Talk about someone strange/enigmatic in your life

Mercury · 08-15-2011, 06:42 PM

I know this guy, kinda, who is a real character in the truest form of the word. He's so definable in everything he does, it's as if he creates himself based on an image he desires.

I first met him at work when I was bartending and from the second he sat down he had my attention. He wears a big, wide brimmed hat with lots of feathers and strings and beads surrounding it. And he wears these bright orange sunglasses, day or night, inside and outside. And he wears a long green trench coat and underneath he wears these t-shirts with majestic pictures of animals on it. This is his "costume" invariably, it's clear that he doesn't own any other clothes and ne doesn't dress any differently for any occasion. He is tall and very thin, too, which gives him a grim reaper-like appearance with his long coat. And his voice is very raspy and has only two settings: a deep growl or a loud howl when he speaks.

Even after I saw him at the bar I began to see him elsewhere about town and it became quite clear to me that he is a man of the streets. I gathered that he bounces between homeless shelters and cheap motel rooms. But I literally see him everywhere, riding his bike that is covered in feathers and painted in bright neon colors.

Eventually it was as if fate was bringing us together, I couldn't avoid seeing him on the streets, in the stores, at the clubs, everywhere. And I got to know him on a first name basis. As it turns out he is so much more himself than I could have ever imagined. He has literally relied on his image for decades now. It's like his "safety" to be such a stand-out person, even though it gets him in a lot of trouble. He tells me that he gets "power" from his character which he calls "cowboy".

It's all fascinating and sad and inspiring at the same time. It's refreshing to see someone so defiantly non-comformist but scary when I hear all the hate that it brings him.

I'm wondering, though, if this is not the philosophy that I have been missing in my own life.

The Rev · 08-15-2011, 07:06 PM

I run into a dude at the supermarket from time to time who wears a long leather trench coat at all times, and has long blond hair. If you just see him, he seems kinda scary, but if you talk to him, he's actually a pretty gentle soul.

Most people that I know, I'm sorry to say, are really normal, tho.

The Rev

Jester4yall · 08-15-2011, 08:52 PM

I went to highschool with a dude Brad that always wore a trenchcoat. He wasn't "popular" and people called him a bomber etc. He was a weirdo but cool w/ me. I always chopped it up with him before school and @ the boat ramp near our houses.

I also see this guy walking all over town talking to himself. He'll talk, yell, argue, and slap himself. He always stares @ my truck windows (bc their darkly tinted i guess)and it pisses me off. So I roll them down just to eye level then give him the I'm watching you fingers. lol

Mercury · 08-15-2011, 08:58 PM

^haha... "the boat ramp"... i like the way you say that.

it's amazing how a trench coat can completely amplify a persons image. all it is is a few square feet of extra cloth, but if you wear it people will look at you like you're the devil incarnate.

the lesson? never understimate the power of your coat.

Sir-Ex · 08-15-2011, 09:23 PM

There's this dude I work with who's super energetic, always moving really quickly and he'll always be cussing while he works. He goes in to pick some thing up - 'look at this motherfucker right here' pick it up 'oh you fuck' talk to it 'come with me you motherfucker you know where you're going...' 'look at this piece of shit' 'oh my fucking christ man.'

etc

Dr. ShinDig · 08-15-2011, 10:10 PM

Yeah I've definitely met a few of those. The most recent one was about 8 or 9 months ago when I worked at a downtown print shop. This older dude came in once and had a line drawing he did (it was like a comic) he wanted me to scan it and color it in and then print some postcards. He was picky but seemed like a typical older dude, mostly friendly but sort of impatient it seemed.

So anyway he comes in a few months later and has another print job for me. Some kind of religious book full of weird drawings and puzzles and stuff that he had drawn. He seemed pretty normal though still, and picky, and seemingly impatient. We set a timeline for his stuff and we had to order special blue comb binding for his book and it had alot of scanning and grafting pages. The dude kept checking back everyday and sometimes twice a day he'd always say "I know there not gonna be ready til Friday but I thought id check in" He drove me nuts! But still I thought he was normal just anal.

So anyway his books get done and he picks them up and everything and then were chattin and he says something about pot and I mention yeah cant wait til later. So he perks right up and invites me out to his campsite to smoke some weed. I thought OK, his book was sort of weird so it might be interesting. So i go out there and we get a fire going and get ready to chill. Some other chick is also there. I learn quickly that he actually just lives out of a mini van and stays at campsites all over the west. He doesn't have much but gets a social security check. Then he gets progressively more strange as we smoke up and start chatting.

