I had a classic Lorraine & Old Man encounter at D.G. Wills bookstore in La Jolla this evening. (We were there for Mark Salerno's reading--pictures and more on that later). A not so vaguely tipsy old man complimented me on my necklace before the reading started (squidglass from Etsy) and then took a picture of me during the reading with his digital camera.

Then, after the reading, he asked me "Are you really a poet? You look more like a cheerleader."

And I said that yes, I was really a poet. And then I joked and said that I was also a cheerleader and a beauty school dropout.

The Old Man's friend, another Old Man, turned to me and said, "really?" "

No," I said, "not really. I've never been to beauty school and I avoided cheerleading.

"No you didn't!" said the Old Man's friend.

"Yes, I did."

"No you didn't!" The Old Man said. "Did you go to school here in La Jolla?"

At this point, I was of course trying to leave the conversation, but I couldn't, because I was too sweet and polite. This is why I have Lorraine and Old Man encounters in the first place. I have a sweet face. I am sweet, kind of, except when I am hostile, but I am rarely hostile to the Old Man.

Anyway, I said that no, that I grew up overseas and in Maine. The Old Man knew that I spoke Chinese. I don't know why. I hadn't told him. He's a regular at D.G Wills, and a friend of the owner. The last time I was at the bookstore, I bought two used copies of Practical Chinese Reader II and II.

So I said I spoke French and Chinese and Spanish. And he told me in French that I was a very pretty young girl and I said thank you and left.