Frankly, 2004 hasn't been a terribly exciting year, especially in terms of creative output.
However I sincerely plan on making 2005 a year of creativity, especially with my Ojos de Dios.
If you've never been there, be sure to see my Ojos de Dios.com website!
Right now my better half, Anna, is all absorbed in gaining weight and getting healthy.
All I'll add to that is that she is making progress, and I'll let her write up her
own report when she is ready. For this letter, you're getting news of me, Jay.
The most unique experience of this year for me is taxi driving here in my adopted city
of Wilmington NC. Right now I'm only driving two days a week, but for quite a while I
drove four, twelve hour, days. The main problem with taxi driving, at least with the
two companies I've driven for here in Wilmington, is that you have to work long hours
to make anything at all like decent money per day or per week.
Working as an independent contractor, believe me, lots time goes by for less
than a minimum wage return.
Money aside, driving taxi has been a lot of fun, at least much of the time,
and a fantastic way of exploring Wilmington and meeting all sorts of people.
Lots of the people I meet, I can hardly imagine any other way I could meet
them except by driving them in my taxi.
Taxi customers tend to fall into two extremes….those too poor to afford a car of their own,
and those rich enough that they are flying off somewhere, and take a taxi to the airport.
We also get a fair number of customers who have lost their driving privilege to alcohol.
Here's a sampling of my most memorable customers.
A man, obviously very wealthy, and with a young oriental wife, and a mixed race child, the child perhaps four years old, returning from an extensive trip to South American countries and cruises, to their, surely multi-million dollar waterfront mansion…..yet talking with a repressed sounding voice, and mentioning "used to being stressed out".
A very good looking young woman, from out of town, who poured out her story to me on the way to recovering her car, who had gotten into a big scene with the new girlfriend of the old friend who had invited her down to see his new apartment. My young fare had then gone out with three friends of her old friend, to the clubs downtown … gotten separated from them, found a friend from high school days, and gone to crash on his couch, (after two a.m. by now) only to have two young woman there try to beat her up…including throwing her cell phone out the window…...went looking for a incorrectly remembered address of one of the three guys she had gotten separated from, to be taken in by a middle aged woman stranger….then re-united (minus her cell phone) with one of the three guys who took her (by now 11 a.m. the next day) to the restaurant where he worked, and put her in my cab to go recover her car (which she had also gotten separated from along with these three guys).
A middle aged man, on way to airport who had "gotten tired of corporate America" and had started a consulting business helping companies in China and India set up so they could profitably sell goods to USA.
A middle aged black woman, describing the subsidized housing she lives in as having, "water that runs green into the bathtub, roofs that leak, and air-conditioning that barely cools".
A young man from this same neighborhood who described three or four shooting that took place right outside his door, one leaving a pool of blood on his front steps, and another that left three bullet holes in his door. He was moving soon to a trailer way out of town, owned by his boss at the small furniture factory he worked at.
A thirty-something black woman from a similar neighborhood, on the way to a somewhat better, though hardly glitzy, apartment complex ….. picking up friends with a cake and assorted presents along the way ….for a surprise baby shower she had arranged. In the back of my taxi/mini-van was a nice new wooden rocking chair with a bow tied to it, obviously a present for the mom-to-be. Although there was nervousness about just who was going to be able to show up for this, apparently rather large party, there was also a lot of good cheer and celebratory mood between these good friends that day.
A screenwriter, who lives in Wilmington after moved here from New York, but works for studios in Los Angeles, where he flies to for meetings …. currently working on a screenplay about the Wright Brothers.
An actress who moved to Wilmington to act in the TV Series One Tree Hill, but was now working in a Mall. (Wilmington has the largest movie studios in USA outside California)
A young good and straight looking black guy, early to late twenties, who I picked up well outside of town at his parents place, which had at least a couple of acres of lawn and well cared for landscaping. He had grown up there working in his Dad's landscaping business. He loaded a few landscaping power equipment tools into the back of my cab, and we went off on a Saturday evening to find a Pawn Shop open. It turned out that he couldn't pay my fare unless he first pawned these tools. I ended up getting my fare, but also filling out a police report a few days later. Turns out he was a crackhead, and this wasn't the first time he had stolen such things from his parents, who he no long was living with.
A Swarthy Italian looking, very muscular and hyper guy, whose last words as he left my cab where,
"even though you threatened to call the cops on me, if you're ever down in the hood and get into trouble,
I'll still back you up".
Thirty-something black woman who was dressed like she was going off to church, who left a woman's wallet/purse on the floor of the back seat area of my cab, later found out to contain ten packets of heroin. Also had her NC State ID card. Filled out a police report that time also.
Thirty-something couple, he from England, she Scotland, just married on their honeymoon to Wilmington (and nowhere else). Their wedding had been based on the goth movie, The Crow (in turn based on a comic book). They had chosen Wilmington for their honeymoon because this is where the movie was filmed. As they talked about the movie, which I had never even heard of, I couldn't help but notice the heavy, goth eye makeup on her. I dropped them off at Screen Gem Studios, where they were taking a tour.
Which brings me to my movie watching in recent weeks. Of course, after meeting people who traveled all the way from Europe to see the city and studios where The Crow was filmed, I had to see this movie for myself, and put it at the top of my Netflix queue. I enjoyed it too. I had a delightful, although violent, comic book zaniness to it. I'll probably watch it again sometime.
A few weeks ago now, I upped our Netflix subscription to five movies out at a time. I love NetFlix, which, since we first subscribed, has gone from 5000 movies to choose from, to 25000, and instead of waiting for movies to be mailed from the San Jose CA area, we now get our movies from Greensboro NC, an easy one-day mailing away.
