Stickwoman

Some had illustrated their cards in crayon, and I found these drawings strangely moving. A stickwoman convalescing in bed. A stickwoman weeping tears in red dashes like tracer rounds. In one card, I found myself joining the hapless stickwoman in a transparent, rocket-shaped house.

The stickwoman was terribly drawn, her arms and legs all different lengths.

Use simple symbols to represent different people. Although you can make up your own, here are some suggestions: • stickmen and stickwomen—for yourself and the people in your household as well as male and female family and friends

I step up to the least-crowded crap table, taking my place to the right of a country-and-western-type stickwoman with tightly permed blond hair who looks as if she would be more comfortable dressed in the square-dance outfit of the Frontier than wearing the chinoiserie, or maybe the japonaiserie, of her purple kimono uniform.

The boxman hunches over the house chips on the left, while the stickwoman on the right eyes the dice.

The other day, while at a craps table at Argosy, I saw a 12-11-10 countdown. On a lark, I called out: “Here comes a 9!” Sure enough, the next roll was a 9. I glanced around. Anybody impressed? I looked at the boxman. He was talking to the dealers about patio furniture. I think the stickwoman must have heard it, but there was no sign of recognition of the fact.

Panther stickwomen recorded five shutouts in the regular season and outscored their opponents by a solid 24-12 margin.

In order to reach the women’s lacrosse field, team members must descend a steep 30 foot embankment into a ravine, cross a set of railroad tracks, and then clamber up the opposite side with the aid of small trees and vines. The stickwomen complain that the conditions become especially muddy and dangerous when it rains.