or being one, isn't it the same thing, the dream of an adventurous life? and isn't the importance of our wild escapades during sleep the fact that these too are life, that we will remember some of these episodes with more vividness than the stupidities of our waking hours? we live to dream, maybe that says it all, and when our imagination dies, we do too.
it's been one of those surprising days. every once in awhile i realize the life i've lived is not necessarily the one i would have enjoyed most. during morning coffee at barnes and noble i discovered an article in monocle magazine (and i recommend this rag highly, most unusual, it combines the world of design with the world of politics and development, nothing else like it). an article on the somalian pirates and their danish (believe it or not) naval opponents. and i thought, damn, i'd like to be out there pursuing outlaws on the high seas. yet i couldn't help feeling sorry for the offenders themselves, poverty-stricken ner-do-wells from a devestated country, merely attempting to survive.
so much for sympathy! actually, like most poets i wish i'd been a man/woman of action. now, the hero can't survive without the writer. all deeds languish in vain unless loftly, even ironic and condemnatory words lift the solitary gesture of defiance out of obscurity. to put it plain and simple, only the heroes with secretaries survive. and to be a handmaiden to fame isn't really glorious.
that said, i like a common youth of fantasies. i remember being in the basement of the edvard munch museum in oslo, perusing the painter's childhood notebooks. with rifle and pistol the erstwhile child doomed to become a desperate artist pursued cowboys and indians like a normal kid, drawing scenes of their exploits. i thought, 'at least he had this, despite his later obsession with death and screams.'
let us be common and everyday, let us fight off the great cannibals of space. going to trader joe's to buy wine, i decided to inspect the offering at the movie theaters. ah, star trek! a friend mentioned it in an e-mail, the continuation of a great traditon. so, i attended, sped through the universe, fought off the villain, identified with the defiant rebel who becomes the honored commander of the starship enterprise. why not? no wonder these movies popular, declaring the future possible while we all know we've a limited time. of course, this confirmed my decision to be a doctor on a spaceship in my next lifetime, medicine at the moment way too crude.
yes, a day when i surprised myself. after all, my pursuit of creativity is a mug's game. eventually it adds up to stringy muscles and a shuffling walk. no, no, do it while you can.
here are dancers doing it: www.pbase.com/wwp/showcase and www.pbase.com/wwp/choreoo9
here are the wise floating down the river: www.pbase.com/wwp/tub
and children doing what they should be doing: www.pbase.com/wwp/childhood
or perhaps fighting the deadly penguins www.pbase.com/wwp/penguins
there's never a shortage of exciting things to do.
