Memories of Cindy

[figmo]

I still remember the first time I met Cindy McQuillin. I was at a combination Oakland in 87 bid meeting and house filk at the home of flower_cat and mdlbear; I think it was around 1984. There was a filk circle, and I couldn't help but try to sneak in some listening while my then-husband was busy telling everyone how great he was. Every time this one woman with a voice so smooth it could melt Antarctica opened her mouth to sing, I noticed. That, of course, was Cindy. My first reaction to her was "she 'feels' like family." Instant comfort.

Cindy and I got to know each other over the years. She got to watch me evolve as a person, and I got to learn more about her.

When she got her first iMac I was often over her place, playing "Good Software Fairy" or just showing her how to use the software she already had. Other times I was just plain hanging out. We'd geek over food, jewelry, religion, music, and commonalities in our childhoods. I learned a lot from Cindy about a lot of things.

A few months ago I shared one of my favorite Cindy stories with the folks in my comedy class, and one of the guys modified it for his own act.

Cindy was riding her scooter down the sidewalk not far from her house in (at the time) Berkeley when some obnoxious woman approached her. "Do you realize you're morbidly obese?"

Without missing a beat, Cindy looked down at her body, then looked up at the woman. "Why no! I had no idea! Why thank you!"

Feel free to share your own Cindy stories here. I'll collect them up and forward them to Dr. James.

Comments

Cindy McQuillin

[(Anonymous)]

Cindy was a LAFA regular before she moved north to the Bay area. She introduced a lot of new songs, played lots of old ones, and was always a friend to all at the monthly filksings. Later, I saw her at the Cons in the SF Bay area I went to. One convention filksing in particular I remember, although I couldn't say exactly which convention it was -- perhaps the San Jose Westerchron? It was the first time Cindy and Jordin Kare were in the same filk circle since the debut of "Fuel to Feed the Drive" AND "Fool to Feed the Drive." Cindy sang "Fuel" first, then Jordin followed with "Fool". At the line, "McQuillin just looked sheepish, she forgot to feed the drive," Cindy ad-libbed a loud "Baaa!". It was the perfect "comment" -- and I know I have it on tape (somewhere).

Rick Weiss rickifilk@yahoo.com
Rick's Cafe Terrestrienne