Letters to Ghosts

I just had another idea.

[Digression:]

I am revisiting this blog site for the first time in about a year.

For nearly a year, I let it lie fallow.

I buried other seeds, other places.

Wrote, here or there, elsewhere, or not at all.

Depending on the day, the month, the up - or - down swing

What kind of mood I was in.

[Digression:]

I am attempting, now--

for the sake of my Potential Growth

as an aspiring writer or what-have-you

--to identify my own digressions.

What is a digression?

I hardly know myself. Perhaps that is the root of the problem.

Let's dig deeper, shall we?

Digression: Ah, yes. noun

1. the act of digressing.       2. a passage or section that deviates from the central theme in speech or writing

But, so far, all of these have been, in fact, digressions, as you can tell from the title of this blog post, which is, in fact:

"Letters to Ghosts."

And so, I am going to start again, digression / self-interruption - Free!

Ahem,

Letters to Ghosts.

My idea.

Over a year ago, I published a post about Philip Seymour Hoffman.  It was not very long after he died, and probably sometime around when Robin Williams died as well.  I can't remember exactly when that happened, because I still have not fully accepted the truth of that fact.  Robin Williams is such an idol, an icon, a true Hero to me that I can scarcely begin to acknowledge that he is truly gone from this world.  His is a Light that the world sorely misses.

But that, too, was a bit of a digression.

I wrote, not about Robin (because I could not face his passing at all at the time that it happened, even until now)...but rather about Philip Seymour-Hoffman (PSH).  And, I had actually written the letter before he died.

I never mailed the letter to PSH.  I wish I had.  It is, if you ask me ;), a pretty nice letter.  One I know I would be happy to receive, were our roles reversed.  I doubt it would have been enough to stem or cur his descent into despair and drugs...but you never know.

...

I have been thinking lately about the Nature of Power.

What kind of Powers do I have? What kind of Powers do you? What kind of Power Could We Have, if we Let our Powers Combine?

I'm curious.

Because, you see, there are many different Kinds of Power.  There are Magical Powers.  That's mostly the kind I have.

There is also Political Power. Social Power. Physical Power / Might.  Fire power/ ammunition.

I am not terribly interested in those kinds of power anymore.

Those appear, to me, to be the kind whats-his-face meant when he said

"Absolute Power, Corrupts, Absolutely!"

May have been Machiavelli. Or Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Or perhaps it was Oscar the Grouch. I'm sure my friend the Oracle, Google, could tell ya.

That lady/dude/thing knows EVERYTHING!

But that's neither here nor there.

Not really. Another digression, I fear.

Blast, Tinkle! You're at it again!

But I guess that's just how we pirate-sprite's think. And Tink.

That's how we Process Information. Verbally. Orally. Linguistically. Twistedly.

Along a curving, winding, zig-zagging, swaying, intergalactic kind of a path-track.

I know, it sounds like a load of codswallop, hogwash, balderdash and gobsmattering claptrap

But it is, in point of fact, quite true.

When have I ever lied to you?

This Honest Pixie has not the Power to Lie.

Not convincingly. Not about anything important.

Tis not a talent or skill I've cultivated.

I've never really needed it.  I am Real, True, Upfront, Upright, Upstanding and

Never a Phony

Always Myself.

I try not to wear too many masks in public. I find them tiresome.

Too much effort to keep up.  To hang on to.

It's much easier, once you embrace and give in to it, To Be You.

It's fun. It feels good. At least, some of the time.

At least, I think it feels a lot better than trying or pretending to be someone you're not.
Someone you don't particularly, truly and honestly, deeply desire to be.
For someone else's sake. For society's, your friends', your parents', your partners', your kids'.

That all seems like an awful lot of unnecessary work, if you ask me.

But you didn't. So I'll quit with the lecture and get back to the actual

SUBJECT AT HAND!

[ you see, I've digression-ed again! ]

Letters to Ghosts.

My idea.

So, I wrote that one letter to PSH. Because he's great. And I thought he should hear that.
But then, I published / sent it too late.  Too little, too late. He never saw it. He never received (in this life) those words of appreciation and admiration. And that's too bad. And it served as a reminder, to me, that I need to remember to share those words and thoughts with my loved ones AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE! because you never know when it might have been your final chance.

But...my actual idea, that I set out here, originally, to express, was this:

I think I would like to compose a series of letters to dead people I wish to address.

Then, with some, I think I would like to attempt to Write Back, to myself.

Now, I recognize that this is a rather strange and eccentric idea.

It sounds very much like, well, talking to myself.

And, yes, that is more or less what it would be.

Giving in to the Many Voices in My Head...

