THE ARCHED VOCALIST AND THE CROUCHED COP
22 February 2010 | Manzanillo, Mexico
Joe
THE ARCHED VOCALIST AND THE CROUCHED COP
You know, I was recalling a blog I posted a while back, I think it was when we were approaching the Mexican coast on our passage from Ecuador. You see I had suddenly noticed how a stand-up comedian was just a lay preacher who had stood up. A lay preacher conversely, a comedian tired of standing up. Now isn't it strange a comedian is defined by his or her stance? Could we have a reclining painter? A supine poet? A hunched thinker (Rodin has beat us to it)? What about a squatting opera singer, hurdling model, levitating photographer, dancing philosopher, pirouetting conjuror, leaping ventriloquist? Need we stop there? Could you imagine an arched vocalist, contracted violinist, lotus-positioned ukulele player, a pianist pointing, a novelist completely folded? My favorite is the spinning chorister.! The prone caricaturist. Or the floating blogger!.
What pose would the politician take up? Couched?
Occupations are funny, When someone asks you what you do, you hesitate, well usually I did, proud or ashamed of your occupation, or else you answer automatically, like filling in a form, or remembering your résumé in your sleep. So what DO you do?... clarinetist? ... tattooist? ... ukulele varnisher? Or seamstress, singer, soccer coach, seer? ... baker, booker, biker, bum? Waddaya do for a crust? Me dad used to say.
In my time, I've been a welder, singer, salesman, prop maker, musician, teacher, laborer, factory hand, taxi driver, carpenter, roof painter, restaurateur, handyman, licensed secondhand dealer and department store Santa Claus - and that's just the jobs I've been paid for. Looking back, I remember that I have also at times been a clown, a tree feller, signwriter, cartoonist, ceramicist, jewelery maker, artist, actor, writer, sculptor, sailor, house renovator, poet, mime artist, husband, boat repairer, the list goes on. I just couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to do in life so I just tried whatever I wanted to do at the time. In addition, I've been a charities event manager (that one was paid too), car mechanic, designer, photographer, instrument maker, filmmaker, kitemaker (paid), failed juggler and bullshit artist. A great reader of books and a philosopher too. Sometimes I've even been Myself. Oh, and a father of five wonderful children. What haven't I done? Tax accountant for one and historian for another. Historian I quite fancied to be. A great artist is what I wanted to be.
Now I don't really care about any of these ways of spending my day. I want to be a Happiest - that's a person who is happy ALL the time. None of the above can guarantee that, so I learn better how to do it by learning how to do it. Maybe I can learn from you. Thank you! Bless you, all three of you.
PS Appreciate your comments!
If you would like to read a piece I wrote when I had no boat, go to right hand column this page, click [Contents], go to:
08/23/2008 EKLEKTIKOS - A Dream
If you are interested in photos go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeblake/