Reid Harris Cooper

I've had this dream for various businesses actually. Travel agency (there is actually a company that exists like this, they plan your destination and itinerary), but your trusting my research and your coming to me because you want the trip I would plan based on just some select concepts of your desires but also that you more so want to experience MY desires, then I could take more trips and discover more things for other people to do.

This would work for a publishing company, a film and television studio, etc. Just... trust me, because you do, because if I steer you wrong or you don't like what I create for you, then you are 1 of billions. I just need that first opportunity with each individual. Which when you think about it other than saying how you like your meat cooked, or that you'd like a specific genre, or that you have a barest concept, you are essentially with everything you don't make yourself, trusting someone else.

I just want that extra step of trust though. Frequently I get it, especially when putting together plans for friends, but not ALWAYS and frequently when they don't just relinquish everything to me or make me feel like I need to go with parts of their plan even when it goes against my judgment, ending up with me making a plan for me and myself and my friends after saying “We should've just listened to you”. I'm talking about the past here, not the present. That's only cause my life as a whole has changed so much.

Yet, still, if you'd just trust me to tell you what movie to watch, what game to play, what book to read or just let me make you a meal and trust my weirdness (outside of my allergies and yours), we'd all just be so much better off. You could even trust me to tell you what to write, but my main tip for that is, write what you know. I know nonsense, poetry and memoir. I'm also fairly good at a review of something I enjoyed when I choose to tackle it.
 

The nine of diamonds
a card in a deck of 52
or 54 or 55 when you include Jokers and that Branded card
A line in the desert
won't last for long
it is sand and wind will come
the dusty trail blossoms

Mind the gap
when crossing the platform
kick JK in the ovaries
it so treasures thinking gender
is only based on false genetic coding

Tone deaf punk rock music is fun
when micro dosing on experimental hybrids of DMT, AMT, 5-MEO and LSD
Pour me a cocktail of mercury and orange Juice and
meet me on the other side of the door.

Passage Number Two arrived later
THC glowed like glistening golden warrior
Standing in a field of Lavender and Eucalyptus
Olfactory explosion
sensory overload

Have your dreams made sense? 
Are they memories?
If when unrealistic, does that mean they didn't happen?
The Bunny rabbit with cybernetic parts
will you find them where you lost saw them?

We are in an amazing time for streaming entertainment, especially for someone deep into comics and the media created from it. With Agatha All Along on Disney+ and The Penguin on HBOMAX we have alternative versions of stories told in some way from Marvel and DC respectively, allowing new fans and old to discover something almost with same information other than some recognition. Those two shows along with The Franchise which pokes fun at the production end of shows like these bigger franchise partners major films, yet while also given fans an entirely new comics universe that if the show is successful enough can be explored as all evidence points to a full bible for the Maximum Comicsverse. Yes indeed, a wonderful time to be a fan of... fandom.

{written The Real LJ Idol-Mini Idol 2024-Week13-Omakase}

It was after college where things took their real hold of going on stage and just doing complete nonsense, unplanned, saying words that didn't exist, singing random lyrics that were words but they didn't belong together necessarily or were just complete hooleyhoo and hogwash and ballywick. One of these performances even made it onto The Best of NYC-URBANA 2004, as a bonus track.* In the CD credits I am mentioned as part of the production team (actually the Junior Deputy Assistant Executive Director, a ridiculous title). Yet not total nonsense as I handled a lot on the production end of a weekly poetry slam when not taking to the stage to either improv, or read something I wrote THAT day in a haphazard mishmosh of a story that made sense but was also complete nonsense, like a love letter to Miss Piggy.

