I think they all mean basically the same thing, Chanin. The way I look at it, "fasciation" is the scientific term for the cells in the meristem becoming spread out, and "cristation" describes the crested appearance that comes as a result of that phenomenon, but you could really use either term in most cases. They just refer to different aspects of the same thing. "Crested" seems less scientific and a bit more vague to me, since many things (like birds) can have crests but aren't necessarily fasciated. "Cristata" (or crestata?) is the latinized word that would be used as part of a botanical name, but you could refer to such a plant as a "cristate form" or just a "cristate". This is just my own interpretation, I'm no expert in English (or Latin)! Here is a link that might be useful: Cristation/Fasciation

I have talked to the owner, who loves to rescue old chairs and has THIRTEEN rockers plus many other chairs in his house that he has restored! He says that he and his wife discussed this, and just don't have room for another chair. I honestly don't know where I'd put it at the moment, but it is just so interesting looking... I have an old high school friend who does upholstery, and a cabinet maker former neighbor who does chair repair. I'd probably have to employ both to get this done, so am still pondering...The carving is like nothing I have seen, and that is what intrigues me. I suspect I can get it for less, and may see it this weekend.

Well, I say "sort of" meaning it was about 17 years ago and that was the "mental note" I made of the experience, like "Oh that was not a very pleasant response to my telling you how much I admired your work . . . " but I did not make note of the exact expression he had on his face, for posterity. Perhaps because it sort of surprised me. But who knows why he treated me that way. Like I said, I was surprised that such a well known poet was wandering around a building looking on his own for the lecture hall where he would be presenting . . . so something might have been up even before I ran into him. I have no context for what a person like him has to put up with from fans on a daily basis or how uncomfortable he might have been given modern American culture is vastly different than Native American culture. In fact, Trudell writes extensively on that, which is why I was surprised when he didn't much touch on that in his talk . . . . also again, who knows maybe he just had indigestion or a headache . . . Funkyart, I have watched several movies and/or tv shows and really broke out laughing when someone leaves the rat race to take a job teaching at a college, or says they are going into teaching as a respite from the personal stress and greed of the business or professional world of some other field . . . One of the most egregious examples is the movie "The Last Time" about the machinations of salesmen trying to get ahead, starring Michael Keaton and Brendan Fraser. Good movie, but laughable ending . . . people need to rewatch "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" as a cautionary tale . . . Speaking of reading people, somewhat OT, but years ago I was at a BAD training for adventure based counseling, and we were being constantly "debriefed" by a woman who thought she knew it all, but often grossly misread the personal and group dynamics. She was so judgemental and NOT insightful that the group of professionals started making fun of her when she was not around. Not just because of that, because of the way the people running the sessions were treating everyone, won't go into all the details, but it was one of the worst and most unprofessional experiences I have had in my field and it amazed me that these folks could even be in business after I finished the weekend course. But anyway, we were having a required debriefing session around a campfire in the evening, people were talking about things that bugged them, and one guy turned to me and said, "You look like you have a headache. Can I get you something for it?" That was the most spot-on diagnosis and counseling I got over the whole weekend!! I had a terrible headache and had run out of painkillers! At the end of the training we were gathered into a circle and we had to go around and tell about the most helpful experience we had over the training. And despite hours of sessions, I chose that as the most helpful by far. It also both bugged and mildly amused me that some of the people (and these were all counseling professionals) made up stories just to play along with the facilitator, telling her what she wanted to hear, so to speak. I knew that because they talked about doing it ahead of time, they so despised her behavior. Of course this bugged other folks too, because that was also unprofessional. But it was a great learning experience for me. As a teacher, I have to remember that sometimes, the student is just constipated or has menstrual cramps, not regressing back to some abusive event . . . and also, if you are running a training for a group of professionals who work with adjudicated youth, where you can't mess around and you have to stare down some very stressful situations to be successful, and you don't treat them like professionals and with respect, well they are going to start acting out, and they learned from the best . . . it was also bad that some of these folks were forced to go by their supervisor who was there, and they believed that their job security would depend on the outcomes of the trainings. Such a very bad set up to begin with. Really taught me how important context and prior information and real relationship is to educational and counseling outcomes . . .

Reminded me of the old story of a guy who had luggage that was fairly common, so to make sure his was distinguished, he put stickers all over it. While he was waiting for it to show up at the carousel, he saw a guy walking off with his bag. He went to the guy and said, "That's my bag!" And the guy said, "It is? Oh. I was wondering who put stickers all over my bag..."