If text is too small please adjust your Browser: View - Text Size - Larger etc.

†August 8 to August 13, 2010

Freaks, Geeks, Celebs and other Imaginary Friends

     Since my last entry I have delved headfirst, and to a large extent unguarded, into Facebookland.  A strange and alien pixilized sub-world where more often than not the inane is celebrated through endless comments while poignant postings are generally (with few exceptions) ignored.  Out of all the posts I have put up, the ones which got the most attention were when I threatened Facebook suicide, and when I pronounced that Facebook is, "the same bullshit, different shovel" for the second time (the first time I wrote it, it was ignored).  Despite my feelings of disheartenment and the socio-psychological confirmations regarding the human race in general, I have shared some honest moments with people I would never have known otherwise.  Also, since I draw inspiration from life experience, the social experiment called Facebook has provided me with something to talk about.  But before I go into that, I should clear up some misconceptions which may have resulted from cliffhanging the last journal entry.  One of my recent Facebook friends wrote me a long personal note after having read it and he ended up with some personally colored ideas regarding my relationship with Stefanie.

~

"Our life together is so precious together
We have grown - we have grown
Although our love is still special
Let's take a chance and fly away
somewhere alone..."

† (Just Like) Starting Over lyrics by John Lennon from the album Double Fantasy

~

     "For now, I remain bedded in the studio, sleeping with my painting, and the work on all levels continues..." ~ Journal entry Watch for Children May 18, 2010

     After hitting a relationship rough patch while I finished up my last entry, the sentence above was one of the last lines I wrote.  And indeed 'the work on all levels continued'.  Unlike Mr. Lennon I could not "take a chance and fly away", or even drive away "somewhere alone", because we are not in the possession of a disposable income, as John and Yoko were.  The best I could come up with was to move upstairs in order to give both Stefanie and I the feeling of being somewhat alone.  It felt kind of strange but after a family discussion with Stefanie and Samsara (where we calmly and in detail explained to her what we were doing), they both agreed to play along with my little experiment.

     After only five or so nights, where only the sleeping arrangements were altered, I began to get that sense of individual self back.  And from there the general vibe within our home also lifted.  In a relationship where you share most every waking and sleeping moment together, the line between who's who can get blurred.  And in order for a relationship to work, it must have all it's parts working separately in order to make the whole thing work.  In an ideal world people would not look to a mate or have children before finding themselves.  But an ideal world it is not.  So we work with what we got.  Some choose to work it out, by using the clever invention called communication through the use of the spoken word.  Some persist in silence, until the choice to use words of truth is no longer available.  Some feed off the struggle, passing on their disharmonic family heirloom onto their offspring to deal with. Some choose separate paths.  Which when children are involved never truly are or ever will be.  And more often than not the children are utilized as weapons of proxy to continue the hostilities which initiated the separation.  Others recognize and put into practice the wisdom as expressed by Kahlil Gibran through his book entitled, "The Prophet".  And in all I've ever read with regard to relationship and marriage, these few paragraphs pretty much cover it.  So if it's okay with Mr. Gibran I will simply transcribe what should be obvious:

~

     "Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage, master?

     And he answered saying:  You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.  You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.  Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.  But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

     Love one another, but make not a bond of love:  Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.  Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.  Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.  Sing and dance together and be joyous but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

     Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.  For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.  And stand together yet not too near together:  For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."

† The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

~

     I could not have said it better myself, so I thought... why bother.  Three paragraphs and Gibran basically said it all.  The truth is too simple for our big brains to comprehend and we complicate our relationships through analytical thinking, never to practice the art.

     One other point of concern my new Facefriend had after reading my journal was what I wrote about erotica.  Specifically with how it related to Stefanie and our path of honesty.  So in full knowledge that everyone wears a certain shade of spectacles I will no less try to clarify.

     Stefanie has been cool with this for quite some time.  She recognizes that (through no coercion, intimidation, manipulation or persuasion on my part) the artist needs his inspiration and should not have his expression be limited through false standards of puritan morality.  Besides all that, the truth is, if a man feels the need to close off his desires in one direction they close off in all.  So is it any wonder that a little blue pill has made it to market, when a man's body doesn't know if it is allowed to stand erect or should stand down.  One minute grandpa is being sold on the serviceable qualities of a four hour erection, and the next he is chastised for being a dirty old man.  The question is, does the blue pill cure or create the need for it's own existence and is Pharma-corp getting between you and your hard on?  And why wouldn't they?  Religion has made a business of it for centuries.  It's a proven money maker.  And so we are sold everything through sex, while it's carrot is being ever so slightly but consistently moved further down the road to nowhere but corporate profit margins.  It's time to take it back.

