there is paper, and there is PAPER

PIZZA CARDBOARD

EXCEPTIONALLY VALUABLE CODE

Last evening, the raccoons were up for a pizza. Up from the sewers. I cooked one for them but was advised by Denise that I had forgotten to take the cardboard off before placing it in the oven. Still, it heated alright and it tasted good, the thin crust was correctly crispy. The coons did not complain. However, I felt I should scan the cardboard to remind myself of this error. And, the scan might turn into a pallete for some kind of computer art, with bent tonalities.

What one sets down on cardboard or paper especially in its thinnest form can be important. This was the case in 1987 when, pre-Sewer Raccoon News, this author established another of his candidly willy-nilly (?) feats: The YIBAWEAN Society. Yes I'm Bald, And What Else? Maybe the most mileage I ever got from that was from people at gas stations who still ask me unfailingly what YIBAWE stands for on my license plate.

That's the modest spin, however, for it remains that the society has brought much comfort and encouragement to the world of the Bald. And we're not just talking progressive hereditary baldness, we're also addressing those who are losing their follicles through chemotherapy. The Yibaweans number into the many many, internationally. We have lost track of just how many members there are now.

The name of the organization came from a lecture I heard by Leo Buscaglia one upon a time. His point was that when we learn something about a person, that is only one thing. One. Bucaglia said we should ALWAYS be asking the question, over and over: Yes, and what else? What else is there to know about that person (or event or view) ?????

So, YIBAWE becomes a very good question, and certainly deserving of a license plate, and more.

The Yibawean Code above reads as follows: (You don't have to squint)

"Many people have asked if reading YIBAWE (there was a newsletter) makes one a YIBAWEAN. Unfortunately not. A YIBAWEAN subscribes to a simple but rather strict Code, stated below. If you are able to live up to it, write to us about becoming a CERTIFIED Yibawean.

THE YIBAWEAN CODE

I am a (man/woman) who is Bald. I would not have it any other way. Others of the hairless segment may choose to wear wigs, have hair transplants, or may purchase treatments in order to retain cranial foliage that is ultimately destined through evolution to be obsolete. They may devise wind-spoiled methods of combing their hair up and over as though they are ashamed not to have hair. They may buy potions to grow hair. I Will Go Bald Forever.

As a YIBAWEAN, I struggle against the Ego and therefore will not exhibit pride over my Baldness, but will merely go about knowing nothing is wrong with the outside of my head.

As a YIBAWEAN, I pledge to help my fellows who have not arisen to Bald Consciousness, showing by example that every human is beautiful in his/her own way.

As a YIBAWEAN, I observe the right of others to hold different beliefs.

As a YIBAWEAN, I respect weathered wood, patinas, rust, and the cyclical phenomena of birth and rebirth, new things and old things, every manifestation of the Oneness of the Universe, which is ALL.

[Do not be discouraged if you are not at the YIBAWEAN level of Baldness yet. You may be there tomorrow or you may never get there. You are our friend regardless, and YIBAWE is for you, wherever you are.]"

..................

Thus read and still reads The Code.