I don't want to write about what happened to Naomi. I just want to remember that I was often really curious about her ability to maintain certain positive personality attributes despite the conditions of her life. You know you're a sulk when Naomi's trying to show you the bright side. You may have been to the school of hard knocks but Naomi had the fucking docterate. Guaranteed.

In one of my first meetings with Naomi back in 1998 (for those that keep track) I learned something that brought me out of my own scope. I had met her at a place I was volunteering. She found me soon after at a studio I was involved with. We had a place called the honeycomb. 6 different studios constructed out of framing covered in chicken wire then covered in fresco. Out back was a large workshop and in front was a showplace/meeting space which we eventually opened a store in to support the art going on in the back.
It was fascinating to her. She had no idea that people made things. No idea. She had never been subject to this idea in her life. Mostly she was fascinated by the jeweller. She couldn't believe he made these intricate and detailed pieces with precious metal. In complete innocence she came day after day to see people painting, sewing, constructing, jewelling, etc. helping each other with ideas and feedback. These ideas were so foreign to her, that you could put your mind and emotion into something. That you could leave your special order tools openly on your workbench, that you could special order tools, that there were tools other than hammers and screwdrivers. That many people could pool their resources together for the good of them all, that people had resources. And the people she met that would come by were equally intriguing to her, writers, musicians, dancers, actors, carpenters...
I realized about Naomi that there were things she didn't even know to dream about or learn.
She was often offered basic methods, everyone was inspired by her questions "How did you know to want to learn how to do that?" But she wouldn't touch anything.
It wasn't the particulars of the crafts she was interested in, she just wanted to be around something different than all the crap she was used to.