~

 "Erotica serves to remind me - my body - that a beautiful woman sleeps by my side and shares my bed most every night.  Lust in Love the perfect duet."

† Petrus Boots Facebook Status: July 20, 2010

~

     I gave the above status update a great deal of time in deliberation, few (in fact only one) seemed to appreciate that I spent hours agonizing over every character and space.  Then again, maybe they did think it true but were afraid to say so for fear of moral chastisement and guilt through association.  Or maybe some felt I was simply justifying my moral shortfalls and sickness, and felt it would be rude to say so.  Whatever the case may be, it just slid through Faceworld catching the mind's eye of only one who helped to confirm my stray thought as true, simply through her femininity.

     In my last entry I asked the question: "Being a father of a beautiful young daughter, would I want her to pose nude on the internet showing all her treasures for all to see?"  My answer was that I couldn't object through hypocrisy.  Yet this question remained sticky, simply through the fact that it personalized the objective view.   After giving it some more thought I came to the conclusion that it was the wrong question.  The question put to the fathers of the world should be: If your daughter chose to pose nude in public would you still love her as the beautiful child she was and could you respect, accept and love her for the sensuous woman she has become?  The most fucked up stories which have crossed my field of vision, are those when Muslim families kill their daughters and sisters for falling in love with a non-Muslim.  Killed for falling in love.  This phrase bears repeating.  Killed for falling in Love.  Our psychotic religious cults are far more dangerous to our young daughters, and for that matter our sons, than any pretty picture will ever be.

     One last random thought in religious regard, directed at the Christian hypocrites.  I'm beginning to understand why your Jesus hung out with prostitutes.  For they may have been considered sinners but at least they were the honest ones.  And those stories of him marrying and having children with Mary Magdalene?  They are not half as far fetched as say... immaculate conception.  But no doubt, those who worship him in name only will be the first to cast the stone my way for saying so.

     So I admire the fearless young women.  Not only for their physical beauty but for their open expression of it.  If we're honest we have to admit that being a human living through time, there is a prime time where our physical body is in full bloom.  I would say somewhere from 16 -18 to 40 - 45, after that... no amount of plastic, creams, pills or skin tightening is going to disguise the truth.  Does a withering bloom contain it's own beauty?  Of course, but only if it is allowed to die gracefully without props to hold it up.  The thing for me, a fifty year old man with an inflated tire growing around my gut is... I don't want to fill our young with the guilt and shame I have felt during my prime time.  From the retrospective vantage point I now cling to, I see how that time of my life could have been.  And I write this most of all for those who presently enjoy the fruits of youth.  Don't waste it in adherence to false moral judgments of what is socially proper behavior.  Abstinence does not make the heart grow fonder.  It only adds more regret to the golden years, in the end, diminishing that life experience.  The moment is what you got, take it, enjoy it, live it like it is your last, because it very well could be.

     Now for all us old farts who can't get it up?  Just kidding at fifty I don't suffer from that problem... yet.  But before you make Pfizer, Merck and the like richer, support the art of erotica and allow your old tired bones to remember what it felt like to be young.  Beyond that, accept that "it's natures way of telling you" nothing's wrong.  Do you really want to put your daughter through having to constantly explain, "He is not my grandfather, he's my dad?"  I know sex is not all about procreation but still... perhaps it's time to look to alternatives in the art of expressing intimacy with the one you love.  Maybe some intimate conversation where we open to each other allowing our vulnerabilities to come to the surface without fear of judgment or rejection.  Allowing the mundane thoughts that separate us from our true self and consequently each other to dissipate, and from there perhaps a resurgence of desire will emerge, adding fuel to not only the sexual fire but to all aspects of life.

~

"Desire is a Trap
Desire-Lessness is Moksha (Liberation)
Desire is the Creator
Desire is the Destroyer
Desire is the Universe"

† Be Here Now ~ Ram Dass (Pichard Alpert)

~

     One of the ways to become free from desires on the road to liberation, is to fulfill them.  As a spirit in the form of a man, the last thing I want on my death bed is a hard on powered by artificial means.  Give me Jack Kevorkian or give me death.  As the saying goes.

