Den has moved once again!

Check out my NEW domain, http://www.denwrites.com

Thanks!

DENNIS HAS MOVED!

I'll be writing here from now on, if you'd care to follow:

http://ifyouwannasingoutsingout.wordpress.com/

Thanks!

Remembering The Worms (A Fictional Story)

That was us back in the old days, The Worms, on account of Peggy having a huge crush on Ringo and insisting we be named after a bug, and the fact that Bobbie’s main claim to fame back then was that he once ate a worm at recess. So there we were, The Worms, in our first picture. I was holding my ukulele, the first instrument any of us owned. Back then, rehearsal consisted of me playing the three chords I knew, Stevey singing, and the girls just dancing. They even had these awful choreographed dances to go along with the first song I wrote, Do the Worm, eventually released as a b-side even though we recorded it as a joke. Our insatiable fans loved it regardless of how we felt about it.

So this photo is the first, as I said. Of course, Johnny isn’t pictured because he took it, our eventual drummer who, back then, would just bang on a trashcan lid with two wooden spoons he stole from his mom’s kitchen. He was as close to a rebel as we had; he’d even stolen his old man’s camera, his prized possession, to take this. Then we had to wait four weeks for his little brother’s birthday until the roll was done and they finally brought it to the store. His nervous tics, for which he eventually became known behind the drums, were apparent even then. His father always joked about how he wasn’t allowed to hold the camera because he wasn’t steady enough to take a good photograph. Which is clear from how blurry this one is.

But that was the day it all began. It was Peggy’s idea to start the band, and she was kind of the leader of our group of friends back then, since she was by far the tallest, easily a head taller than anyone on the block. I remember our first kiss and how awkward it was…but I digress. That’s not really what this is all about.

Everyone probably recognizes Bonnie right off the bat, since she was the only one of us with glasses. The kids around the corner used to tease her, call her four-eyes, so clever. Some of the same kids were following her around like puppies by the time we hit it big, in high school, begging her for dates. She turned them all down. Good for her.

Then there was Ruthie, before her three husbands, before the drinking, before she’d even picked up a guitar, but as beautiful as ever. And her voice, even back then, could move an angry mob to silence. Even back then, even in the blur that is this photograph, you can still see her trademark single barrette.

Then there’s Bobbie, a character in himself, eventually immortalized in a certain Christmas movie, you know it, the one where the boy sticks his tongue to the flagpole? Bobbie inspired the main character in that film; the author grew up a few blocks away from us. We all went to see the movie premiere, only to walk out, seeing how different the kid in the movie was from our good old buddy, Bobbie.

Those were the days, I tell you. I’m the lone Worm these days, living all alone in my mansion, my friends and my family all gone. And out of all of the memorabilia, the records, photos, magazine covers, famous movie stars, films, everything, this is the only thing I kept from the days with the band. I gave away the gold records to girls I dated, sold the rights to the songs, gave it all up. Once the worms were all gone, and we couldn’t relive the moments of stardom together, I didn’t want to do it alone. No point. The only thing I really want to remember after all of the fame and fortune is the simpler times when we all lived on the same block, were so close, and were only famous in our own minds.

Those were the days.


Don't forget to check back regularly as I continue the series of short fiction based on random old photos I find!

The Digital Age Affects The Driver

I'm starting out this week's blog about the digital drive, but who knows where it will end up. About two months ago I was driving to work and swore I saw a billboard change. First off, I thought I was crazy, but the next day I paid attention to it, and sure enough it changed from one ad to the next, and I realized it was digital!

Now, to begin with, I think billboards should be illegal. They are a blight on the landscapes, no matter where they are placed, and a form of eye pollution. Disgusting.

Secondly, they are a distraction. Sure they take a moment to read, but isn't that how long it takes to get into an accident? I've been in my fair share of them and know the answer is yes, a moment is all it takes. The car in front of me could slow down or hit their brakes, traffic could turn up at just that moment, and BAM accident.

But now, there's a changing billboard, and while I've gotten good at ignoring the messages they send, I find that the sudden movement I catch out of the corner of my eye is even more distracting. And frankly, I could care less what Philly.com or 95.7 have to say to me. But the movement stops me from watching the road for a moment.

And then I think about the cars that now parallel park on their own, GPS, and the obvious next invention, cars that drive themselves. We just plug in the destination and sit back, having conversations with friends, playing on our iPod touch or iPhone, checking email on our laptops, maybe even watching a movie. The world is such a beautiful place.

Next thing we know, the world will be like the new Bruce Willis movie coming out soon, where we get hooked up to a machine and a robot version of us (only stronger, faster, with supernatural abilities) wanders around doing what we will it to do. Is this the world I want to live in?

The world IS a beautiful place. But the more we focus on billboards, electronics, the internet, the less we enjoy it. I once read a short story by Dave Eggers called Your Mother and I, a story in which a father tells his child all of the stories how how the couple changed the world, and it's probably my favorite and in my opinion the most beautiful story ever written. In it, he claims the first thing they did was omit the world of billboards, just to beautify it a bit. And I agree. This would be a great start.

Yes, this blog is a bit rambling, a mixture of coherant thoughts and jumbled feelings, but overall it speaks for how I am feeling today. Put down your laptop. Leave the phone on silent. Head out for a walk, go to the beach, the mountains, the closest stream.