*

As life takes turns as it tends to do, I was actually away from a regular space performing my silliness focusing on graffiti, street art and photography. Although after more than a few years I found myself at an open mic curated by my now forever friends Fritz and Christina known as HiChristina and I would follow them along to multiple spaces, making new friends along the way and finding new ways to bring my nonsense to a performance space. Being it gibberish, randomly written on the spot songs, or just telling stories that would meander and detour before coming back in a myriad of just pure silliness. Here are just some examples from various venues and evenings:

It's been a few years since I've hit the stage, but I think if you read my work, or heard some of my ideas then you know how much I still treasure nonsense and especially gibberish. If I thought people would attend and I knew how to facilitate I'd give gibberish classes, as it really is a skill. Alas, when you have folks in politics just talking it without meaning to I don't know how much of a skill it is anymore. That's another topic all together though.

Now for fun, a paragraph or two in written gibberish nonsense.

“Shibblelbledy pecakced daudrily. Todosdoe tek Fruumy Fresnukles gooshry clen sodden, folosoed trell, lacklardy lense reposesen feashishly. Auk oden rebelsen guire wan sienesen, jetcrueller sparklesamsin. Gunceau, git crodder vlig bije forbodden.”

Lesson one in making a ball of yarn is to gather many worms, lick the worms on their toupees and the worms produce steel that can be melted and turned into the proper material for a large ball. The yarn ball will then come alive and recite the prior paragraph and everyone will smile while eating buckets full of carrots and discarded toenails.

{written for LJ Mini-Idol Week 11: Haver}

In my first ever actually paid commercial gig of something that actually aired nationally on televisions, my co-star was legendary character actor Fyvush Finkel. He played my grandfather. It was a non-speaking role for everyone in the commercial spot for an airline. The only speaker was a baby voiced by Lorenzo Music (most famous for Garfield). Many many years later Fyvush and his sons Ian and Elliot performed at Queens Theater in the Park which is mere blocks my home. Our family had made connections with the theater through various things through the years, so I wrote a letter to Fyvush to be brought backstage. He invited us and even actually remembered who I was despite it just being a small commercial.

In my teenage years I worked on a variety of film sets. I had worked on many actually from 10-17 before going to college, but when I was 16 and 17 I had two of my best experiences which also have allowed unexpected happenings as an adult. I worked on A Bronx Tale, the Robert De Niro film written by Chazz Palminteri and starring Joe Pesci as well. It was really fun on that set to discover that even when I was still a short 5'4 (I got a growth spurt overnight in college of 4 inches), that Joe Pesci was shorter than me. On this set as well, was my at that point longtime acquaintance Mario Bosco. We had worked on multiple films together over the years and got along despite a 5 year age difference because Mario would be cast in roles that were younger than me even. Mario and I spent time with Lillo Brancato Jr. and some girls he knew. Because I was so short at the time I actually was a stand-in for Francis Capra. My greatest experiences though were that both Chazz and Robert took time to talk to me when we weren't filming. Long in depth conversations. Fast forward many years later again, I actually see Mr. De Niro in public sometimes when in the city. Just randomly. He'll usually greet me before I can greet him. This has also happened with Chazz. Mario and I are actually also still acquaintances to this day. It amazes me that out of the pretense of being a co-worker/employee these men still are warm to me all this time later.

One of the other films during this that I worked on was Flirting with Disaster. They were doing pick up shots (scenes shot after the film has finished that they discover need to be redone or added in after test screenings) and I was Ben Stiller's stand-in. Yes, Ben is THAT short. While Patricia Arquette was a complete sweetheart, something must gotten to Ben that day as he was very testy as was director David O. Russell. Not testy though and for whatever reason decided to treat me like I was their son for the day were Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Bens parents. They weren't in the film but visited the set anyway and couldn't be kinder. It was a long shoot with lots of down time and then out of nowhere to avoid overtime it was cut . It was all very weird, but Jerry and Anne still were amazing. Another fast forward, and again to Queens Theater, Anne and Jerry have a show there. Another letter sent backstage, a sweet little reunion and amazement that they remember me. I haven't gotten to see Ben again that I remember and definitely not Patricia, but I think the next time I see Ben it'll be fine, as long as he isn't bothered that I don't care about sports. He's really into watching sports.