[perhaps taking a draft of inspiration from the dude wearing the t-shirt on the MBTA commuter rail yesterday that said "I know the Voices aren't Real...but sometimes they have great ideas!"]

Allowing them the freedom to spill out onto the page.

But isn't that what a writer is supposed to do?

Serve as a vessel for Characters who Need their

Voices to be Heard

and their

Stories to be Told.

In other words, often

Characters are Ghosts.

And verse vice-a.

So, I think this is an excellent idea [if i do say so...of course i do! ;)]

I still want to hear back from PSH. Try to imagine or intuit what he might have wanted to say, had he read my letter, and wished to respond. And perhaps he will even wish to strike up a pen-pal correspondence!  I mean, it's not so far-fetched! The movie I was writing to him about featured an unlikely friendship that sprung up through a pen-pal letter exchange [Mary and Max--seriously, see this film if you haven't already! I'm pretty sure it's still on Netflix! Claymation, beautiful, amazing, moving, true story!]

And then, who knows? Perhaps Robin and I will be letter-writing buddies too. And then maybe Paul Newman will join in the fun. I'm sure it would be neat to write to Bill Shakespeare. And what about Beethoven? Or John Lennon? The possibilities are truly endless.

So, this is my idea!
Any thoughts? Any takers?
Dares on where to start? ;)

Going from Goat to Monkey...

Well, we are well into the holiday season, for sure.

Thanksgiving, the day of Gluttonous Turkey Stuffing Thineselves
has come and gone

We have said our thanks, our peace, our squabbles and quaffles have come out round the family tables, tucks done and napkins kitted out, etc.

Now we are revving up for the BIGGIE. You know the One. That shall not be named

(at least not if you were raised in a mega-grinchy Jewish American Conservative-branch traditional-ish household, like myself)

Christmas is a Day of Silence. Quiet. Being Alone.

It's the day when All my Friends, and pretty much Everyone I know

Gathers around with their friends and loved ones
and prepare to get down and have some more yummy dinners, desserts, snacks, drinks, gifts, and whatnot.

And what do we get to do?

Bupkis!

If we are lucky, we may get invited out by some other Jewish friends to see a movie, or to hit up a Chinese or Thai or Vietnamese restaurant somewhere around town.

A few times, more lately, I have been very lucky, and been invited to share Xmas celebrations with families who do it.  I liked that better than the anti-Xmas Grinch-thing, I have to say.  I'm a hedonist, after all, and so I usually prefer to celebrate when given the choice...and there are good things about what Xmas is supposed to be about...Goodwill and Charity toward your fellow souls, the season of light-bringing, feasting and gift-giving....that's all kinda nice and cheery, if you ask me.

There are nice lights to see, especially up in Maine, where we need them most desperately, with all those many many bonus hours of darkness in the winter months, especially right around the winter solstice as Xmas so conveniently
(by happenstance, of course, ;) is!

So...

This year, I am doing some non-traditional ritual-like traditions, along with my current house-mate the notorious Bloody Spike Pierce, of Vero Beach, Key West, Philly, NJ and other parts known and unknown...

He's a bit of a Rambling Soldier to My Pirate Sprite, but that seems to be a suitably fitting combination...

Wacky and out of place as we may seem in each other's lives and age groups and social circles, because we are both Pirates, at heart, we are of like minds, of similar ilk and genre of character.
Simpatico of Spirit, or S of S, as we Like to Call it.

Whatever It is.  We seem to be getting along pretty well, for the most part, these days.

There are, of course, many bumps in the road.

It is not typical for a PS like myself to pin myself down to stay in one place for more than a few weeks at a time.

It is not easy for a PS like me to Commit (the Big C word in my vocab...)
to a Romantic Partner of any kind, for any long stretch of time or place

I always (pretty much) have at least an arm, leg or tail halfway out the door, primed to run at the first sign that my opposing partner may be

"getting too attached."

I almost married my good friend Ricardo this past August.

I don't really regret the decision to try, nor do I regret our ultimate choice to call it off, at least for the foreseeable future.

There may come a time, somewhere down the road, when we decide to follow through with the celebration (at least) part of the wedding plan.  Maybe not so much with the legal - border - countries -customs, blah blah bureaucratic bs baloney hooha I don't like to deal with anyway...but maybe just for big ole funsies, and big piratical belly laughs, for Bar Houli, for old time's sake, to kick up a ruckus, just because we can, just because with me and Ricardo Garciaherreros' powers combined...

we could probably throw one HELL of a party...

hehehe.  So we'll see.  Perhaps I will be able to convince him to join me in this silly notion, of following our plans through to at least a few of their illogical conclusions...

Either way, wedding plans are on the back-burner for the present time.