He starts off by saying that he talks to god. About 12 years earlier he said he had a good job in computer programming and had a wife and two kids. One day he said God spoke to him when he was driving home from work, God told him he was chosen to Revolutionize Christianity.
I remember this line so well: "God told me I was going to leave my family. I was going to become a destitute bum for a while. And that's what I did."

So here he is, he spent a fuck load of what little money he had to get these books produced so he could send them to specific colleges around the country in hopes of landing some sort of religious studies teaching job. I felt bad for him but I admired his ambition. He kept saying there are thousands of branches of Christianity and that this pattern of numbers could unite them all. He was either really stoned or just didn't know how to explain his own beliefs. I was disappointed and somewhat grilled him a bit, he was so ripped though he kept saying the same 3 or 4 things and was laughing hysterically like a 7th grader, he hadnt smoked reefer in a while. His chick friend was also fed up with his child like behavior and she took off and soon I did too.

So then I knew that this guy was a little off. But he kept coming in to the store. Every Time he would get stranger and stranger and then I found out what an alcoholic he is( he had previously mentioned he was a former alcoholic). He came in drunk as fuck one day and started belligerently arguing with some of the customers, I was forced to tell him to leave. He disappeared for awhile but when he came back he was stranger than ever!

like two months go by and then this dude shows back up. He had grown his full mutton chop style gray beard and longer hair. Total Jesus hippie style it was kinda neat actually. First thing he says "Marilyn Monroe is ALIVE!" I'm like oh god here we go... Supposedly he had to spend a few days in a local New Mexico jail. While there he met a lady who he believed was the reincarnated Marilyn Monroe. She was murdered by someone apparently but I didn't get into it too far with him because it was a bad day for me and I was busy and not in the mood for his ever stranger crap. But one funny thing he wanted me to make copies of this Q and A with him and the supposed Marilyn. It was really dumb and hard to even follow

He finally stopped coming in indefinitely one day when he and one of my coworkers got into a shouting match. He wanted to free some black dude from prison charged with rape and my extremely racist co worker was shockingly throwing the N word around like she was a black gangsta herself. I had to tell him to leave for the final time, then I asked myself "What the fuck am I doing working here?"

But that's not all! weeks after that I got a letter at work from the supposed Marilyn. The letter was actually postmarked from New Mexico. It contained a few sheets of paper with what looked like a 5 year olds writing and some nonsensical drawings. I couldn't make sense of much of it but we all got a good laugh out of it. I scanned it then but I don't know if I ever took the file home with me. I'll look for it.

Mescalito · 08-16-2011, 01:49 AM

I know this dude on teh interweb who likes to wear fanny packs.

M

**SageTree** · 08-23-2011, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Rev

I run into a dude at the supermarket from time to time who wears a long leather trench coat at all times, and has long blond hair. If you just see him, he seems kinda scary, but if you talk to him, he's actually a pretty gentle soul.

Most people that I know, I'm sorry to say, are really normal, tho.

The Rev

heh... once I saw a guy like that.

he reached for something on the top shelf and guess what I saw...

His smilie face boxer shorts.....

Jewish Pork · 08-23-2011, 10:34 AM

Pretty much all the Japanese guys I work with crack me the hell up (I miss them so much

)

I'm having the hardest time recalling a specific story that would illustrate why the crack me up; but I'll probably think of one as soon as I'm away from my computer. I'll be sure to write one down when I think of one that is FFA worthy

Mercury · 08-23-2011, 07:50 PM

Dude, awesome relation ShinDig. I give you props for entering his world for that little bit. I mean, what compelled you to go to his "campsite"? You must be a hella chill guy, and I respect that. That dude could have been a homosexual rapist or something, and you got in his van? Haha.... good times.

Also it's cool that he remains productive, even in his own "world".