     I hope that clarifies, but in truth and in the house of mirrors we dwell, the only guaranteed way to not have my words be misunderstood would be to not write them at all.  We all have our baggage of perception and even my proofreader can read what I write through personal interpretation and not in the way I meant it.  I love you Stefanie and you still turn me on.  Now lets grow old together.

~

     Enough of the beauty, time for the freaks (although I have spoken of old people and hard as it is to believe, modern society does treat our old and inevitable future selves as freaks most of the time).  No geeks that I know of in this one, I just added the word to the title because it rhymed.  Other possible titles and subs for consideration included:  'Climbing a Mountain with Adrien Brody on My Back.' or 'Can You Share the View from the Summit if Others Refuse to Climb?' or '(even notice the mountain in front of their eyes to climb)' or the standard and ever popular:  'Facebook, Same Bullshit, Different Shovel.'

     Freaks, Geeks, Celebs and other Imaginary Friends seemed most appropriate for what I have in mind.  This is where my experience has been of late, in the pixel palace known as Facebook.  Despite it's surrogate nature I have met some real people behind the daily status reports and you know who you are.   If you didn't?  I don't believe we would have met.  And then there are the Celebs.  Some of those who I truly felt honored befriending are: Charlene Yi (Paper Heart, Comedian), Franny Armstrong (The Age of Stupid, Director), Richard O'Barry (Flipper, The Cove, Environmental Activist),  Steve Wickham (Waterboys, Fiddle Player), Aung San Suu Kyi (Burmese Activist and Political Prisoner) and Adrien Brody (Actor).  Are they real?  Some I know for sure but others?  Who knows?  And really, who cares?  People are people and whether famous or not, I do my best to not be blinded by the light of a star in search for the true being obscured by the gaussian blur of Hollywood illusions.

     Take Adrien Brody for example.  With a click and a short personal note of "Nice bike", he confirmed to be my friend.  Now?  I think that he may have wished he hadn't.  Was his page the real deal?  I tend to believe it was.  There was a Jason Brody in the mix and he looked a lot like his brother.  But real or not, an interesting discourse with multiple ramifications and varying levels of experience transpired.  So... to quote the Six Fingered Man from the Princess Bride as he tortured Wesley*, "for posterity's sake" lets assume Adrien is the real deal.

     Through my exchange with Mr. Body an old friend of mine who has passed resurfaced in my mind and heart.  But it was only through the private messages I had with Adrien Brody, that my friend Roddy paid a visit.  So in an act of Memorandum to honor the life of my friend David Roddy Carveth (Rodent) I am writing this, including the private notes along with the public Facebook thread.  I guess another title for this entry could have been:  How to or Not to, Facebook with Celebrities: A Case Study.

    It all started with this question Adrien Brody posted on his wall.

     "I know lying is wrong, but if the elephant man walked in with a nice blouse and some makeup on and asked how he looked, would you say 'go and take that blush off you mis-shapened elephant tranny' or would you say 'you look nice... John' ?"

     I gave the question more thought than I now know it deserved and came up with a clever answer (or at least I thought so) and commented:

July 22, 2010 at 7:29pm

Petrus Boots: I gave this some thought and this is one of those Zen things, right?. So I will answer it with another question. What would you say?

~

     Shortly before or around the same time as my comment, Stefanie who had also befriended Mr. Brody felt inclined to answer the question in her way.  She commented and said something to the effect of, "I would think that honesty is the best approach.  It may cause discomfort in the short run, but it keeps a knot from forming in my stomach.  That's important to me, lately I feel like being blunt."**

     Adrien Brody responded with, "You may say ....   'go and take that blush off you mis-shapened elephant tranny', but I will be the one in the room being kind."  But before anyone else could see this exchange (including Stefanie) Adrien Brody deleted Stefanie's comment along with his second thought response.  The thing is, and what few understand happens when you comment on Facebook is... that anyone who has commented receives an email directly to their inbox independent of Facebook deletions.  So Stefanie became aware of Adrien's response which irked her for the subtle accusation of her being unkind, but what really pissed her off, was that he deleted the entire exchange from his wall without respect or reason why.  A short private note on his part may have averted what followed.

