2001-12-19 - 4:22 p.m.

Do you remember Russell? He was a friend of mine who lives in the ARCTIC CIRCLE. No lie. Well, he came to Vancouver briefly for a two week stay last May, and I met him, and we had such a lovely time getting to know each other, by the end of the two weeks I considered us close friends. We had sex once, but that wasn't the focus of our friendship. I learned about life in the arctic circle and he learned about life in the South.

Today I got a call from his WIFE. Turns out, dude has a wife. Of course when I met him he showed me pictures of his 2 year old son, and told me the wife had skipped out on him and the kid, or rather how she had been an alcoholic and was not taking care of the kid properly, and he loved his son and didn't want him growing up around her, so he made her move out, and in with her sister. He told me that she was taking him to court for custody of his son, but that he wanted custody so he could teach his son all the traditional ways of the woods. And that of course he wanted his son to know his mother, but it was over between the two of them.

Not that this matters at all, really, because it wouldn't have mattered to me if he had a wife or not, because I didn't have "an affair" with him to begin with, and secondly, I am no threat whatsoever to his family, because its not like I'm going to be making the 22 hour drive to the ARCTIC CIRCLE anytime soon. Its just not happening.

But I can't believe she called me! She called me once this summer, I should have written about it then, but she called me, and she wanted to know all about me and Russell. I don't know where she got my phone number, but Russell must have put it in his wallet or something. And I have a hard time believing that Russell would lie to me about her - so I can only imagine that they got back together at the end of the summer. But anyway --- She wants to know everything.

So I told her nothing happened, Russell and I had met and hung out a couple of times, and I didn't know he had a wife, and I was sorry.

Then she called back. Saying she knew I had had sex with Russell, and demanding that I tell her about it, and asking why I lied to her -- and here's the kicker -- asking me if I had any intentions of moving to the ARCTIC CIRCLE to steal her man. I assured her that we only had sex once, and that I wasn't going anywhere near the arctic circle, EVER, and that I was no threat because I wasn't in love with Russell.

So then she has the GALL to ask me "So, if you didn't love him, why did you have sex with him? Are you just a slut?" I kept my cool. I was really sweet to her - -because after all she is the one in hot water up there, and I could care less. So I was just nice, and i told her that I hoped she and Russell would be happy together etc. etc. She told me not to contact Russell, and I promised I wouldn't.

But I sent him a Christmas card. Because hey - its Christmas. Merry Christmas, i bet you got alotta snow there, is pretty much all I said in the card. Because Russell never called me, or sent me a letter saying not to contact him. For all I know - he doesn't know his wife/ex wife called, and she could have been lying to me. And we were friends this year. So I sent a Christmas card.

So she calls me again! And this is how the conversation went:

"Hello, is Dreamself there?" Instantly I recognized her voice. I mean, she does live in the ARCTIC CIRCLE. It gives you a distinct accent. I braced myself.

"Hello"

"Dreamself, This is MRS RUSSELL. Why did you send my husband a Christmas Card?"

"Because I wanted to wish him a Merry Christmas," I said.

"Then why did you lie to me this summer and tell me you wouldn't contact him again? What do you want with my husband?"

"I'm sorry. I just sent him a Christmas card because it was Christmas. And since I haven't heard from Russell directly, I didn't know he wouldn't like a card. I mean no disrespect to you. I just thought i was being thoughtful."

So to make a long story short - she bitched me out and I couldn't stand having someone call me at my own house and tell me off!! There is no reason in the world that anyone should call me and tell me off like that! ! And no reason why she should call and bitch instead of having Russell himself call and be like - don't write me.

I know I probably shouldn't have sent the card if he does have a wife, but on the other hand, I haven't heard from Russell and when he left here he didn't have my address so he couldn't write, then all i sent him was postcards this summer before her chat with me, so he couldn't write. And I figured if he didn't want to be my friend altogether, he could pick up the phone and explain it to me -- but since he hadn't then he must not know that his wife has been calling. I wonder if they're together at all, or if she just has a friend at the Post Office.

Anyway, she said she'd have Russell call me, but I doubt that.

I'll send him a change of address card when i get to LA, unless I hear from him first. Because you know what? he was my friend. And I never met anyone from the ARCTIC CIRCLE before. And he was going to write me letters telling me about life up there in the snow with the caribou. And I'd still like to get one of those letters, if this woman is lying to me and there's a chance he would still be my friend.