08-15-2011, 06:42 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mercury Special Delivery Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: The States Posts: 8,150 Thanks: 294 Thanked 801 Times in 539 Posts	Talk about someone strange/enigmatic in your life I know this guy, kinda, who is a real character in the truest form of the word. He's so definable in everything he does, it's as if he creates himself based on an image he desires. I first met him at work when I was bartending and from the second he sat down he had my attention. He wears a big, wide brimmed hat with lots of feathers and strings and beads surrounding it. And he wears these bright orange sunglasses, day or night, inside and outside. And he wears a long green trench coat and underneath he wears these t-shirts with majestic pictures of animals on it. This is his "costume" invariably, it's clear that he doesn't own any other clothes and ne doesn't dress any differently for any occasion. He is tall and very thin, too, which gives him a grim reaper-like appearance with his long coat. And his voice is very raspy and has only two settings: a deep growl or a loud howl when he speaks. Even after I saw him at the bar I began to see him elsewhere about town and it became quite clear to me that he is a man of the streets. I gathered that he bounces between homeless shelters and cheap motel rooms. But I literally see him everywhere, riding his bike that is covered in feathers and painted in bright neon colors. Eventually it was as if fate was bringing us together, I couldn't avoid seeing him on the streets, in the stores, at the clubs, everywhere. And I got to know him on a first name basis. As it turns out he is so much more himself than I could have ever imagined. He has literally relied on his image for decades now. It's like his "safety" to be such a stand-out person, even though it gets him in a lot of trouble. He tells me that he gets "power" from his character which he calls "cowboy". It's all fascinating and sad and inspiring at the same time. It's refreshing to see someone so defiantly non-comformist but scary when I hear all the hate that it brings him. I'm wondering, though, if this is not the philosophy that I have been missing in my own life.

08-15-2011, 07:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
The Rev Clear Light Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: In my head, somewhere. Posts: 17,865 Thanks: 5,018 Thanked 5,420 Times in 2,865 Posts	I run into a dude at the supermarket from time to time who wears a long leather trench coat at all times, and has long blond hair. If you just see him, he seems kinda scary, but if you talk to him, he's actually a pretty gentle soul. Most people that I know, I'm sorry to say, are really normal, tho. The Rev __________________ Budforce - My Friend August 29, 1973- May 25, 2012

08-15-2011, 08:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
Jester4yall Spark It or Park It Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Africa Posts: 3,654 Thanks: 2,760 Thanked 1,317 Times in 943 Posts	I went to highschool with a dude Brad that always wore a trenchcoat. He wasn't "popular" and people called him a bomber etc. He was a weirdo but cool w/ me. I always chopped it up with him before school and @ the boat ramp near our houses. I also see this guy walking all over town talking to himself. He'll talk, yell, argue, and slap himself. He always stares @ my truck windows (bc their darkly tinted i guess)and it pisses me off. So I roll them down just to eye level then give him the I'm watching you fingers. lol __________________ http://i.imgur.com/CTV2E.gif In matters of style, swim with the current; In matters of principle, stand like a rock. -Thomas Jefferson You will encounter many distractions and many temptations to put your goal aside: The security of a job, a wife who wants kids, whatever. But if you hang in there, always following your vision, I have no doubt you will succeed. - Larry Flynt

08-15-2011, 09:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
Sir-Ex Learner Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 11,416 Thanks: 1,726 Thanked 3,818 Times in 2,258 Posts	There's this dude I work with who's super energetic, always moving really quickly and he'll always be cussing while he works. He goes in to pick some thing up - 'look at this motherfucker right here' pick it up 'oh you fuck' talk to it 'come with me you motherfucker you know where you're going...' 'look at this piece of shit' 'oh my fucking christ man.' etc __________________ Smile Ditch the cigs!!!!!!