     What followed was that someone (I could care less who they think they are) just dissed the woman I love.  So I gave the initial question some more thought and added another comment to the thread.  As a social scientific experiment in truth I was curious to see what would happen:

July 22 at 7:51pm

Petrus Boots: Gave this question a bit more thought and knowing what I know about Joseph (John) Merrick (which is not much basically the Lynch flick and that Michael Jackson had his bones), having lived with the ailment to the point where he felt comfortable wearing lipstick and a dress he would be able to handle the truth.  Now I wouldn't be rude but besides healing I think that was basically what he always wanted.  Sorry to be a killjoy but you got me thinking.  I don't believe there are limits to truth but for the ones we place on it.

~

     Adrien Brody responded on his wall with this comment:

July 22 at 7:51pm

Adrien Brody: C'mon.

~

     So contrary to his true desire I came on and added another comment:

July 22 at 7:52pm

Petrus Boots: What?  You asked a question, I know it was in jest but there is a lot of truth in comedy.  But if you'll forgive me for being serious, I do believe in absolute truth and practice it with my mate sometimes to the point of no return.  And yet we have made it past 20 years and it keeps getting stronger because we tell each other the truth.  Even the nasty little ones.  It's the price you have to pay for freedom while sharing a life with the one you love.  I have found no other way.  You have to accept it as well as tell it though.
Back to comedy, the Michael Jackson thing was good wasn't it?  And yeah you need that too, can't take ourselves too seriously.  Gotta go cut the lawn now.

~

     Having this exchange with Adrien Brody and truth floating through my brain, I did as I said and went to cut the lawn.  Through doing the mundane chore, thoughts of how the best comedy is usually based on some societal truth ran through my mind.  Thinking of George Carlin and others such as one of favorite comedy shows "Penn and Teller: Bullshit" helped to make lawn cutting a less arduous task.  I thought about a recent Bullshit installment concerning teen sex and modern-day promiscuity.  One point they raised concerned a 12 year old kid who had been sexted a naked picture of and by an under aged girl.  It got out, adults got involved, and the next thing you know this kid is labeled a pedophile for the rest of his life.  It wasn't an isolated case and if it wasn't for comedy I wouldn't have been made aware of the phenomenon.  I'd like to see Bullshit do an episode on the use of truth as a means to attain freedom of mind.  Just to see the title would be worth it, "Speaking Truth: Bullshit".

     Curious to see if Adrien Brody had replied, after lawn cutting duty was finished I went to the thread and saw that all my comments had been deleted.  Including the original one, "I gave this some thought and this is one of those Zen things, right?..."  I believe one reason he let that one stay on his wall for an extended time, was because in a roundabout way I gave Adrien Brody a compliment by inferring him a Zen Master for posting the question.  The ego, trips us up on every step of the path, right up to and most especially when one thinks themselves Zen Master or Hollywood Star.

     By this point I had sunk my teeth into this and would not be satisfied until I had fully digested and transferred the excrement.  So without expecting a reply I wrote a private (until now) note to Adrien.

July 22, 2010 at 7:19pm Petrus Boots wrote:

Adrien
I can tell that you are not buying what I am selling, even though I'm not asking for anything. That in itself you may hold suspect because in this cynical age who gives anything away for free? Right? Sure I'm an artist and being one who has not gained any recognition for the 30 years of staying true to my craft, I wouldn't mind some before I die. That is one of the reasons I'm on facebook. But the main one, as with my art, is speaking truth.
Now I could go on as to how I came to my understanding of things but out of respect for your privacy and wall space I don't and won't. You asked a question, I answered it to the best of my ability. Do you really believe that Merrick after all he suffered through looking at himself in the mirror would not be able to handle truth? C'mon. If anyone could, he would.
Believe it or not I and Stefanie tell each other the truth. I could explain but again with respect for your time I won't. Except to say this. It is all written down in my journal available for anyone to read. All the gory details.
One last thing. As with what Stefanie wrote on your wall, I see you have deleted my comments. I got a question for you. Don't you think there is enough censorship in this fucked up world ruled by lying politicians? And how are we to expect them to start telling the truth if we can't do it ourselves? You may think that I am fucking with your mind but I am not. So forget all I've said, get on your bike, and watch out for idiots, because there are plenty out there, but believe it or not I'm not one of them.
A bit disappointed Petrus

~

     In that last reference to "forget all I've said, get on your bike, and watch out for idiots..." unbeknownst to me at the time, my old friend Roddy had begun to creep into the conversation.  Although with my initial comment of "Nice bike" attached to the friend request, he had truly been there from the start.  Much to my surprise Adrien wrote back:

July 23, 2010 at 12:19pm Adrien Brody wrote:

It is not censorship to clean up my own page. It is my page.
Don't be silly! You can put your thoughts and ideas on your own page to assure they get heard and not removed. I just like to keep things tidy over here in my world. I never intended that comment to be heavy subject matter - just good fun. Who cares?