With five movies out at a time, I can watch a movie, sometimes two movies, almost every day. Movies I've especially enjoyed in the last month:
Bound two lesbian with strange ties to mobsters get into all kind of complex situations while trying to make off with two million dollars in cash. I give it five stars easily. Zany combination of comedy, high suspense, and romance.
Ghost World another movie based on a comic book. Directed by the same guy who made Crumb. Not your usual sense of humor, but if maybe you like Quinton Tarentino movies, you'd get into this as well. I loved it myself.
Butterfly documentary of Julia "Butterfly" Hill, who spent over two years 180 feet or so up in the top of an ancient Redwood, with a six by eight foot platform, a few tarps, and a support crew from Earth First. She's probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in a movie, and by a long ways. OK, I'm prejudiced in favor of environmental activists, but she also has an astounding spirituality to her, even if most people would write her off as a totally zany ultimate tree-hugger, talking to and listening to the tree she spent two plus years saving. By the way, I read recently that her story is being made into a true full scale Hollywood movie. YES!!
I'm not much of an environmental activist myself these day, although I still maintain the website for Swamp Watch Action Team.
Swampwatch, the website
Some might wonder how I've fared no longer having Joshua Tree National Park as my personal playground, and other places of great natural beauty of Western USA to enjoy and explore. Such was a major part of my life for many years. The truth is now, however, I've become more of a people person, and exploring the wonders and residents of Wilmington NC does a perfectly good job of replacing my previous life of explorer of the wonders of Joshua Tree National Park. I'm not saying I'll never end up back in good old Jtree again some year or other though. After all, I spent thirty years of my life there, and still feel deeply attached to the place.
Update of my four boys....
Abel, now 27.... switched from fire fighting this last
summer to building log houses (think big, $500,000 log
houses) with a crew of good friends, and now, with
eastern Washington State winter in full swing, indoor
house painting. He is living in Roslyn WA, where his
Mom and younger brother Kevin also live. Lately he's
gotten very involved with a crew of people, including
a couple of guys experienced with Hollywood movie
production, who are seriously planning on producing a
TV show which will be based on a wagon train crossing
the country promoting holistic healing and foods.
Included in this cast is a Native American woman who
is both a MD and a traditional Native American
Medicine Woman. Abel's latest prediction is the wagon
train, with five movie cameras in tow, will be
departing WA in April or May. Money still has to be
raised however, but one of the crew has raised money
for movie/TV projects before, and is optimistic this
can be pulled off.
Daniel, turns 25 in January.....Still working away as
a Heating and Air-conditioning guy in Ventura CA, and
going to college part time at nights at local CC. In
the last year he's switched his long term ambition
from becoming a physical therapist, to becoming a High
School PE teacher, with his specialty of Wresting
Coach. He's been offered a job as assistant wresting
coach at Yucca Valley HS, where he was *Most Valuable
Wrestler* his graduating year. He's trying to work
things out so he can accept this offer for one year,
then move on to San Francisco State, to complete the
education needed to become a teacher. He's currently
dating a young woman who may be the only woman he ever
know who could knock him to the ground if she wanted
to. She's a black-belt in karate, and teaches karate
there in Ventura. For a real living, she a software
programmer.
Kevin, turns 22 in January..... Kevin is living next
door to his mom, in one of the three houses Jan owns
in Roslyn, and is now a Junior at Central Washington
Univercity (CWU) As he did while earlier going to college near
Seattle, he also works in the kitchen of a local
restaurant. Kevin seems to be doing quite well, but
even as a junior, has yet to have a goal for after
college or a major at college. He's long been very
interested in Drama, but doesn't see that as a long
term way to make a living. Also, he's not terribly
happy with the drama dept. at CWU.
Corey, 19. .... and the most mysterious of the 4.
Currently Corey has moved in with a long time internet
chat girl friend, in San Jose CA, and dropped out
of, at first one, and now two semesters of College,
after completing his Freshman year at CWU and
commuting from the same house where Kevin now lives
alone. I haven't had any direct contact since he's
made this move, but Abel tells me Corey is working at
a Subway-like sandwich place. Corey is the only of the four
boys who has not spend extensive time working is such
jobs as fast food places or cafes....and this is his
first job except for the truly extensive time he's
spent babysitting his younger sisters while Mom Jan
has worked night shifts as a RN.
I hate it when my boys take after the worst sort of
things I've done myself.....but obviously parenting by
negative example is highly risky. I do feel that
Corey is OK, and it will all work out for the best. If
he would have asked my advise before he took off via
Greyhound Bus though, it would have been an easy BIG
NO!! I'm guessing that eventually he'll get back to
schooling, where he excels at math. For a some time now
though, he's gotten more unsure of his former long
time goal of becoming a math teacher. I'm patiently
waiting this one out.
New Years resolutions, besides making more Ojos de Dios: Thinking more positively about the good things
I have in life, and not letting poverty, lack of local friends, and problems with Anna get me down.
Fortunately I have the excellent recourse of visiting the Meher Baba Spiritual Center at Myrtle Beach.
As I write this, Christmas Morning, 2004, I'll be leaving in an hour or so for a two night stay.
Anna will be in Chapel Hill, with her Dad and stepmom.
I you want to write to Anna, she uses annawrites@yahoo.com
May everyone reach your fondest dreams in 2005!
Peace and Love,
Jay
jay@ojos-de-dios.com
