September 4, 2002:

Sketch: John.

Heavyset, shifty-eyed Ferengi with a paunch the size of North Carolina. Thirty-four and highly interested in having his ass kissed. Not very good at anything too much, he mimes success via funds acquired through the talents of others. Like many untrustworthy people he accuses others of manipulativeness. Smoking himself to death, has heart disease, will be gone before age forty. His subservient, coattail-hanging wife worships his every fart and hiccup.

This character made it into TriadCity, where he's the leader of the comical "Hood Gang," an incompetent band of would-be robbers who trip, fall, fart, and are forced by John Hood to kiss his butt in the name of "alignment." Characters with high See Skill values will note him pickpocketing his own employees.

TriadCity's about good and evil. What do good and evil mean?

You used the word "evil" approvingly back then. Your new friends were "so evil" — you'd say that in your characteristic small-child sing-song, as if you thought they were as fun as frozen yogurt or a swim in the cool pool on a summer's day. The leader of the pack was a professional process server who loved bringing bad news into the lives of strangers. You told me a story about him. He once served a priest, who said, "Son, you don't need to be so happy about it." This anecdote was a source of great personal pride, apparently. I don't know that I would call this "evil" so much as malicious, in a petty way. The word "small" comes to mind.

In real life, there are still people who agree to be associated with this fool, even after extensive experience. Go figure.