dan that well. He’s dating Emily.

Dana Copes – An online artist who I don’t know personally, aside from a handful of interactions via IM in the early 00’s.

Emily – One of my former coworkers from Utopia-Centereach. She is now dating Dan.

Evan – One of my former coworkers at Utopia.

Farmer Brenner – This may be a real person, but I don’t think I’ve ever met him. In my dream, he was an older, tall man who was a little overweight in that way you are when you’re older. He had definitely smoked too much and was a little mean, but I got along with him.

Gabe – An ex- of Caroline’s whom she dated for quite some time. After escaping his abusive relationship with Caroline, Gabe got together with and eventually married my former friend Nancy. I have not spoken to Gabe or Nancy for quite some time.

Gaia – Amanda (my former roomate) and Jon (her exboyfriend)’s dog, a black and tan shiba inu. The dog was a source of great conflict as Amanda herself didn’t take care of the dog, and I was left to do everything. The dog was a terror due to not having been properly trained. She destroyed everything she could, was not house-broken, and was very stubborn. She even eventually wound up with fleas. Eventually, Jon and I arranged for him to take Gaia permanently. I haven’t seen the dog since December 07.

Girl with short “mom hair” – An imaginary girl who looked like a stereotypical dyke. There wasn’t much to her personality beyond her trying to get mine and Laura 2’s attention.

Grandparents – If I ever refer to “my grandparents” I am speaking specifically about my father’s mother and father. I have not spoken to them in nearly four years, partially due to my falling out with my family in 2007 though I hadn’t actually heard from them for roughly a year before that for no other reason than a lack of interest on their part. I have not really gotten along well with my Grandparents since I was a small child due to my choice not to live as a stereotypical blonde typical-girl. To my knowledge, this is the only reason they have though it may be something else. It’s never been openly discussed. They have, however, gone out of their way for many years to pick on me.

Heather – A “competitor” when Leonard and I were first getting together. Heather is someone I’ve known for a number of years and for the majority of which I have not been particularly fond of her. I attempted a friendship twice, but she harbours extreme resentment towards me and it inevitably failed. We went off speaking terms sometime in 2005, and have had a fair number of confrontations at my jobs since.

Hipster Girl – This person does not actually exist. She had long, strawberry-blonde hair with choppy, uneven bangs. She was wearing a bright yellow cardigan, tight pants, and puffy high tops. The impression from the dream I got was that I had known her in High School and that she had gone to college where she did a 180 fashion-wise.

Joanna – My younger sister.  The closest in age to me, however she is still 4 years younger.  We have a pretty good relationship.

Josh – A fomer coworker from Utopia as well as a former friend. He used to help me with my photography, however at the beginning of 2010 we had a severe falling out and are no longer on speaking terms. I harbour an extreme resentment for him.

Katie – A friend of mine through Nick (my exboyfriend.) While we never became close on an emotional level we remained on speaking terms via social networking websites after having met her sometime in 2004. Katie passed away on 11.12.10.

Kina – An online artist.

Kyle – My across the street neighbor.  Growing up, we had an on-again off-again friendship.  Eventually he grew up into a homie g, and one of his and his friends’ favourite pass-times was to mess with my punk ass.  Unfortunately this did not go over well since I did not take crap from anyone at that point, and I almost got in many fights with his friends.  They liked to deface my house, which only made me laugh because it bothered my parents, not me.  I haven’t really spoken to him since we graduated.

L – One of my closest friends from karate who I have known since I was roughly 10. L was much older than me, and so I viewed him as a big brother. We are still in touch and I’m very glad to have had him in my life for so long.

Laura – My youngest sister. Has a twin named Megan.

Laura 2 – A former coworker from Utopia. While we worked together we had a very strong friendship, though towards the end of my days at the job we started experiencing conflict. When I walked out of Utopia, our friendship also ended. This is not something I’m happy about, and I miss her very much.

Leonard – My first serious boyfriend. Leonard is of Filipino decent, and two years older than me. We dated on and off for two years, attempted a friendship afterwards, and are no longer on speaking terms. I have nothing but feelings of resentment for him and embarrassment for our relationship.

Mr. Lewis – The main director of a summer camp called USDAN that I attended for quite some time. Over the years he came to know and recognize me.

Libby – My mother’s best friend. Has cut my hair since I was very young.

Mark – The “little owner” of Utopia, which translates to the second in command. Most people found him very hard to get along with but I rarely had a problem with him. He helped me out on numerous occasions, and I feel somewhat guilty for walking out and thusly disrespecting the help he gave me.

Merlin – My childhood dog, a black labrador. Merlin passed away 08/09. I am completely devastated by this.

Mom – Self-explanatory. For most of my life we’ve had a pretty poor relationship, but we’ve spent a lot of time working to change that. We’re pretty good friends now.

Poo – Leonard’s younger brother and Kerning’s ex-boyfriend. I considered Poo to be a very close friend for a long time, however our friendship was lost due to the drama surrounding Leonard and a new girlfriend. I harbour extreme resentment for him, although I have very fond memories of our friendship.

Sarah – My cousin, daughter of my father’s sister. I have not seen her since she was more or less a baby. She referred to me as Purple due to my hair colour, much to the annoyance of my Grandmother and Aunt which I never entirely understood why

Sensei Jimmy – The head instructor of ESK. He was unbelievably skilled, but could be very mean to those who weren’t “cool” or the greatest at doing trick karate, and was definitely very hard on girls. In recent years Sensei Jimmy was found guilty of sexually abusing his students, as far back as when I was there. I am pretty traumatized by this and still get upset about it. I have not, as of yet, had a dream that addresses this. If I dream about Sensei Jimmy everything is perfectly fine and he is teaching classes. When I wake up I usually feel uncomfortable and upset.

Squire – Former coworker from Utopia. Eventually replaced Josh as the head of the Smoke Shop. One of the few people from the job I left on good terms with, as far as I know.

Steinberg – The original owner of Utopia. Someone whose company I greatly enjoy and have a lot of respect for.

Steve aka “Steveamoo” – A very close friend through Junior High. When we graduated Junior High, Steve moved elsewhere and I have not heard from him for a very long time.

Steve-o – One of my former coworkers at Utopia. One of the few people I worked with that I still communicate with and see.

TickTock – A character from my upcoming literary work The Mechanicals.

Tom – My boyfriend as of 6.10.07 – 7.09.

Tres – An ex-boyfriend of Diana’s. Someone who I am still on good terms with, but haven’t heard from in several years.

Val – The clothing buyer for Utopia during the duration of my employment. Initially we did not get along, but when I worked at the Hicksville store we came to be better friends, though that eventually devolved back to wear it started.

Wifey – The new family dog. His name is actually Liffey, but I think the name is ridiculous and have taken to calling him Wifey. I will also call him My Wife, and tell him he is such a good Wife, and make various jokes based on the nickname I’ve given him.