I could easily go on about other famous stars you may or may not know by name I met on movie and television sets, but I think it's extra interesting that when I went off to college my encounters with the famous or in some cases future famous continued. In my freshmen year Soleil Moon-Frye (aka Punky Brewster) was attending, she didn't stay long enough for me to ever even get the guts to talk to her, but ask fellow students of mine. She was there. I had a good cadre of well known professors as well. Peter Brook, Sekou Sundiata, Leslie Lee. It was three fellow students who I knew fairly well that are truly of note though. I choreographed a fight scene with rapper Matisyahu (then still just Matt Miller) in a Commedia Dell'Arte, we also worked in a solo performance workshop together. I published some of Travis Jeppesen's earlier work in a self published magazine me and my best friend Nick put together and I would just sit around with Jake Shears (of the Scissor Sisters) outside classes on occasion. I really was that much a social butterfly. I was all around the city too. During this time I became friendly with Tim Robbins cause his son loved comics, Tim would stop me on the street randomly and still does to this day. I also met Ted Danson when his daughter was interested in attending my college.

Since college I'd returned to film, worked on multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, met famous and semi-famous people and their parents through just circumstance. I feel I've name dropped enough and I could continue to name drop, but then it would seem like bragging even though it really just is my life and the best stories of my life.

The same goes with my most recent entertainment career field of wrestling (which actually goes back 20 years, but was only hardcore serious where I was helping create it from the ground up). The people I have trained with, worked with, gone to bars with, had long in-depth conversations with would read like a whos who, People who have been or are currently major stars in WWE, AEW or TNA. I don't even know which names or stories or anecdotes I would tell in such a telling in which in section could've been an entire chapter to itself.

I haven't even gotten into people in the music industry, writers, comics artists, street artists (people whose work you've seen, but I've actually helped them put up) or people from my early life. I shared a teacher with Sarah Jessica Parker at one point for example.

I'll leave you with this. It all sounds like an imaginary story, there's no way I've met all these people or had such interactions with them. I must just have a vivid imagination. If that was true, trust me I wish the following story wasn't true. I was walking along fifth avenue outside of Trump Hotel and started getting a bloody nose, this happened frequently in my teenage years, we never found out what causes the bleeds but they eventually stopped. Donald happened to just be outside the hotel at this time, saw me, handed me an embroidered handkerchief and told me I should go inside and head to the main level restrooms. Once inside the bathroom, Pauley Shore or someone who looked like him just happened to be in there and seeing my bloody nose thought I was a coke user and offered me some. I politely declined, washed up and headed on my way. This memory has sat in my head along with all of them. If they're all lies, then so am I.

Being a social butterfly

does not mean I always have wings

Frequently, more than you would assume

leaving the abode, the cocoon as it is

dancing around the lights

flickering happy, bouncing around

does not come easy

Even when physically out in the world

willing to be and go everywhere

I will stand on the proverbial wall

sometimes it'll be a bar stool

other times as close to the door possible

or even the middle of the room

trying to be invisible

or feeling like I am

There have been multiple events

where I know I would greeted

gladly, treated like the best

but the inner battle

is lost quickly

although fought all night

the desire to live

is shot down by the ennui

the unnerving, not understandable

mental breakdown

scared of interactions

fear of what?

I do not know

That is the problem

the fear of not knowing

what you are afraid of

having zero fear

which is your biggest fear itself

will you say something wrong

is going worth it

is staying home worth it

if you do one

you can't do the other

and then if you do go out

anything “bad” that may happen

you're left wondering

but if you had stayed home

it could have been worse

vice versa

as it goes

it has, it will, it has, it will, it has... it will... it has... stop...go...go...stopgostopstopgostopgostop

We see this in lots of the entertainment industry, be it movies, television, writers, animators, comics creators, musicians, directors, etc., etc. There's the version we come to accept as being who they are, then the reality comes out and you reflect back and sense all the little signals that were there and it makes “sense” or maybe you don't, but you realize something always felt off. Something about them appearing “human” was almost too human, the perfection of humanity, the reflection of humanity because they were by the concepts of humanity, considerably inhumane.