~

     I think my accusation of censorship got under his skin.  Sure he can do what he wants with his own page but I felt censored nonetheless.  And not censored for what some consider offensive language, or for insulting him in a public forum, but for sharing my vision of the truth.  As far as I'm concerned the worst kind of censorship.  Regardless and before he had given me permission to (not that I felt I needed it), "put my own thoughts and ideas on your own page" I had already done so.  I started my own post on my wall about what had happened beginning with this post:

July 22 at 7:28

Petrus Boots: Adrien Brody asked this question on his page:
"I know lying is wrong, but if the elephant man walked in with a nice blouse and some makeup on and asked how he looked, would you say 'go and take that blush off you mis-shapened elephant tranny' or would you say 'you look nice... John' ?"

~

     Then I filled out the post through the comment option with the (now deleted) comments I had posted on Adrien's wall.  I included the Zen thing along with his "C'mon" and the two others I had put my energy into.  Finally I ended it with these comments followed by Stefanie and Don*** entering stage left:

July 22 at 7:54pm

Petrus Boots: I came back from cutting the lawn and checked to see what's happened with the thread. He had deleted all that I wrote. I wrote him a private note which will remain so. But post this here because whether he truly is Adrien Brody or not, I can not let my jewels go to waste. He did the same thing to Stefanie. Now is that right?

~

July 22 at 7:56pm

Petrus Boots: This is one line from the private letter I wrote: "Do you really believe that Merrick after all he suffered through looking at himself in the mirror would not be able to handle truth? C'mon. If anyone could, he would."

~

July 22 at 11:08pm

Stefanie Clark: ummm.... I wrote on that thread also. I wrote, to paraphrase, something like, 'telling the truth and being honest is the right thing to do...lately I like to be blunt' I can't remember the exact words, but we were talking of a hypothetical circumstance right? If you get a terrible haircut and ask a good friend what do you think, you should say it looks great? I just thought offering the other side was appropriate. Starting a discussion/dialogue. He wrote back, 'so I guess I'd be the kind person in the room' (meaning I was unkind?) He deleted my post and his response. I don't want to contribute to his space again. I was angry. I think an honest opinion is always the right thing to do, but not always the easiest thing to do. I'm learning to walk away from people instead of letting them get to me. It's hard for me. That all happened before Pate posted anything. Let it go... or let it be... My motto lately I will revise... 'Just keep swimming but watch out for sharks.'
My problem with it was the deletion, without discussion. Maybe some people don't like anyone posting anything on their walls that doesn't match their own views, or maybe they just want lame comments, like 'wow, you are so deep/sexy/amazing', or 'I love you XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX' Those are the types of comments I would want to delete. OK then Mr B. But I'd do it again, and will write what I feel compelled to write. That's how it works for me. I go with my gut feelings. If I can't trust that, I'm lost.

~

July 23 at 1:47am

Petrus Boots: I've reread Brody's question and to be honest it's rather disrespectful to the memory of Joseph (John) Merrick also know as The Elephant Man. To make a joke of someone who suffered more than Mr. Brody will most likely ever suffer seems cruel. And with that, his question should be this:
If Adrien Brody treated you with total disregard deleting your comments which were in no way offensive, would you tell him the truth and call him out on it? Or would you continue to stroke his ego like so many others do? Anyone?
I told him.

~

July 23 at 8:06am

Don H Blum: Absolutely, call him out... for the simple and most obvious reason that an assuaging lie that one conveys to another disintegrates that person's credibility in anything that they might say to you.. disrespect is the ultimate 'rude'..

~

July 23 at 9:23am

Stefanie Clark: yes, I stand by my words, and yours Pate. If all is meant to be happy and fluffy, then what's the point?

~

July 23 at 11:51am

Petrus Boots: Knew you'd see it this way Don, because you see the light in the shadows that 'stars' cast.
See... you not only bring out the joker, but also the poet in me. Or to be more accurate, the bad poet in me. No Butterflies to report today, it's raining helping the milk weeds grow but I know they are out there.

