Openness — A Life’s List?

More autobiographical lore of Dave

The dense forests of Småland in Sweden or the barren Alvar on the Swedish island Öland impressed me. I saw a sad toothless dancing bear being dragged on a nose-ring along a beach in Bulgaria when I was six. The mountains of the High Tatra in Slovakia left a lasting impression as did the clear-view diving grounds of Zakynthos in Greece with their octopi. Still in my prime I lingered under palm trees in the harbor of Lagos in Portugal. I have visited my share of Europe for sure. High waves crashed upon surfers on a beach of the Atlantic Ocean near Bordeaux. I was chased by an actor in an original Alien costume in a London venue called Alien War. When a ferry to Sweden hit a heavy storm front I nearly got sick. We dipped into the traffic jams of Rome and smelled the summer-stink of Venice. We drove through Alpine tunnels and refused to eat stockfish in North-Norway. I drank Schweppes as a child in a Hungarian spa near Püspökladány and tasted extremely hot peppers in Romania. In the shallow water of a stony beach in Sardinia I stepped upon a sea urchin. Uhh, that hurt!

What was fantastic about my life? Survival of the non-fittest. Loving and being loved by beautiful girls and enjoying their bodies while studying their minds. Inspiring conversations with mentors, parents, lovers helped me as did those with friends, benefactors, students, enemies, and fans.

Creating inner worlds with literature of all kinds to evolve gleaming mind spaces was highly enjoyable. To have a nervous system and sense the world. To say the thing that is not in many languages. To see beyond beauty and celebrate complexity. To assemble samples into music and clips into narrative films. To be baffled and surprised by diversity. To have opinions and false beliefs. Furthermore I liked to collaborate in writing, to dance and hike and dive and fly. To have doubts and to be relieved, to worry and to win games. To be able to stand judgment and to judge. To applaud and be astonished. To convince and to change my conviction. To cook and taste and digest food and to bathe. To have a conscious and self-esteem. To caress and to be kissed. To benefit from the hospitality of strangers. To learn and to forget. What was I saying?

3/08 (V1.1)