08-15-2011, 10:10 PM	#6 (permalink)
Dr. ShinDig seriously skewed Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 892 Thanks: 251 Thanked 232 Times in 168 Posts	Yeah I've definitely met a few of those. The most recent one was about 8 or 9 months ago when I worked at a downtown print shop. This older dude came in once and had a line drawing he did (it was like a comic) he wanted me to scan it and color it in and then print some postcards. He was picky but seemed like a typical older dude, mostly friendly but sort of impatient it seemed. So anyway he comes in a few months later and has another print job for me. Some kind of religious book full of weird drawings and puzzles and stuff that he had drawn. He seemed pretty normal though still, and picky, and seemingly impatient. We set a timeline for his stuff and we had to order special blue comb binding for his book and it had alot of scanning and grafting pages. The dude kept checking back everyday and sometimes twice a day he'd always say "I know there not gonna be ready til Friday but I thought id check in" He drove me nuts! But still I thought he was normal just anal. So anyway his books get done and he picks them up and everything and then were chattin and he says something about pot and I mention yeah cant wait til later. So he perks right up and invites me out to his campsite to smoke some weed. I thought OK, his book was sort of weird so it might be interesting. So i go out there and we get a fire going and get ready to chill. Some other chick is also there. I learn quickly that he actually just lives out of a mini van and stays at campsites all over the west. He doesn't have much but gets a social security check. Then he gets progressively more strange as we smoke up and start chatting. He starts off by saying that he talks to god. About 12 years earlier he said he had a good job in computer programming and had a wife and two kids. One day he said God spoke to him when he was driving home from work, God told him he was chosen to Revolutionize Christianity. I remember this line so well: "God told me I was going to leave my family. I was going to become a destitute bum for a while. And that's what I did." So here he is, he spent a fuck load of what little money he had to get these books produced so he could send them to specific colleges around the country in hopes of landing some sort of religious studies teaching job. I felt bad for him but I admired his ambition. He kept saying there are thousands of branches of Christianity and that this pattern of numbers could unite them all. He was either really stoned or just didn't know how to explain his own beliefs. I was disappointed and somewhat grilled him a bit, he was so ripped though he kept saying the same 3 or 4 things and was laughing hysterically like a 7th grader, he hadnt smoked reefer in a while. His chick friend was also fed up with his child like behavior and she took off and soon I did too. So then I knew that this guy was a little off. But he kept coming in to the store. Every Time he would get stranger and stranger and then I found out what an alcoholic he is( he had previously mentioned he was a former alcoholic). He came in drunk as fuck one day and started belligerently arguing with some of the customers, I was forced to tell him to leave. He disappeared for awhile but when he came back he was stranger than ever! like two months go by and then this dude shows back up. He had grown his full mutton chop style gray beard and longer hair. Total Jesus hippie style it was kinda neat actually. First thing he says "Marilyn Monroe is ALIVE!" I'm like oh god here we go... Supposedly he had to spend a few days in a local New Mexico jail. While there he met a lady who he believed was the reincarnated Marilyn Monroe. She was murdered by someone apparently but I didn't get into it too far with him because it was a bad day for me and I was busy and not in the mood for his ever stranger crap. But one funny thing he wanted me to make copies of this Q and A with him and the supposed Marilyn. It was really dumb and hard to even follow He finally stopped coming in indefinitely one day when he and one of my coworkers got into a shouting match. He wanted to free some black dude from prison charged with rape and my extremely racist co worker was shockingly throwing the N word around like she was a black gangsta herself. I had to tell him to leave for the final time, then I asked myself "What the fuck am I doing working here?" But that's not all! weeks after that I got a letter at work from the supposed Marilyn. The letter was actually postmarked from New Mexico. It contained a few sheets of paper with what looked like a 5 year olds writing and some nonsensical drawings. I couldn't make sense of much of it but we all got a good laugh out of it. I scanned it then but I don't know if I ever took the file home with me. I'll look for it. __________________ Putting the High in "High Quality" Last edited by Dr. ShinDig; 08-15-2011 at 10:23 PM.

08-15-2011, 08:58 PM	#4 (permalink)
Mercury Special Delivery Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: The States Posts: 8,150 Thanks: 294 Thanked 801 Times in 539 Posts	^haha... "the boat ramp"... i like the way you say that. it's amazing how a trench coat can completely amplify a persons image. all it is is a few square feet of extra cloth, but if you wear it people will look at you like you're the devil incarnate. the lesson? never understimate the power of your coat.

08-16-2011, 01:49 AM	#7 (permalink)
Mescalito Oneironaut Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 6,295 Thanks: 867 Thanked 908 Times in 445 Posts	I know this dude on teh interweb who likes to wear fanny packs. M

08-23-2011, 10:34 AM	#9 (permalink)
Jewish Pork Old School Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 3,517 Thanks: 45 Thanked 217 Times in 147 Posts	Pretty much all the Japanese guys I work with crack me the hell up (I miss them so much ) I'm having the hardest time recalling a specific story that would illustrate why the crack me up; but I'll probably think of one as soon as I'm away from my computer. I'll be sure to write one down when I think of one that is FFA worthy

08-23-2011, 07:50 PM	#10 (permalink)
Mercury Special Delivery Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: The States Posts: 8,150 Thanks: 294 Thanked 801 Times in 539 Posts	Dude, awesome relation ShinDig. I give you props for entering his world for that little bit. I mean, what compelled you to go to his "campsite"? You must be a hella chill guy, and I respect that. That dude could have been a homosexual rapist or something, and you got in his van? Haha.... good times. Also it's cool that he remains productive, even in his own "world".

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