This isn't always the case. Sometimes society itself was the one who was wearing a human disguise. Society will at times infiltrate into a celebrities life and if that celebrity doesn't live up to their frequently hypocritical standards they view them in a manner. This has happened with certain wrestlers as well. Your favorite people will not always have been good people, or treated the people in their life the way they should've. This isn't anyone's business, but they make it so. In those cases I sometimes think everyone ends up looking like some facsimile of a human and it always makes me uncomfortable. More uncomfortable that I don't know who scares me more.

As broad as this concept can be, in just wrestling itself, here are three examples of all avenues of exploration this can take and how it also can end based on degrees. All three of these are people I've worked with closely in some fashion and only know where they are now because that is how the internet works.

David Starr presented a persona of someone seeking to create a wrestling union, he was the top star in multiple companies and a vocal liberal as well. He was on top of the world when accused by multiple exes of verbal, mental, and physical abuse. He denied every allegation, but he also proceeded to drop out of the wrestling industry as a whole. When he resurfaced he announced that he was seeking therapy essentially in a round about way admitting to the allegations. He is now a body builder under his real name which to my personal eye also looks like a human suit instead of a real human.

Joey Ryan did the trick of having his wrestling persona be a reflection of who he would later be revealed to actually be. He got women to consent to being grabbed by the boobs as a wrestling move. He pulled lollipops from his tights and got fans to actually lick the lollipop as being part of the show. It was all seen as clown stuff, something so inhuman that no one would believe it was just someone being themselves. That turned out to be the case though. He did an amazing job of hiding this by having his non performing persona be shy, straight laced and truly just being an actor, but it was when he wasn't in the ring, but in public when he was putting on the human suit. The allegations brought on David Starr opened a movement of women speaking out as a whole against many wrestlers, Joey was one of them. He got out of wrestling, but also went to therapy, landed on his feet and now gets regular acting work, living life as if it never happened.

Rude Boy Riley is sadly another story. I trained with him. I am still close with people I met during the same time I met him. He was legitimately someone you'd never expect to find out what you found out. He had just signed with the WWE the same week that he was arrested for crimes not to be spoken. He pleaded guilty a year after his arrest and received a very light sentence. He has not been seen since. He wore the truest of human suits. One that hid very well, but now when seen seems just that...

and I can't just think of how many more must be wearing human suits, who at times we sense to be not exactly human, but we look past, out of fear, out of … just fear.

Here's hoping you enjoy reading long stories of true life agonies followed by quality memories . If that is your jam/deal/thing, then you'll love this. Be forewarned, it starts sad, then will get nostalgic, then probably meander all over the place but I promise I'll try to make it worth it.

As of now I have no idea when I'll get to travel outside of New York City again and when I do travel inside of NYC it'll be at the most to a convention as a press member covering the event that will give me a momentary mental respite. It could be as soon as late September that I go to another state or even country for just fun but right now that feels like ten years emotionally and physically away. Especially with what those three months will entail as I care take (take care of) my mother. I will not go into severe details, but my mother had emergency ostomy surgery in May and won't be repaired till Sept, she also has a skin cancer condition which is showing new symptoms and issues which require radiation treatment. I am her sole aide/care taker, especially after experiencing the care she received in a rehab center and now not trusting strangers with her care outside of doctors who know her case and issues and are experts in the field of that condition. I have chosen this life, I have no regrets and yet all regrets, for us to say we live without regret would be to lie to ourselves and our experiences but to also have regret lessens them as well.

Before all this though between 2018 to early 2024 I got to have many trips through the US (yes, during COVID, where I made a ridiculous amount of money as a census person). More than I had had in the 20 years prior even, having only traveled to Florida, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Philadelphia and one crazy life changing in ways trip to Canada (its another story and it involves my soul brother). Prior to that I traveled once as an adult after college to California. As a child I'd been to Florida, Ohio, Canada and even Denmark. It's that 2018-2024 period though that while recent past is the past I hold on to when looking to the future. It is those cherished memories in my mind and through photo, video and at times conversation with the people involved that helps me mold what is to come when this current ordeal is over and it is those trips I feel sharing now in encapsulated truncated moments with the worlds as it may be, reminding myself of great times and maybe giving those reading these stories that enjoy vicariously they almost feel they are their memories as well and help speak to a great future.

