Summary

To begin with a few pix:

http://jennapincetl.tripod.com/

Contents

1. Who is Jenna?
2. Jennas dream
3. The mind & the meds
4. No ordinary loonie
5. My involvement: a brief chronology
6. The wrecked past
7. The 5th child
8. Some of the best

Jennifer Nicole Pincetl is the most formidably attractive woman in the western United States. She has a brilliant & colourful personality characterised by megalomania, narcissism, & various flavours of schizoaffective &/or dissociative disorders. Jenna is a highly experienced underground activist & a voluminous author of informative street flyers which have gained for her a cultic status in parts of California. Shes an independent, resourceful, transient streetperson, a survivor with a methodology & a plan. At the core of her existence is the value she places upon herself, resulting in the engaging enthusiasm which defines her life.

Jenna was born in Longview WA the last day of Scorpio 1977. She was essentially raised in the DFW Metroplex & entered community college directly from highschool without formally graduating. In 1996may she reached the Bay Area & soon thereafter her nascent ADHD became fullblown SZA when her father killed himself over bad debts. Within 11 years Jenna had 4 children & was incarcerated &/or 5150ed dozens of times. Jenna is not a thief or a con artist; she wont even permit herself to jaywalk. She gets rounded up mainly for mayhem including vandalism & brawling. Notwithstanding which she is extremely classist & is often bitter about what a woman of her quality can be forced to put up with.

Jennas life is tempered by 3 principal aspects: (1) her pursuit of that / those ever elusive perfect boyfriend(s); (2) her encyclopedic knowledge of all things retail, particularly beauty product lines & cafe / restaurant menus; & (3) her obsession with herself & her refusal to tolerate boredom in any of its forms. After a decade of "having fun" on the streets Jenna knows she should take steps to stabilise her lifestyle & repeatedly tries to transplant herself into a conventional existence. Comfortable as she becomes, her dream of freedom always wins out, & she can lose interest & wander away without a word. Or she can call the cops & demand sufficient ingress to retrieve her stuff before she goes. Or she can just abandon the stuff & take that bus trip to nowhere & buy it all again at the thrift & beauty stores at the other end.

These are some old habits & theyre not changed easily. Jennas instantaneous motivation is normally some kind of rationale which can often sound fairly reasonable. But with the currents in her mind come changes in the rationales which cause her interest always to be shifting. Even as her life enters a phase of increasing psychological maturity the issue is not *what* shes trying to achieve but rather *that* shes undergoing the process of thinking clearly about living new ways. My view is that Jenna mainly requires support & encouragement in the creative process of envisioning a dream she can successfully realise.

Schizoaffective Disorder Positive Type is Jennas formal diagnosis although she often represents it as Dissociative Disorder NOS which is paradigmatically similar. Jenna sometimes hears thousands of voices & can find herself forced to think & speak along with them, their dramas & their arguments. The schizoidal symptoms are combined with pronounced mood swings giving the appearance of various disconnected personalities over time. Stresses (& suspicious substances) of street life can cause the manic phases to be loud & repetitive, & Jenna has experience with almost all the atypical psychotropics in therapeutic contexts, normally prescribed with an associated antidepressant or antianxiety med. In other words, when the cops ask what meds shes normally supposed to be on, it is useful to know the list includes but is not limited to:

Abilify Cymbalta Depakote Haldol Klonopin Lamictal Lithium Provigil Prozac Risperidone Seroquel Strattera Valium Wellbutrin Zyprexa

Because of noncompliance issues I believe Jenna should be on as few meds as possible, & because she has so little tendency for depresssion I think she shouldnt be on mood stabilisers but should be responsible for managing her mood swings. I have witnessed firsthand however the effectiveness of Abilify (Aripiprazole), & saw a 20mg tab quiet her right down in an hour after a daylong unmedicated manic fit. This is Jennas med of choice but shes often only on it because theyve locked her up. These days she can also go days at a time without actually talking to herself or ranting uncontrollably, which suggests she should only be on Abilify when she actually needs it.

On the flip side, Jenna is intelligent & fastidious, & can be punctual, polite, & businesslike in her dealings with people. Yet under the surface lies an enormous territory of elaborate mental constructs which can only be experienced firsthand. The ideas in Jennas mind are difficult to characterise or summarise & should be read verbatim in the flyers or listened to with due attention & accomodation.

Ironically if nothing else Jenna is reliable. She can be depended upon to take care of herself no matter where she is. Once shes thrown something at you (in my case a potted plant & a chair) youll certainly be watching her closely whenever the conversation gets interesting. & its a sure bet shell stay only for so long & then shell have to leave, & you suffer the inevitable pain. In the interests of helping her I make the choice to be with her when I can, & what I find is a solid human being who gives me better memories of our times together each time they occur, & makes me glad Ive chosen to have the experience.

Jenna is simply a joy to be around because she is so cool in ways that defy verbal description. & she makes my life manifestly better every time she tangles with it. At least theres one person in this world who can make that statement.

The history of our acquaintanceship can be divided into 4 phases: (1) 2003-2007 Noninvolvement (5 years); (2) 2007-2008 Introduction (11 months); (3) 2008-2009 Lone Star Daze (14 months); (4) Current (since 2009nov11)

I met Jenna in Berkeley in early 2003 & found myself wishing I knew her better whenever she vanished to Texas or SantaRita. I stayed in touch with her life but left her entirely alone until her 30th birthday when her recent incarceration had made me resolve to jump on her case although not necessarily her bones.