~

     Somewhere around that time, at 12:19pm on July 23, 2010 to be exact (I should be a lawyer) I received the private email from Adrien Brody.  Here is my reply:

July 23, 2010 at 4:18pm Petrus Boots wrote:

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to write, you're not so bad. I didn't think you were, for how could I enjoy the roles you play if I thought so. I've had the thought that you have the right to do whatever you want with your page. And I'm glad to hear that in exchange you offer me the same right. To do otherwise would be hypocritical, right? Remember don't take this personally this is a humorous exchange. And now for the news you might not like.
I'm a bit of a packrat with my thoughts and save everything I write. They are important to me and define who I am. To have them deleted rubbed me the wrong way. So I will ask for your forgiveness beforehand when I tell you, I put the question and exchange that followed on my wall. And offered up a revised question. As mentioned, I recognized the humor in your question and offered my bit, but at the ominous age of fifty and having a 9 year old daughter, I'm seriously concerned about her future and feel compelled to speak my truth in whatever form afforded me. If we as humans don't open real lines of communication her future looks bleak. Hope you understand.
You are free to see what I put up and if you want to comment feel free, I won't delete whatever you put up. And if a comment in your defense won't suffice, delete the friendship, I'll understand and won't hold it against you. I can't expect everyone to live life the way I choose to do. Besides that, it'd be a drag to have to watch your films and get all pissed off.
Lastly, I see you are in a new relationship. Hope it works out. But I'm serious, truth is the key to making it last. And remember to watch out for idiots when you ride. I had a friend who hit a station wagon with his Sportster going headfirst through it. He was never the same and most of his friends abandoned him. I guess in a way he was not unlike Merrick, a freak that people ran away from. Sorry for the bummer ending, but sometimes life just ain't funny and it ain't no Hollywood movie.
Again thanks for getting back to me and hope you can appreciate the irony in all this.

~

     The irony I saw was that I was living up to what I had said when I answered the initial question of 'would you tell him or not'.  Except now it wasn't hypothetically directed at Mr. Merrick but aimed at Adrien Brody himself in the real world.  Taking into consideration as real as Facebook can be, which is open for debate.  So can you take a joke?

     Another more personal irony as I saw it was that this all started with the Elephant Man and once again my friend Roddy made it into the letter.  He is the friend I spoke of who suffered the motorcycle accident which changed the rest of his life, turning him into a societal freak until the day he died.  It was around that time that I had to make a trip to town and as I reached the end of the drive to put up the closed sign I said to Roddy, "I'm speaking to Adrien Brody about you.  Isn't that cool?"  And as I said that a very powerful wave of emotion came over me accompanied with chills down my spine and tears from my eyes.  Now some may think me simpleminded for thinking so, but for me that was my long lost friend paying me the most intimate of visits.

     Shortly following my reply to Adrien's private note I added this comment to the thread.

July 23 at 4:20pm

Petrus Boots: Adrien Brody replied to my private note. Pretty decent thing to do.

~

    Adrien Brody's private reply to my last note:

July 23, 2010 at 5:00pm Adrien Brody wrote:

You are taking this facebook stuff far too seriously.

~

     This was shortly followed by a comment on my post:

July 23 at 5:02pm

Adrien Brody: Guys! My status update was a quote from a British comedy called Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge. It was not meant to be anything important. It is comedy quoted from a character who is known for being crass and unreasonable.

~

     Along with Roddy I grew up with a couple of real jokers as my best friends.  Public humiliation was their way of showing affection.  So I think I have an inkling of where Brody comes from.  It's no good if it's not funny boyish humor, the more obscure and rude the better.  I understand that way.  I have known some crass and unreasonable characters in my life, they were my friends, and at times I know myself to be crass, unreasonable and crude in my expression of my truth.  Correct me if I am wrong, but for me that is what all good comedy is, a humorous gateway for truth to make it through to the public forum.  Without Stewart, Colbert and Maher I'd never get the relevant sociopolitical news and commentary.

~

 "My humor is so dark that no one can see it.  Sounds like something Andy Kaufman could have said."

† Petrus Boots Facebook Status: July 24, 2010

~

     Accused of taking Facebook too seriously and not being in the possession of a sense of humor, this was my final private reply to Adrien Brody:

July 23, 2010 at 5:59pm Petrus Boots wrote:

Oh come on. It's not that I facebook too seriously, I take life seriously. Liked your comment, I'll think of something to lighten it up. I'm thinking of putting something up by George Carlin soon. Some are going to hate me for that one. I'm having fun with this can't you see?
I have to tell you, the memory of my friend came back strong, very powerful, felt good. He died alone but for his pit bull Butch some time ago.
Take care of yourself.

