Chris Burden was on her mind because only a week or so ago at an opening he had taken off his shirt to show her the bullet scar on his arm, a legacy from a 1971 performance. He also showed her the scars on his hands from when he was nailed to the back of a Volkswagon.

"My Dad is not very familiar with art school culture", she said. What she meant was that although she was familiar with Raiders' culture, Griff was probably not familiar with contemporary art world culture. Although her Dad sometimes enlivened dinner with stories, such as how into his hospital room, a Raiders Cornerback drove his Harley-Davidson and parked it beside his bed, Caydance did not reciprocate with stories from the California art world.

Was "what does your Dad do?" an intrusive and old-fashioned question? she wondered.