And ignore the freakin billboards.

Childlike Days

How many people out there understand the importance of spending at least some of your time doing childlike things? I hope lots.

I've always found a certain beautiful joy in reliving childhood memories, be it pulling out the giant box of legos, flying a kite, splashing in puddles, and the like.

This weekend my girlfriend and I went to a treehouse exhibit and it was a GREAT time. If you live in/around Delaware County, PA it's a fun trip. It's at the Tyler Arboretum and heck is it fun. They have a bunch of them mapped out, and they all have a theme, like Three Little Pigs go Eco Friendly (with the straw, wood and brick houses, all with eco-friendly mods), Drum Circle (a treehouse shaped like a giant guitar/drum with a drum room where they have all kinds of percussion instruments for you to bang as loud as you want!!!) It was a blast, and not only did we enjoy watching the kids play and scream with fun, we climbed into most of them ourselves and had a grand old time. Although we did avoid the Bug House, where you had to climb these wet metal poles to get up. Just seemed too rainy/slippery for me. I know I know, no sense of adventure.

The day just made me really appreciate the little things, as I've always felt were important. We sat on a bench and people-watched, I sat by the pond and watched tadpoles, trying to figure out a way to bring a few home, wandered around the woods, it was nice.

I think there are many positives to playing. Stress reliever. Relaxing. And it's just really simple fun. A few weeks ago we actually did pull out the legos and had a challenge: we each had to make a vehicle and then we would race them down a hill to see who made the better car. Simple and fun. Even if I DID keep losing.

So I guess my thought for the blog is to play. Everyone. If you're reading this, go to the dollar store and buy a kite, or a frisbee, take out your old transformers and transform them. Go to the park and swing. Do something childlike. I swear it won't kill you.

Have a nice day.

The Title of This Blog is Brought to You By...

So you're perusing blogspot, curious about the random information I've chosen as my 'online persona' and wonder where it all came from. Sure, the title Musings isn't at all original, and I'm sure a quick search of this website would find around a thousand different blogs titled "Musings" but the rest of my choices say a lot about me as a person.

First off, my chosen front, my display name, Sir Guy Grand. Know it? Probably not. He's a character from a book turned to film called The Magic Christian, the story of Sir Guy Grand (played by Peter Sellers, a hero of mine even if he is a bit before my time), a filthy rich millionaire who realizes that he's not getting any younger, and with nobody to leave his wealth decides to adopt. But this man does nothing by the book, and ends up adopting a thirty-something homeless man, played by Ringo Starr (a character that they added for the film but was non-existant in the novel.)

His new son, Youngman Grand, Esq. decides that with all of their money, they should have some fun with it, and so they go on a quest to see exactly what they can convince people to do by throwing more and more money at them until they agree. This includes smaller events such as getting a cop to eat the parking ticket he just gave them to convincing a famous actor to strip during his "To be or not to be" soliloquy on stage in a performance of Hamlet.

This film and the novel speak to me, mostly because I have found in life that people take money way too seriously. A close friend of mine constantly says "Money comes frequently and easily" and I have found that can be quite right so long as you have the right attitude. But more importantly, I think life is about experiencing as much as you possibly can, along with enjoying the companionship of those you have surrounded yourself with, as often as possible. And I don't think you need money to do so. This can be as simple as yard saling some random board games and inviting them to come play. Or just sitting around and listening to CDs (or, in my case, records. I am, after all, a lover of the vinyl. Although that has not stopped me from amassing a 500+cd collection in the process.)

This film does what is, in my mind, the most simple thing in the world that can win over my adoration and respect. It makes me think while also tickling my funny bone.

As for the web address of this blog, I chose the lyrics to the song Sing Out by Cat Stevens, one of my favorite musicians, also the main song from my favorite film of all time, Harold and Maude. Now THERE is a movie everyone in the world should see. The story of Harold, a twenty-something suffering from the expectations of a wealthy socialite mother who pays him little attention, obsessed with faking his own death, who meets Maude, a soon-to-be eighty-year-old who knows more about living life and experiencing as much as possible as any character I have ever witnessed. They fall in love, and yes, there is a post-sexual cigarette shared at one point in the film.

What's more important is the lessons Maude teaches Harold, about the important of being yourself, living life, all of those things people generically state in words you've heard a million times, but she does this with the gusto and passion that you wouldn't expect from someone of her age. This, accompanied by the amazing soundtrack, all by Cat Stevens, reminds me not to take life too seriously, to live as much as possible, and not to be afraid to make an ass of myself once in a while. Overall, it taught me that, if I wanna sing out, sing out.

So, dear reader who has fallen across my blog and gone this far, I welcome you. Thanks for reading.

A scene from The Magic Christian:

Youngman Grand, Esq.: Dad, do you think words corrupt?
Sir Guy Grand KG, KC, CBE: I don't know, let's try. Agnes?
Dame Agnes Grand: [looks up from the television] Yes?
Sir Guy Grand KG, KC, CBE: Nipple.
Dame Agnes Grand: Shh!
[turns back to the television]
Sir Guy Grand KG, KC, CBE: [watches her a moment] Well, there's no immediate physical change.

"A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They're just backing away from life. *Reach* out. Take a *chance*. Get *hurt* even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. L-I-V-E. LIVE! Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room. "

-Maude, Harold and Maude