BOSTON 2018

I don't recall what prompted the Boston trip, but I organized a haphazard itinerary and did this trip with my soul brother Nick and his wife (the one he is with now, whom I adore). We got to walk the Freedom Trail, visit museums, see a graffiti alley, go to MICE which is a small press comics expo, eat amazing food and even go to the Isabella-Gardiner collection. In three days we really did tackle a lot, breweries, restaurants, the exhibits at Harvard, Cheers, Faneiul Hall, Boston Common, Fenway Park. It was just a long weekend but we shared a hotel, a car, meals and everything so it was just one those things that I know miss with Nick and Terri in Taiwan but one day.

ORLANDO 2019

My mother had seen an ad for Universal Studios and wanted to be able to go when she was still able to actually go on rides, do the water parks and spends hours and hours outside without a true break. I had been to Universal and Orlando with a strange group in 2008 but this would be much different. Being with my mom meant I was given full control of booking this. It was before my cat baby Tigerlily came into our lives so we also could go spend five days away with no worries. No worries were had at all as well. This entire trip was a dream. My mother had a blast. I had time to go explore downtown Orlando on my own going to breweries, snapping graffiti, and having an afternoon just staring at the birds in Lake Eola Park. Most of the trip of course was exploring as much of Universal as possible, all three parks and as much of each resort which was an experience itself with specialty restaurants and themes. I really would love to go to Halloween Horror Nights one day, but what I am waiting for any visits to Universal again is for Epic Universe to not only open but be in full swing and not surrounded by opening weeks mobs.

SAN DIEGO 2019

I am/was part of a group of people who met through the streaming app Twitch who became extra close. We were all mutuals, mostly of a UK friend of ours Jordan and created this tight community/family. Through it we made the crazy decision to all meet at Twitchcon and rent a beach house. Just 10+ people who had never met IN PERSON (but had done plenty video chats till awkward hours) agreeing to live together for 6 days. As crazy it sounds, it all worked out for the most part, I mean... it was 10+ people in a two bedroom beach house, there were problems... but it all was fantastic. The crew weren't as big on exploring San Diego itself as much as I was though, they liked just going to the con and then being on the beach most of the time. The last time I had been in San Diego was 2000 after college for Comic Con. I never really got to explore much of Gas Lamp or anything for that matter, so when I wasn't at the con or obviously making time to hang out with this family I did hit the town on the later days of the trip. I went to breweries, I went to the Zoo, I hit museums, visited restaurants the gang wasn't into. During this trip I also got to meet in person many other people from Twitch that I am still in touch with closely today. This trip has shared memories to last forever actually and on certain nights in certain streams those memories come back and discussion of one day having them again. These are the kind of memories you only get when you stuff a beach house with people of all sexes and sexual identities and races and cultures in a beach house for 5 days with booze, food, drugs, and love.

INDIANAPOLIS 2020

I went on this with one of my closest friends Sam who over the years I've broken up with and gotten back together in ways that has cemented THAT relationship (it is a very different friendship than I have with my soul brother). This was a wrestling trip, Sam is my wrestling friend (but we share many other things). It was The Collective 2020 and I knew that the majority of the trip would have us either at the wrestling or at the hotel and for the most part it was and that was awesome. If you follow wrestling in anyways there were plenty of known workers to hang with, some before they became major stars, others who used to be bigger stars and for me and Sam, many of them friends as well. I made a point on the day before and the day after that we DID see SOME of Indianapolis though. I took Sam to a railway graffiti spot as well as North Square which is the “cool” area that first day and the last day all over downtown Indianapolis of Mile Square, Lockerbie, etc. seeing the Soldiers monument, the mall, and small local stores. It was a fun trip and I'd love to see the city again … one day.

