Happening upon my alma mater's website several weeks ago, I saw something delightful. I just remembered it, so post it in a spare moment now: on the informational page for the painting undergraduate degree in Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts is a piece by one of my classmates, Amanda Gordon. Quiet, conflicted but wry and extremely sharp, Amanda was a disciplined inspiration not only to myself but, as evidenced by her work's prominence, the department as well. I was a student with artistic talent who learned how to paint well. Amanda was a painter.