As is, I think, my plan to try to go to grad school this coming fall, or perhaps even the following fall (of 2017).  I'm in no rush to saddle myself with any student debt
(I have been blessedly blessed to not have very much up to this point, thank you very much Shelby Davis, Kurt Hahn, UWC-USA peeps and Brown University...and probs Obama too. Thanks Obama!)

So...I'm not eager to turn that happy fortune on its head.
Maybe I will go to grad school later. When it seems like it will be Worth it.
Or at least somehow, kinda pay for itself.

We'll see. But I'm not in a rush about it. Sorry. CUNY can wait.
I think. According to my friend Christian who is currently finishing up her MA in Applied Theater there (concentrating on doing theater for Social Change, Community Discourse / Development, etc. Social Action, Activism. All that Jazz and Good stuff!!)

They have a whole course on Augusto Boal and Theater of the Oppressed games and techniques and methods.  It seems like a great program, very much up my alley.
But again, no rush. It doesn't look like it'll dry up in the next year or three.

Here's why I think I oughta wait, a lil.

It looks like it may be time for me to spend some of my marbles elsewhere.

"Where to now, Pyrat Spryte?" you may well inquire.

Well, my friends, I think I am going just a bit further south this winter, to finish it off in lovely tropical Caribbean tourist-infested, cursed and haunted Key West, also known as Cayo Hueso, Spanish for "Isle of Bones" or Bone Island.

Spike, formally of the much-beloved Bone Island Buccaneers, a rowdy and rambunxious crew that used to wander and patrol the water and streets of ole Cayo Hueso, and I (formally of ARRR!!!, Brown University's resident Pirate A Cappella group for the past 15 or so years...) are planning to combine our fortunes and resources to try to bring new life to a Ghost Tour company that Spike helped to create almost 20 years ago.

The Original Historic Ghost Tour of Key West was truly groundbreaking when it emerged in the mid-1990s, as an independent, casual walking tour, led by a few bold gents who were passionate about Bone Island's Ghost and Spirit Histories, Legends, Stories and other folk lore.

There are many ghosts on the island. I am only just beginning to learn their names, their stories, and their haunting places.  I have only spent about 2 weeks in Key West so far.  But I must admit, its charms have bewitched and ensnared me.  And I actually can see myself buying a small business, moving down there mostly full-time (and working remotely when I want/need to travel, or go back North to Maine, or to escape the Hurricane season or the Humidity...), learning to be one of the tour guides, and running/managing the office end of things, so that this Phoenix of a badass business will (like the Mary Ellen Carter) RISE AGAIN mutha-flippers!

I'm pretty darn stoked.  And so, I say to all of you Pirate Pals, poised and waiting out there, for the trials, unexpected challenges, and rollicking wackiness of the Year of the Goat--it is almost time to usher in the Year of the Monkey.  And here's what I think about that.

Monkey's are Smart, yes, but they are Primarily Playful.  Monkeys want to Explore, Discover, Create, Invent, Interact, and most of all...Play!  Swinging in the trees, branch to branch, arm to arm, leg to leg, arm to tail, what have you.  Some say the most fun you can have in a day would involve a barrelfull of those wacky guys. (I'm not so sure about all that...might be more trouble and work than fun, when all's said and done, trying to wrangle all them monkeys into a barrel,..and how many monkeys does it really take to make a barrel-full anyway? eh? That's what I want to know!)

In any event, my point is that I think we have some good and exciting, fun and lovely, enchanting and inspiring, creative things in store for this coming year, 2016, the soon-to-be Year of the Monkey.  I'm sure there will still be many Hills to Climb, and Challenges to Meet, but I've got a good feeling about this one.

I know, I said pretty much the same thing last year about the Upcoming Year of the Goat. I figured it would be a wild and fun, playful, joyful kind of year. But now that we're in it, and most of the way through it, I've realized that goats, although Smart, Playful and Mischievous too (like Monkeys), are also incredibly stubborn, and usually do what THEY want, NOT what YOU want.  So, it really shouldn't have shocked me that this year involved a lot of challenges, climbing up and over / clambering through some unexpected hills, peaks and valleys.  These are also very goat-like things.

Hopefully, the mischief of the Monkey's year will be a bit more cooperative with our own private, personal and professional goals than this past year was. (But what do I really know about the Chinese Zodiac? I am obviously not Chinese. Most of my information comes from this website: www.chinesezodiac.com, which I have found to be a great resource for anyone who is at least curious about this alternate zodiac system.)  My own preference for the Chinese zodiac over the Western one has some fairly predictable roots.  It certainly seems better to be an Earth Dragon than a Cancer the Crab, and this website has proven to be surprisingly accurate in its descriptions of many people I've exposed to it.  Except for their predictions of promising career choices. Those tend to be a little wacky, and more hit or miss.