LAS VEGAS 2021

This was a completely “solo” trip. While it involved going to wrestling shows, it wasn't a wrestling vacation because those shows were not almost 24/7. I poured a lot into this trip. I had two friends I made plans to visit two friends made through Twitch from two different communities than the ones at Twitchcon 2019. Tightspot who I knew through wrestling Twitch met me at the airport and was a chauffeur for me to the rassle shows as well as being a wonderful friend.

I got to meet up with Smitty [who I also got to bump into at the con in 2019] on Day 7 of the 8 day visit where he took me to Cornish Pastry before I gave myself a long day of visiting the Arts District and the Beer District with ending up at Resorts World with a detour to Circus Circus. The google maps timeline for that walk or basically for most days of this trip were intense. On day one of the trip I made it to Luxor, Mandalay Bay and my hotel Excalibur. On day two I walked the strip all the way to Treasure Island and then back on the other side to MGM grand seeing the Volcano show, the Bellagio fountain, the aquarium and statues at Caesar's... and I also had a meal at The Wicked Spoon buffet and visited every bathroom available along the way. On Day three I spent the whole time at Boulevard Mall which has its own fairly large special aquarium exhibit experience and at the time of the trip a wrestling school which was where the first show of the trip was at. Day Four was the longest of wrestling days with one in the morning and one at night but Tightspot and I also walked Fremont and a large graffiti area, and ended the night at huge Karaoke show. Day five was my shortest, Tightspot and I had our last wrassles show and then I went downtown where I got to see a very long time friend and entertainer Kevin aka Jervis as well as Marty the Moth. I walked around for as long as I could before I physically broke down and went back to the hotel where I sat in a hot tub and under a waterfall before having an early night.

The half “spa” day was really good cause the next day I spent my entire time at Area 15, an entertainment complex of immersive art, food, weird stores, arcades and more. I spent eight hours inside MeowWolf's Omegamart taking in every piece of art, story, and lore they put into it. I then also got to go to one of the earliest openings of the now since closed [as of April 24^th, 2024] Lost Spirits Distillery art and whiskey tasting experience, which I am so glad I got to have as part of my forever memories. I wrote about day seven already, so, on day 8 before going home I did as much as I could that I had missed prior and still to this day have plenty to go back for. I rode the monorail up to the Las Vegas Convention Center for Siegel's Bagelrama and then walked The Venetian, the Flamingo, Bally's, Paris and more before back to the airport and NYC.

DALLAS 2022

Another wrestling trip, another Collective, but this was ALSO Wrestlemania weekend. The Collective takes place days before it and takes advantage of wrestling fans from all over flying in for the extravaganza and has multiple promotions come together under one banner to present multiple shows over 3 days featuring many never before seen matches. Sam and I had different plans to tackle this so we booked our flights, stays and schedules separately. We also broke up for a day and made up during this trip as per our friendship. The wrestling took place at Fair Park which in itself has enough happening for a vacation much like NYC's Central Park, there are museums, a lagoon, a mini aquarium, plenty of restaurants, a nearby brewery and local other attractions. It also was easy to get to on the main trolley line. Although getting to home base/hotel usually needed an uber as the wrestling ran from as early as 9 AM to as late as 3 AM. On the 1^st day before any wrassles Sam and I went to Buc-Cees, a world famous gas station/market with locations throughout the South East from Texas to Florida. One could write entire books on Buc-Cees. We also went to Deep Ellum, an area covered in street art, cool shops and restaurants and music venues which MUST be seen during the day and the night to truly appreciate and we explored downtown Dallas as well. Then it was truly 3 days of wrestling and taking in Fair Park. Although on the last night of the Collective I made a point to meet with my friend Windsor [who did not get to come to San Diego, but is part of that family] and take in some more of Deep Ellum at night and I wish I had let him guide my hand more and cared less about wrestling that day (but fuck regrets).