~

     With that I felt my dance with Adrien Brody was over and that we had parted ways amicably and in good humor.  Now I just felt the need to tie up the Facebook thread I started in an appropriate way:

July 24 at 7:50am

Petrus Boots:  Adrien thinks that I take Facebook too seriously. He might have a point there. Through our conversations a better question was asked than the initial one which started all this. "Who cares?" Short question, deserves a short answer. "Nobody." And that's the problem.
Sorry Adrien I know I said I would try to lighten this up, I just couldn't find it in me this morning.
No more comments please, this thread is done. Press: Delete.
... and Lou keeps singing in my head, "Straw man..."
Time to go watch Hamilton qualify. ****

~

     Despite my request for no more comments Don was determined to have the last word.

July 24 at 5:00pm

Don H Blum: What others think about one's activities are merely uneducated judgments.. everyone has opinions but everyone doesn't know another's in the moment activities that give solace...

~

July 25 at 2:43pm

Petrus Boots: I did say no more comments Don but will let this one stand. Mr. Brody took my trip in stride and in the future I will respect his desire to keep things light within the place he likes to play, and someday I'd like to pay another visit if something clever comes to mind.
A fourth for Hamilton today (which was okay) while baby Alonso and Ferrari took the racing out of F1 again. Talk about someone who takes things too seriously, that Spaniard needs to take a pill.****
Now no more comments here.

~

July 25 at 3:22pm

Don H Blum: Petrus... the silence of your mind speaks freely within mine.. one glimpse of your art is a vast universe of words not yet known...

~

July 25 at 6:31pm

Petrus Boots: "No more 'comments' now, I mean it." Fezzik: "Anybody want a peanut?" Vizzini: "DYEEAAHHHHHH." Seems a fitting end to this. You got to love Andre The Giant.*

~

     With that "Princess Bride" reference, enlisting another of society's freaks 'Andre The Giant' to have the final say, I felt all due respect was paid.  And ironies of irony if Don hadn't continued making comments I wouldn't have found the nice bow to finish off the wrapping job.  I also thought that Mr. Brody who would be receiving these comments as notifications would appreciate the humor to which he claimed justification in posting the initial question.

     On August 2, 2010 I noticed that Adrien Brody had deleted me off his friends list.  He did not impose the same honor upon Stefanie.

     Despite having said to him that I would not hold it against him if he chose to delete me, I guess I lied.  It pissed me off, because I truly thought we had come to an understanding, but as is the case with the human race, one person's truth does not make another true.  Obviously, with the act of deletion he expressed what he wasn't ready to say in public.  On the other hand, I don't have a publicist and don't suffer from that problem.  Or maybe not having that problem is why I suffer?

     I broke my own rule of no more comments and wrote some other comments on the thread which I later (true to Brody style) chose to delete or clean up.  Something to do with assholes, flea on the ass of the world, you know... reactionary shit.  But I'm over it now.  Having said that, I will most likely never be able to watch one of his films through a purely objective view and will find it hard to see the character for the actor playing the part.  In consolation to my Brody disappointment, on the same day that I noticed Adrien had deleted me, a true hero of mine Aung San Suu Kyi befriended both Stefanie and I.  How she does this from under house arrest in Burma begs for explanation but just having her picture in my list of friends gives me hope in a just Universe.

     On August 7, 2010 I noticed Adrien Brody deleted himself from Facebook.  And he thought I took it too seriously.  To actually commit Facebook suicide shows who was taking this facestuff too seriously from the start.  Contrary to appearances, it wasn't me.

~

The End.

~

     ...not quite yet and since I have a movie theme going here this is where the credits scroll while outtake photos and other edited material accompany.

     I wish I had a picture of Roddy before the accident but following his death his immediate family saw fit to throw whatever remained of his memory into the trash.  This Polaroid I took of him which I also used in my drawing "Harmonious Convergence" is the best picture I have.

