I got a letter today and it is weird because I am always afraid of cyber pickups. But I am sure the reader of this letter will recognize it and I hope is not angry that I publish it and answer it officially. As we know this might all just be "cybersee" anyway, since the sky above the port was the color of television, tuned into a dead channel.

(I edited the names and replaced them with ---.)
Dear Regina,
a little strange... I could have this very mixed up - but do you remember sitting in a diner on 17th st. in New York City 1991 or 92...? I should introduce myself, a friend of ---, from way back when I was an exchange student in --- we are working to- together now, collaborating on a hypertext/book/poem/garden... --- had mentioned doing work for you, and I didn't recognize your name, but later in the night dreamt about your name and awoke to ask him about who you are... what I remember I was sitting writing ferociously in a cafe, breakfast time - was it you who came in and sat at the same table? we talked for a bit - and made plans that I then broke - said I was sick - for later that week... I had really strange dreams with you in them and I think was scared of some kind of power-- you shined from / with... we met again by chance on the street before you left in front of the same cafe - in any case if I am mistaken and it was not you - I suppose I will start seeing ghosts :) - the young woman still writes

I went to NY the first time in the early seventies to visit my uncle who had sent us packages from the US since years with chewing gum (Bazooka) and cinnamon (something that didn't exist) in large amounts, as well as cool T-shirts and a lot of other things that were cool for kids. My uncle used to own a trimming store downtown in Soho. This was a dream for me, all these little tschatschkes, bendeles and so forth. For a long time I didn't go to NY again until I was in my early twenties and had a crush on John Cage who I tried to see again. (I felt a little bit like a teen following her rock star :-). It was in spring 1991 when I had written Cage a letter to an address that he had given me on a brown flower-patterned napkin. He had aligned his name and address on the white space framing the flowers and squeezed his phone-number between the flowers. I wanted to see whether his address was right so I walked there and wanted to stick my letter in the mail box. I didn't want this letter to get lost. But astonishingly there was his name on the doorbell but no access to his mailbox. So I walked around the corner to see if there is another entrance and I found one where the supervisor stopped me and asked who I was looking for. I felt very intimidated but then decided to be frank and gave him the letter and asked him to put this in Cage's mailbox. "Why don't you do it yourself" was the question and so he took me down through the garage of the building (I was so scared) and up again. So I was standing next to this guy in the elevator and driving right up to Cage's floor. I still was hoping that I could just slide that letter under Cage's door but the supervisor just rang the bell before I could stop him. "Hi John here is a young lady with a letter" I felt as if my brain was stuck in the elevator, stood there not being able to say anything and gave him the letter. (Thinking about it I realized this would have been never possible with e-mail because I am sure he would have been one of the early ones who had it, but never really trusted it. A fax he always sent also via regular mail as well.) He read the letter in front of me and agreed and we made an appointment for later in the week. I was really shocked and left thanked the supervisor and completely confused about the whole story I had to get a coffee in order to calm down. I went into a coffee shop but was, as I say, very confused and sat down at a table. I was so spaced out though that I don't remember anything, but that I was thinking about this meeting. So if it was you forgive me for not remembering anything because I was just somewhere else, and it could easily be that I had a frightening energy at that day. This was in early 1991 after I had organized a workshop with Cage in Berlin in August 1990. It must have been around seventeenth street because I would usually walk south- east from 18th street since I lived in Chinatown during that time. I am usually though not someone who makes appointments after speaking for a short time. I usually don't go to cafes around breakfast time and get up very early in New York since I don't want to change my rhythm I get up late in Berlin. So I get up late here in Germany and in New York early so I don't change....and until very recently I didn't talk to strangers :-)....