THE STRANGER ARRIVES

by Ray Jason

Welcome, Stranger!  We are the Pelican/Slocum Sea Gypsy Tribe.  I am currently our Spokesperson – a position that rotates regularly in our clan. 

Congratulations on surviving The Descent and the Shattering.  While you are regaining your strength, we will provide you food, water, shelter, medicine and perhaps most importantly - emotional comfort and reinforcement.  Your injuries are severe, particularly the wound beneath your jawbone, so please do not attempt to speak.     

When you have sufficiently recovered, we will tell you Our Story.  Then later we will describe Our Code.  If you wish to join us, there will be a probationary period during which we will evaluate your compatibility with our tribe.  Then we will convene a Council of Deciding and share our assessment with you.  If your skills and conduct seem valuable to our clan, we will happily accept you amongst us.  Should we, or you, choose otherwise then we will give you a supply of food and water as you commence again your wanderings as an Earthugee.    

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A VERY DIFFERENT SUMMER READING LIST

by Ray Jason

            I refer to it jokingly as “THE QUESTION.”   It used to bother me, but now it just amuses me.  Usually, it is phrased like this, “Ray, how did you get this way?”  My standard playful response is, “Are you referring to what great physical shape I am in considering my age?”  This catches them off guard, but then they continue.  “No, I mean how did you get all of these … odd … and … radical … ideas?”  If I am feeling mischievous, I might reply, “Well, my parents were professors at Berkeley in the ‘Marxism for the Masses’ department.”

            Actually, my parents were not to blame, although my Mom would certainly applaud my determination to look at life as openly as possible.  So perhaps she was an accessory to the crime.  College was not the guilty party either.  I did have a few inspirational professors, but mostly Higher Education could just as accurately be called Higher Indoctrination.  No, the guilty party was - and is - BOOKS!

            But not just any books.  I’m talking about provocative books that seem to shout from the pages, “I bet you were not aware of this?!”  Books that shake your brain like a washing machine on the “agitate” setting, until the neurons are rearranged.  Books that reveal the beauty and majesty of life, but that also expose the ugliness and injustice.

LIFE - THE WONDER AND THE SADNESS

by Ray Jason

            Peer into this child’s eyes at your own risk.  They have haunted me for 18 months.  Every few weeks I look at this poignant image and try to decipher the message that those enormous brown eyes are sending to me - and to you - and to the world.

            I found this photo at Google Images and used it to accompany my final essay of 2013.  It is of a little gypsy girl in Romania who has just received a Christmas present from an aid worker.  It leapt out at me even though there were hundreds of other pictures.  Why did this particular one tunnel into my heart of hearts and speak to me so powerfully? 

  I have pondered this at least 20 times during the ensuing months.  But before sharing my conclusions with you, I would like you to pause for a few minutes and study this young girl.  I’d even suggest that you left click on the photo to enlarge it.  Now, what is she saying to you personally with those focused eyes and that enigmatic smile?

S G P SECOND ANNIVERSARY

Hello Everyone,

Today is my blog’s second birthday; and so I want to reach out and thank all of you far-flung friends and strangers who have encouraged me these last two years.  Having come from a performing background, where the response to one’s efforts is very immediate, it is quite different communicating in such an indirect fashion.  It can get pretty lonesome on this side of the laptop at times, so your support is dearly appreciated.  Muchas gracias, as we say down here in the Banana Latitudes!

Certainly the highlight of these past 12 months is the recent publication of a book containing some of the best essays from my site.  It has been doubly rewarding because it is the first book that Dmitry Orlov chose to publish at his new imprint, called Club Orlov Press.  It was also a great experience working so rigorously with Dmitry when he spent this springtime down here South of Many Borders.  The manuscript went through 7 or 8 drafts and the cover took 4 or 5 tries.  But we are both delighted with the finished book.  It is mysteriously entitled THE SEA GYPSY PHILOSOPHER, and if you scroll several inches down this page you can learn all about it.    

The steady growth of my blog has also been very pleasing to me.  After the first year it had received about 47,000 visits and after the second it is now up to 111,000 – so a considerable increase.  And the country count has gone from 117 up to 140.  The fact that this improvement has been made strictly through word of mouth is quite heart-warming.

I am happy to note that my blog remains commercial free - with no google ads and with no donation tab.  For you nice folks who have inquired, there will be an electronic version of the new book in the near future.  And for those of you who have been clamoring for an Amazon link to my first book, TALES OF A SEA GYPSY, I will try to get around to that soon.  It is very different from SGP.  It showcases the offbeat and funny side of my eccentric way of looking at the world and writing about it.    

Thanks again, everyone – may you all flourish in this upcoming year!

Ray

P.S. The new essay is almost finished.