Me
I remember before I have born. I was in a place where I felt, safe, free and loved. A feeling of a warm bright color. I looked down onto the earth and it was a cold dark dieing gray that once was blue. I saw terrible fighting, hurt, angry killing. The last thing I saw was a huge mushroom cloud bellowing up into the sky. And then the time came, I knew it was coming. An old loving gentle man with white hair, beard and mustache came to me and said, “It’s time to go.” I did not say a word but thought my feelings out loud, “no, please don’t send me there.” Tears flowed from my eyes and he put a hand on my shoulder and told me, “It’ll be Okay.”
I had a dream once; long, long ago, sometime I’m guessing in the late 1800s; I was a bank robber. I was a tall strong man. I stepped out of a Lutheran Church, walked down some steps and nearby was a man seated on a bench. I did not know at the time that he was a bounty hunter, when I got passed him he shot me in the back three times and I died.
It was a very strange dream. How did I know it was a long time ago? How did I know I was a bank robber? How did I know I was leaving a Lutheran Church, and how did I know that the man who shot me was a bounty hunter? They say you can’t die in your dream, you will wake up first or you will die in real life, well I died and I awoke. I suspect that this a revelation of my past life.
Well, I was born in America, missed the draft in Vietnam and now I am too old for Vietnam 2. I spent 14 years in the Navy and never even fired a gun. Carried one a time or two on watch, but never had to fire it, not even in training. Fourteen years in the military and I never became gun qualified.
Served 2 years aboard the USS Charles F Adams DDG-2 where I became the Master Helmsman in the North Atlantic Seas. She was the first to have four boilers and an aluminum superstructure which cracked in the North Atlantic, to only be held together by expansion plates. Been on two Mediterranean cruises and spent six austral summers at Mcmurdo Station, Antarctica. During Desert Storm I served with the Mobile Utility Support Command, providing mobile electric generators. Thankfully we weren’t needed, but I do have a cool pair of glasses that fit inside a gas mask just encase we had to deploy.
I drove a truck for 4 years, and though I was in my late 30s early 40s, because I looked like a kid, I was treated like a kid. One waitress got after me for wearing my Navy jacket, seeing the First Class Crow and having an understanding of the military, she knew it couldn’t have been mine and she thought that was disrespectful, I assured her that my father gave me the jacket and said it was ok for me to wear it. So that’s why my call sign was the Okcitykid. Currently I work as a computer operator.
Unlike my previous life, I am not a strong man, physically or emotionally. It’s easy to hurt my feelings, I worry so much about what others think about me that I drive myself crazy sometimes. My memory of before I was born I kept to myself most of my life, afraid of what others would think. I feel other people’s feelings, especially when those feelings are about me, good or bad, and this I need to learn to ignore, because people are not what they feel, we have all learned early on to hide our true self inside and to act and be like everybody thinks we should be, usually dictated by shows on the TV set. We are bound, gaged and prodded like sheep, pretending to be something else. To busy struggling with ourselves we are unable to find it within to love others.
Zoya Pierson :
Date: May 15, 2009 @ 9:37 pm
Dear Sir:
An important and well-received documentary called Virtual JFK will be showing at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art May 21 through 24 ONLY. We believe this film may be of great interest to you.
Combining rare footage from numerous Kennedy press conferences, in-depth interviews and a close reading of the documentary record, the film argues that critical decisions about the use of restraint and coercive diplomacy often require greater acts of courage than the use of force. Produced by fellows of the Watson Institute for International Studies, the film applies what Harvard historian Niall Ferguson calls “virtual history” to consider what President John F. Kennedy might have done in Vietnam if he had not been assassinated in 1963 and was instead re-elected in 1964. More information about the film appears below and at www.virtualjfk.com.
We would most appreciate it if you would help us spread the word, either by forwarding the e-mail flyer below to OKC friends and readers or posting a notice on your Web site. Please let me know if you need any additional information or have any questions.
Sincerely,
Zoya Pierson
Sven Kahn Films, Inc.
c/o Koji Masutani
The Watson Institute for International Studies
Brown University
Box 1970
111 Thayer Street
Providence, RI 02912-1970
907-942-5101
zoya@virtualjfk.com
“An extended glimpse into a bygone era of statesmanship. In Masutani’s selection of clips, watching Kennedy field astute questions and scathing critiques with thoughtfulness and wit proves extremely illuminating; his weighing of complex factors in an international situation and consciousness of how much rides on his decisions strikes a now unfamiliar note.” – Ronnie Scheib, Variety
“A critical handbook for current and aspiring world leaders.” – Sergei Khrushchev, Son of Former Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev
“Fascinating.” – Sara Cardace, New York Magazine
“Captivating. Meticulous and wholly engrossing.” – Ted Fry, The Seattle Times
“Compelling. Insightful. Highly convincing.” – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
Produced by fellows of the Watson Institute for International Studies and combining rare footage from numerous Kennedy press conferences, in-depth interviews and a close reading of the documentary record, the film applies what Harvard historian Niall Ferguson calls “virtual history” to consider what President John F. Kennedy might have done in Vietnam if he had not been assassinated in 1963 and was instead re-elected in 1964. It is a provocative investigation of one of the most debated “what if” scenarios and takes its inspiration from Kennedy’s famous statement that “we must never negotiate out of fear, but we must never fear to negotiate.” It resonates powerfully with audiences who are invited to draw their own conclusions from the historical record.
Director Koji Masutani is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University and trained previously with cinematographer Christopher Doyle in Hong Kong. Producer and narrator James Blight is a Professor of International Studies at the Watson Institute for International Studies and served as principal substantive advisor to Errol Morris during the production of The Fog of War, winner of the 2004 Academy Award® for Best Documentary. A book of the same title, written by the film’s producers James Blight, Janet Lang and David Welch was published by Rowman & Littlefield on January 28, 2009.
Additional information, including a trailer, are available at http://www.virtualjfk.com.
Peter Wolfe :
Date: February 15, 2010 @ 5:45 am
Peace,
Cool impressive blog you got here that I agree with on most topics. (Some people) can agree to disagree without throwing a temper tantrum just because (they) lost the argument! The television and freedom of speech like the patriotic act, which was patronizing to my freedoms is somehting I agree witth you on.
okcitykid :
Date: February 15, 2010 @ 6:28 am
Thanks for the comment, I’m glad that someone agrees with me on something.
I need to update this, a lot has happened since I’ve posted it. Learning a lot of new things.
Cathy :
Date: March 5, 2010 @ 3:57 pm
We thought this might of interest to your blog:
50 young people have camped outside Senator Coburn’s office for 7 days, bearing the extreme cold, and will not leave until he removes a hold on a bill that would help stop a rebel group abducting children and terrorizing people in Africa. The organizers have a website with details and live video at coburnsayyes.com.