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.
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.
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