With the wrestling done (I skipped Wrestlemania), I had two days of Dallas to fully explore. I went to the Dallas Museum of Art and then met with another member of the Twitch clan, who DID stay at the San Diego beach house, Anim8 and we visited the Deep Elum Arts Festival. On the final day I did more than one should be capable of, but I arranged for a LATE flight home to intentionally do as much as possible. I walked through Design District and then hopped on the trolley to the West End, where I visited the Museum of Illusions, the World Aquarium Zoo, many shops and visions and then one last stop to Dealy Plaza where John Fitzgerald Kennedy was famously shot. It's a part of Dallas that combines old and new and despite the grimness is also beautiful. I headed back to the hotel and then had my first and so far ONLY experience ever of ALMOST missing my flight. They were boarding JUST as I was going through security. I was in luck that my gate was right after security instead gates further. That was wowsers.

NEW ORLEANS 2024

You may be wondering what happened to 2023? Well, I just never made it out of the city. Las Vegas and Dallas were both very expensive trips. My finances had changed. WM/Collective that year was in Los Angeles and way out of my budget at the time. Dallas also taught me I never wanted to actually travel so far to a place I had never been or ever got to to explore as an adult with 3 of the days dedicated to wrestling shows unless I was booked to perform or be on production which between 2018 and 2023 I had become extremely good at in NYC. That doesn't mean I laid low in 2023. I did plenty in NYC at multiple conventions, visits to Brooklyn and Manhattan, etc.

What caused New Orleans though? Well, this actually was another trip with mom, who back in February of 2024 was healthy and sprite. We have a mutual best friend, Pam, that we've known for 30+ years who is in between us in age and who over the years I have created my own special friendship with separate from my mothers friendship with her, so much so I consider her my soul sister. For the last seven years she and her daughters (whom I used to help take care of) and soon to be ex-husband had left NYC and were overseas, but circumstances have changed drastically and now Pam and two of the daughters were back and New Orleans was where they'd first be living. We decided that New Orleans seemed like an amazing vacation and plus we'd get to see people we loved more than pretty much anyone as soon as possible after they'd settled in a bit.

We found someone reliable to make sure Tigerlily was tended to, I rented us a two bedroom house and booked us a six day trip, all for under $2000 for two people with flight. On our first day/night we walked around the French Quarter with Pam and the girls and had dinner at Muriel's where I had turtle soup for the first time. On day two Mom and I went to The Ruby Slipper in Marigny for brunch and then walked along St. Claude Avenue for the street art and shops. At the store “She Comes in Peace” I bought a pair of earrings that get love and praise every time I've worn them at suitable events the last few months. We also got to see the well known street art piece by Bansky titled Umbrella Girl in person. After this we walked back to French Quarter and then along Riverside Park to meet Pam and the girls to visit Audobon Aquarium. A beautiful space, you'd think I'd get bored by zoos and aquariums after seeing them in so many places, but nope and never. After Audobon it was more French Quarter, for a small area there's so much to see in it. We got coffee and beignets at the world famous and original Cafe Du Monde, then mother and I explored more and had a delicious steak dinner recommended by a long time NYC street art friend living in NO who I unfortunately never got to see while there cause schedules. Day three mother and I had another delicious brunch with plans in the air based on the weather, after a short detour we ended up on a trolley to the Audobon Zoo where we met Pam and the girls for a long afternoon of animals and fun. Dinner was at Snug Harbor up at Frenchman St and we walked along Frenchman and then Bourbon till calling it a night. Day four I had to myself, mom and Pam did a Swamp tour and I did a DEEP DIVE into The French Quarter exploring graffiti, book stores, art galleries, the Pharmacy museum, food shoppes and more. I had drunk a very strong THC Lemonade and it kicked in just as I was on Bourbon Street at Willie's Chicken Shack. This was a mindmelt perfection of so much into my brain, of Bourbon and people itself, the fried chicken, being alone and the THC... it ruled. During this “trip to space” Pam and my mom returned from the Swamp tour and asked me to meet them at The Carousel Bar. It was too crowded there but it was cool to see, we had dinner elsewhere and then while waiting for the Uber back to the house saw stilt walkers in shimmery outfits. On our next to last day Mother and I went back out to the French Quarter as there was still so much we had yet to see, after brunch we met with Pam and the girls at French Market, then Pam, Mom and myself went to the NOLA Jazz Museum, saw a live concert I enjoyed so much I bought the bands CD and then it was time for a not so little Mardi Gras Parade, one of the first of the season La Boheme, which I turned into a few mini movies on YT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg1PC9QmTio&list=PLEDEZGcdcHNg6kLcvS8b_kLjRhA17vrYJ&pp=gAQBiAQB

