(Above: self-portrait, by Al)

I was so impressed by Al. He had mastered Spanish in his five years of working and studying in San Miguel, Mexico. There, he had received his Masters Degree in Art and was currently working at the local university in town. We had kept in touch online a couple times a year from ’96-‘04, but I hadn’t heard from him at all in the past few years because he was so busy and didn’t have the best internet access in Mexico. You can imagine my excitement as I got his response from a mass e-mail I sent saying I was moving to Japan for a year to teach English. I was even more shocked to hear that he was thinking about visiting over the winter if that was ok with me. Of course, I responded, and it was settled. Before coming out he had sent me a link to his website. Al had just had a major show, unveiling all of his artistic mastery to the world. Check it out at http://www.alantarbell.com/ I was impressed! Years ago Al and I discussed the design of the best UC Davis Water Polo shirt in the team’s history and he later went on to create the drawing and print the shirts with our coach, Tom. Now, his artistic skills are honed and refined. If you get a chance, check out the website above! (Below: "Fuego", by Al)