     In his youth Roddy got the girl, had the car and the bike.  Then fate dealt a blow.  On an otherwise beautiful summer day, in an instant, the cool Rod was gone to be replaced by the freak who survived.  He truly became the Merrick of our small town clan and most people avoided him like the plague.  But if you took the time to look under the stitches of his physical appearance and past the brain which had been damaged, trapped in a "Groundhog Day" loop of time, you met the real Roddy.  A loyal friend who cared more for the neighborhood dogs than he cared for himself.  He was generous and if delivered with a pure heart, able to take a joke even at his own expense.

     Roddy hadn't been to visit us here in Oopsley for a while.  (Oopsley as in Apsley, was a term he coined.)  This was not unusual for he was a feast or famine kind of friend.  You were either sick of him or you wondered where he'd been.  Then sometime after his death I got the news from my Mother.  At the age of 41 Rod had died at home alone but for his dog and best friend Butch and was not found for some time.  Thinking about how he died creates an unpleasant image in my mind and a sad feeling in my heart.  Following and seeing how that transpired and wishing I had been around more, I now call my parents everyday.  It's a selfless act which is ultimately selfish, for the last thing I want is to carry the guilt for not having told them I love them on the day they pass on.

     As is the case with all socially and physically defined freaks, the consolation of Roddy's passing is that he no longer has to look in the mirror of other's eyes.  And wherever his spirit may now dwell, my wish is that he can now choose whichever etheric form his heart desires.

~

"Vroom Vroom to Oopsley, see Steffy and Pete, pee-pee-z-poo-pooz Butch?"

† David Roddy Carveth

~

     One last thing and I am done here until next time.  You may have read in this journal about my troubles with my neighbor.  Logging operation, snow removal, easement issues...  The other day I was sitting in my drive and I watched as he drove past my house to get to his home.  Halfway up the hill I heard him stop and back up where he stopped and spoke to me.

    After a recent history of me staking my claim and standing my ground defining my boundaries, my neighbor admitted to me that he had been wrong.  With that simple gesture a door was opened through which we could speak our truth.  He told me he was tired of the stress, had looked into his heart and it told him to talk to me.  He asked me if it was okay to lay some gravel on the drive and consulted with me on what type I liked.  Adding a layer of gravel to the drive is something I have wanted to do for the past couple of years but could not afford.  To be honest here, he might have thought of offering to do it before the logging trucks ground what was there into the mud.  Some of the hard feelings we have had for each other may have been averted.  But that is retrospect and now made irrelevant because the other day with a word and handshake it seems our past troubles are finally behind us.

     The civil exchange left me shaking my head in wonder that miracles really do happen.  It's the little ones.  Now I can rent the log splitter from his hardware store again.  Saving myself and consequently our planet a car trip to another town.  It's in the little things.  It's in the details...

~

"Stood in front of the mirror all alone
examined my features, skin and bone
looked at the face I've always known
It was a wonderful disguise
It was a wonderful disguise"

† Wonderful Disguise lyrics by Mike Scott (Waterboys) from the album Bring 'em all in

~

Just one more...

"Dr. Saul Mengelstien finds a miraculous new cure for herpes 5x squared." by Glen Farris

     Just one example of how sick my friend Glen's sense of humor can be.  So if sometimes one might think me crude and rude in these and various facebook status updates, you know who's to blame.  Scary thing is, I seem to be passing it on to my daughter.  Click on the image if you care or dare to see a larger version.

~

* The Princess Bride: 1987 comedy starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn,  Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Peter Cook, Mel Smith, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal; Screenplay written by William Goldman based on his book; Directed by Rob Riener

** The exchange between Stefanie and Adrien Brody is recalled through memory of events (including Adrien's response) because it all just pissed Stefanie off to the point where she deleted any and all correspondence with the name Adrien Brody attached to it.  I wish she hadn't done that but I understand why she did.

*** Don H Blum.  For more of Don's writings go to: Adonybus Quotations Book

**** Obscure reference to my other passion, Formula One Racing.  The German Grand Prix at Hockenheim was taking place at the time.  I've been a McLaren fan since the days I watched Bruce McLaren race at my local track when I was a kid.  Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button now drive for the McLaren team.  Fernando Alonso and Ferrari have a dubious history with the team.

~

Disclaimer:  Use of images and quotations on this page are meant to illustrate and enhance a personal point of view and in no way indicates or infers the individuals depicted or the photographer's or artist's support of any opinion or statements expressed by the author.

~

Note:  To reach other entries of the past just use the Index on the right by choosing the date, a flyout title will also appear to help in your inquiry.  Or click here for Page 16 of the Journal.

~