I got her attention then spent some weeks gophering the groceries for her in Peoples park. At the end of 2007 I told her she was welcome as a guest at my SRO which resulted in two 11 night stays. I knew her well enough to want to use my limited resources to give her a break from sleeping in alleys during the rains. I kept her entertained / occupied with my mp3 collection, & gave her space where she could sleep & her mind could be at rest. She was so manic I literally lost the sensation of the sound of my own voice & she carried on incessantly with a rap based on her sexual demands as outlined in the flyers. At the ends of both stays her departures were unanticipated & inexplicable; in fact obstinate & childish.

I brought food & sundries to her on 17 visits to VillaFairmont hospital once she was 5150ed for the duration of her 4th pregnancy. After her delivery on 2008apr12 I tentatively suggested Id live with her in Texas where her folks were collecting & raising her kids. We left Berkeley together in 2008jun & since then its been my pleasure to sign 4 leases in her behalf & spend 18 months in the Plex. She abandoned our first arrangement in Bedford after 3 months leaving me liable for a significant financial loss. She had wrecked the car, lost her job, quit going to class, overdrawn all her accounts, & smashed my computer by the time she left.

I remained living in her hometown near her fine parents who bought me a car. I therefore know her kids better than she does & have seen them more recently. After 14 months of utter silence she called to ask if she could live in my ftWorth apartment. She arrived on 2009nov11 & stayed 22 days in the room Id saved for her then asked me to move with her to Arcata. After another 31 days hadnt resulted in housing we split up inauspiciously. I was housed instantly; she spent another 3 months porchsurfing locally before vanishing completely once again.

Some of the issues from Jennas past are surprisingly severe; here are just a few cited from documents in my possession.

The 8 community college courses she took in 1995 / 1996 after her "transfer" from LD Bell high each earned her an F grade. This is nonetheless Jennas principal academic credential, as she "completed" the classes.

Jenna has 4 convictions in Texas between 1995 & 2001 for FMFR, no inspection sticker, not carrying a license, & speeding. In 2002 she was fined $377 & $302 respectively for loitering / spanging & disorderly conduct. These 6 citations total more than $1500 which she theoretically should be paying down whenever shes in Texas. She also has an FMFR (& FTA hence warrant) from 2008 which might cause her to be arrested if she requests her Texas license. In California (at this writing) she has only a single sleeping warrant outstanding which can nonetheless also result in her arrest.

Jennas 2nd year of tenancy at Point Loma Woods Bedford unfortunately resulted in a pair of Delinquent Credit Obligations (including the utilities); shes also been served with numerous forcible detentions in Tarrant county. I seem to be the only person whos actually filed a small claims suit over breach of verbal contract, & there is an argument that she owes me some $2500 (which BTW Im not pursuing). I witnessed the catastrophic end to a waitressing job shed been holding successfully for several weeks; yet Jenna believes it was her 4 unwanted kids which really wrecked her life, & its true that the termination of parental rights proceedings created a paper trail longer than her rap sheet itself.

Jenna is thus subject to arrest & beset by significant financial liabilities almost anywhere she goes. The reality of her weak academics & spotty resume do make employment problematical, & her credit history means its already become impossible for her to consider renting in some markets. The amount of time, patience & money necessary to clean all this up seems almost as absurd as working toward establishing a different pattern.

So really, whats the big deal anyway? Just another uneducated albeit literate bad girl treated to hospital beds & meds instead of prison cells? Is it such a tragedy her parents wont let her near their house & shes not allowed to see most of her kids? Anyone who cant stand that feeling of "walking on eggshells" (what I call "walking on mousetraps") should admit theyre not up for Jennas unpredictability & walk away, right? But its not that simple. Schizoaffective Disorder is like a rollercoaster & the sufferer has little or no control over the forces in her mind. Its necessary to put yourself in her place; to view things from her perspective. Jenna is a perpetually tortured spirit, each repeated cycle rarely being better than the last. Clinicians are unlikely to perceive the complexity of her condition upon ordinary presentation. Her only hope is people who know her well helping her to find the right way.

Jenna knows Id like to be adopted as her 5th child, the one who can withstand the heartbreaking cycle of her presences & absences, the one with the endurance to fight his way thru her disguise.

2008may25 Oakland - Jack London Square

Me: "Jenna, I want to tell you about starlight reflecting off the still waters. Every particle in this universe has an origin & a destination. Some are simple like the reflection of starlight back into space. But others are more complex; they involve aggregates of matter & karma. Sometimes when two beings meet it turns out theyre from entirely different planets."

Jenna: "The way youre talking makes me want to stay."

2008jun21 Texas - Bedford

Jenna: "I just realised the reason Im so grouchy is Im ignoring the severe pain in one of my wisdom teeth. Im sorry about that. I wish I could be a better friend."

Me: "Ive never heard you say anything like that before. Do me a favour & dont knock yourself out. Can I possibly get a raincheck?"

2009dec05 California - Interstate 5 northbound

Me: "So what do you think of my electronic music creation Matador in a MouseMaze on the Mystique Pioneer stereo?"

Jenna: "Its pretty awesome."