Post date: Apr 4, 2012 3:40:20 PM
Well it is another one of those memorable days I never expected to see. Reached it to the ripe older age of 67. Keep telling everyone that I am going to live til I am 93, but don't know if I can conjure up the stamina to fend off all of the mental, emotional and physical stresses that have followed me around, like a stray and hungry dog all these years. Plan on giving it one helluva try though! Just want to alert all of the young ones out there, to look out for and be aware of that crazy old Croatian, popping wheelies in his wheel chair and crushing peoples toes with his walker. By then, all of my enemies and nemeses should be planted or toasted and bobbing around on the waves of the oceanic trades routes. People have a tough time trying to understand or figure me out today. Just think how confusing it will be for those sorry souls, who have no clue about me, down the road. Do like the fact that I am approaching that age where one gets the perfect alibi and excuse of "Don't mind him. He's just old, senile and have heard, has always been a bit eccentric". Is strange, but many have been telling me that since I turned 30. Why would they ever think that?
Do know that on a day like this, I do feel blessed and thankful for all that I have been afforded through life. Things haven't been exactly easy by no means. One thing about going down "memory lane" is that you not only recall moments and experiences in your life, but more importantly, you recall those involved in them that made them special or something that you want to forget, but can't quite forget. Have 67 large units of those moments and experiences stored at a local storage facility. Would be interesting to be around and watch "Storage Wars" after I am gone. Wonder what the bids would be when they were auctioned off? Wonder if when the buyer took them to an appraiser, if they could figure out what they were, what they were about and what they were worth? Wonder if they would get me included in an old friend's weekly newspaper column entitled "Stranger Than A Stranger"?
Just happy to be alive and to be able to have a few more good experiences and to share another few words and thoughts. Some have accused me of wasting a lot of time in my life and not living up to my true potential. I do take offense at that to a degree. Truly believe that I have exceeded expectations of me and have never quit developing ALL of my various potentials. You can only work on one of them at a time. Have a great pride, that no one has been able to pigeonhole me and often don't realize that they are often talking about the same person, when discussing a stranger they had met in the past. Just think of the many names I have had over the years. My friend Walter use to tell me that I was a one-man circus, band and multi-channel cable TV menu. You don't get a compliment like that by sitting on your butt. Always have liked someone asking me, "Just what do you do"? Normally, I just respond by asking them how much time they have.
Guess that kind of allows me to introduce my new art piece titled "He Worked Without A Net For So Many". It is 12" long x 4 1/2" wide x 11" high. When I did it, I was not thinking about myself, but rather about my friends Walter, Mad Dog, Budd and those that have influenced me, but unfortunately have passed on and the others, like them, that are still with us. It is natural for all to want their day in the sun, but truly exceptional people strive to make sure that all have their day in the sun. They don't have to be goaded or paid highly to make things happen for others. They do it because they want all to enjoy the experience of something good. You have to be sicko not to want to see someone smile and be amazed rather than see someone weep and be totally frustrated. There is enough good to go around for us all. There is one catch, however. Once someone has shown the way, it is your obligation to get up and work without a net and not demand something for free. You may get a birthday present on that memorable day, but that doesn't entitle you to a gift every other day unless you earn it.
As somehow I haven't been able to qualify for "Meals On Wheels", I have to go scrounge something up for breakfast and have my one cup of coffee, down from 35-a-day. Also need some cigarettes, so have to go to 7-11. Won't be going to the gym, as pushing the vacuum around to terrorize the dust bunnies is all the exercise I need to keep me fit. While at 7-11, I will buy a package of Hostess Cupcakes (screw the cupcake people on cable TV) and later gather my children (my art) and demand they sing the traditional song of the day, with one candle lit on one of the cupcakes, to me. After that I'll take a bubble bath with my flock of rubber duckies. Later this evening I will put on that classic movie "Revenge of the Giant Mosquito" (he makes you itch and scratch in unmentionable places) and revise my will, excluding those who intentionally forgot that today was my birthday.
Do keep those comments coming and do pass this stuff on.
John Michael, Ralph, Rocko, Frank (new) or Whoever?
(To see photos of the above art piece "He Worked Without A Net For So Many", go to https://sites.google.com/site/jmdodigartphotos )