vera. and anybody that doesn't know ms. vera, can we put the overhead up for ms. vera? yes. miss vera is an inspiring character created in 1994 by david faulk. but there is a reason miss vera was actually created. and i was around when miss vera appeared. and michael and his partner, can you stand next to him? because you two are a pair. he name is michael, but we all call him tina. back in the days, tina and i actually were artists when we were in our 20s, early 30s, living the artist life in warehouses south of market and having a good time. tina was one of the first people diagnosed with aids in san francisco. and i can't tell you, maybe three times i went to the hospital to say goodbye to you. but through all these years, he survived and he thrived. but one time when michael -- tina was in the hospital, miss vera, david, created miss vera and came to the hospital and actually had him go out in costume to make michael laugh, because michael didn't have much energy to laugh. and what started was that miss vera actually honored the spirit of the many creative people that wa