Let's see now, as far as 'blog-worthiness' goes, that's been my litmus test of when to pay attention with a writer's eye... so that I can recall enough details later on to be able to recreate some images. If I see, hear or interact with some experience that captures my fancy, I'll want to write about it when I go online. Today, I met someone who was so obviously blog-worthy that I might need a new moniker...'super freak' comes to mind. 'Say hello to 'Richelle'.
'She', and yes, there is some question about what pronoun to use, is mid to late fifties, If I had to guess, I'd say native Australian, but without the sure-fire Aussie accent that is unmistakeable (unless you mistake a Kiwi for an Aussie, but I digress). Smart, very articulate and creative, dressed in a skirt and halter top, fake red hair short on top but over her neck in back, possessor of a 'cock' which she must have mentioned ten times in the conversation. Yep, just another fellow traveler, Burning Man freakazoid. She's the star of her own movie, that's for damn sure, and there was enough common ground between us for quite a conversation.
Her name was Richard once upon a time and the 'Richelle' character was born at Burning Man, in the Nevada desert, and it seems to have been a major turning point in her life. I wish I could quote her verbatim, but her rap was basically that 'At Burning Man, nobody cares who you are, what you've done, where you've been. It's all about the now, so you can and should create your own character and your own script,( not too different than having an avatar in cyberspace, in one of those crazy sites that I don't know the name of, but in this case it's 'real'). Does raise some interesting questions about the nature of 'reality', like back in the acid days. The character 'Richelle, the slave' was born at Burning Man 4 years ago, and she has continued up til this day. When she told me that she sold a screenplay of her life for 1.7 million dollars, I said, 'I don't believe you'. She replied, 'that's what I love about you'.
Before that, her comment was, 'I'm going to the bathroom, and when I'm holding my cock, I'll be thinking of you'. I replied, 'I don't need to hear that'. She also called me an 'angel', and I've heard that before, so I'm OK with that descriptor. She told me that she loved me three times, (I think)
Richelle is a slave to a Thai mistress, some kinky 29 year old hottie wild thing who has a big Aussie boyfriend who totally satisfies her in every way. (apparently). And this Thai woman will text assignments to Richelle like 'you see that gorgeous woman over there with that guy. I want her on her knees in the bathroom in 5 minutes' And Richelle will go right up to the stranger, point to his mistress and say, 'do you see my mistress, she wants you on her knees in the bathroom in 5 minutes, will you be there?'. And according to her, the answer was, 'hell yes'!. There were other stories of other assignments which involve photos and video and stuff I wouldn't write about on the blog. Apparently Richelle is all about being super direct, fearless, putting it out there with no filter, and in doing so, she will attract the fellow freaks among us who are just waiting to be invited. (or something like that)
And the odd thing is that I got the strong suspicion that her mistress/slave relationship is the opposite of what you might expect. One thinks of a mistress dominating the slave, but in this case, I think the slave conjured up the mistress. 'She's my reason for living'. It's Richelle's movie and she needed a mistress, not the other way around. It's all very 'Alice in Wonderland' X rated edition, but there is much intelligence and pathos and wisdom in the Bizarro World.
And probably some desperation as well. I was totally buying her act, happy to play along... (up to a point, mind you), and I could see that when she is getting the attention, running her shtick she's got a 'reason for living'. She's an 'entertainer' she told me, and yes, I was entertained, but I challenged her as well. When she asked if I wanted to hear her philosophy, my response was, yeah, if you want to hear mine as well. (which she did, though it was hard for her to not 'pick up the talking stick' and be the center of attention. So I called her on it, and she probably 'loves that about me too'.
She told me about some things that I must do in Pai, including be at the Bebop Lounge from midnight to one tonight when a rock band is playing and everything happens. And I think I shall make the scene, as it's very refreshing to have some new input and adventures. Like being on a scooter and scooting up to the waterfall way above Pai, a place I went last year. On the way back down, I stopped in at this restaurant that was playing great and weird music and had a pretty good crowd of long haired types sitting around eating and drinking. Delicious food, good company, great music and the conversation with Richelle. Before that, I crashed a Spanish conversation in which two veteran travelers were giving some younger ones the lowdown on Burma travel (which is in a process of radical change, especially after Hillary Clinton's visit a month or two ago). The couple had just been there (it's close to here, and they were giving some tips to the twenty somethings...
Well back to the guest house, take a shower, read my latest book, "Drop City' by TC Boyle (What a writer!, it's the third book I've read by him, He takes these strange American themes, this one is about the free love movement in the late sixties, early seventies and writes this tremendous prose about the stories therein. I've done a ton of reading on this trip, haven't kept a record of the books, hmmm, maybe I should do that, but I don't think I could conjure up all the ones I've read these past 3 months.
M and I are in 'I love you' phone contact. I'll be back to Chiang Mai to hang with her on her Sunday off, was thinking about going back Saturday, but hell, I took a three hour trip on a twisted road, I have a nice place to stay, it's fun on the bike and damn, I certainly was sick of the Chiang Mai scene, so yeah, I'll stay here an extra day and stay away from the CU corner for 4 nights worth. Yep, good plan. Played some cool music on the street last night with a shit hot Dutch guitarist who was knocking out great solos to some of my jazzy stuff. Just for fun and to amuse ourselves. Putting out the hat isn't a good idea, as technically, we're not supposed to make any money here... (But we could've)
Your faithful slave, er scribe,
Richard (affected French pronunciation, please... reee shard)
