Mad Eccentric Genius

I’m talking about “mad” as in eccentric, and genius, maybe more so, as in creative. Not to say that I am one, no… I lack the genius aspect. I just have an affinity for some. Been known to, on occasion, marry one or two. Heh.

NOTE: This is not a political essay. As my essays often are, it’s intended to be an Open Random, for fun  Please add your nominees to the pool in the comments.  

There are four questions of value in life… What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love. ~Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp, I confess, is one of my favorite human beings on the planet, but I don’t really think he himself qualifies here. Not that I know him or anything, but anyway. Many of the characters he has portrayed, however, and some of his buddies, like maybe Tim Burton, could be candidates.

Mad Hatter … “Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton)to be released in 2010. I have a lot of conversations in real life that go something like this one.

`Have some wine,’ the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. `I don’t see any wine,’ she remarked.

`There isn’t any,’ said the March Hare.

`Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it,’ said Alice angrily.

`It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited,’ said the March Hare.

`I didn’t know it was your table,’ said Alice; `it’s laid for a great many more than three.’

`Your hair wants cutting,’ said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.

`You should learn not to make personal remarks,’ Alice said with some severity; `it’s very rude.’

The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, `Why is a raven like a writing-desk?’

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Hunter S. Thompson,  The Rum Diary… filming now in Puerto Rico.

Like most of the others, I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent, and at times a stupid hell-raiser. I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that my instincts were right. I shared a vagrant optimism that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along on a senseless odyssey. It was the tension between these two poles – a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other – that kept me going.

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My husband (a jazz musician) has double Simian lines… for what thats worth.

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Simian Creases are not very common, under 20 percent of the population. To have one is more common. To have two is very rare, more in the 10% of fewer of the population.

In the world of Hand Analysis, a Simian Crease is considered a Gift Marking. Gift Markings are line formations that mean extra potential talent. About 30 people of the population may have one. To have more than one, again, is a rarity. So immediately we know there aren’t many people like you or to whom you can turn for role modeling.

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Jaco Pastorius

…for all the caterwauling that has gone on about new musicians that have shown up in recent years being toted as the “next miles”, or the “duke ellington of their generation”, or whatever, jaco outranks all of them and all of that by being the one and the only of his kind, without predecessor; the only post 1970 jazz musician known on a first name basis with all music fans of all varieties everywhere in the world. from the depths of africa where he is revered in almost god-like status to the halls of most every music university on the planet. to this day, and maybe more than ever, he remains the one and the only JACO.

~Note: This is Pat Metheny’s liner notes to the 2000 reissue of Jaco’s debut album, “Jaco Pastorius”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…