Our final morning in New Orleans was quiet but sweet saying goodbye to Pam and having a small breakfast before flying back to NYC.

STUCK IN NYC 2024

Plans were mentally made for me to return to New Orleans on my own to spend time with Pam and possibly some friends, but those are backburned, as are plenty more. Yet without this past of fun and life I wouldn't even have the foresight of the future. I've been able to find my own fun in NYC via comic book events, wrestling shows, and conventions. I also was extremely happy when Pam's other daughter visited NYC while mom was in Rehab. As much as Pam is my soul sister, her first born has been my number one since she was old enough to actually talk and learn and teach, so I've survived off happenings like that as well.

Not only do I want and WILL by hell or highwater return to places like SD, NO and Orlando, but I want to go to Denver, the Pacific Northwest, and eventually even the UK and Taiwan and Japan. Without the trips I've had in my back pocket of knowing I know how to budget these and make them realistic when life allows again I would have nothing to look forward to, so I am grateful for my adventures and my adventures still to come.

{Written for LJ Idol: Idol Mini 2024-Week 2: Sankofa}

I
untitled

I woke from under the tree

protected from the sun

into town I strolled

faces were a blur

everything unrecognizable

was I in my village

or far from home

the heat blazed

my skin blistered

people turned to lizards

refuge I had to seek


running backwards

I almost tripped

I reached the tree

it would save me

for now

as night time returned

I approached the village

cautiously

all were dead

nothing but empty husks

no blood, no guts

just hardened skin

emptied of everything


was I also devoid

in my attempt to avoid

sun's deep heat

had I surrendered my soul

did I have one

to begin with
 

were there people

was the village real

was the tree more

a monster maybe

that I offered myself to
 

these would be questions

to haunt me

the rest of my days

II 
FRANKENSTEIN, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

In 2011 writers Jeff Lemire followed by Matt Kindt along with artists Alberto Ponticelli, Walden Wong, Wayne Faucher, Jose Villabura, John Kalisz and more created a tale based of the Grant Morrison re-imagining of Frankenstein from his series Seven Soldiers. Grant Morrison actually established much of what would come to be revealed further in this rebooted DC series prior in the event Final Crisis.

The series lasted 16 issues, collected in two volumes titled “War of the Monsters” and “Secrets of the Dead”. In the book Frank is a member of the collective S.H.A.D.E. ran by Father Time. Father Time has recently transferred his mind into the body of a 10 year old and has recruited The Creature Commandos for Frankenstein to lead into battle.

The Creature Commandos are long time DC characters who consist of a werewolf, a mummy, a vampire, etc. The version in this series while sharing the names of previous incarnations with a long and storied history based in WWII had an entirely new origin that existed solely within this series. Lady Frankenstein was also a part of the team. To fully explain her would take many more paragraphs.

What Lemire had laid down, Kindt was able to easily continue for what could be considered a cohesive two part graphic novel. This isn't surprising as they are very comparable writers who had collaborated before and since this series.

Alberto's art really makes these books shine. He's action packed, but handles quiet moments so well. I really recommend getting these two volumes if you have the chance. It tells a concise tale full of adventure, monsters, comedy, pathos and a satisfying conclusion.

III
SHADOW PLAY

One of the biggest parts of my photography experiments is seeing how light reacts to objects creating something new that one could hide under.
EDIT:(Photos.google is my new repository but it makes sharing hard, so here's a link/small folder made special for LJ Idol)