On Recording the Importances

I wrote this story a little more than three years ago. Interestingly, there have been many more importances that I have not recorded--particularly pertaining to the young man mentioned in the last segment. I do recall that I was very sad when I wrote this. But I have grown so very much since then; so I can only imagine what importances there are ahead of me. And I shall record them! I shall follow my lovely friend Kristen's lead and photograph my travels and adventures more diligently! Here is the story:


According to Hindu scripture, the world is created, destroyed, and recreated in a cycle of four epochs, or yugas. Mirroring mankind’s behavior, the earth descends from a golden, enlightened era to the lowest phase: the Kali Yuga. During Kali Yuga, rulers govern without sense. People deceive their neighbors and harbor unreasonable murderous thoughts. Even very young girls get pregnant during the Kali Yuga. Many Hindus believe this epoch began on February 18th, 3102 BC—the day Lord Krishna was mistaken for a deer and shot with an arrow as he meditated.



It took three scaffold-strikes to behead Mary I, Queen of Scotland. The first blow cracked her skull and the second split her shoulders apart. The third killed her, although her neck still clung to her body by a few strands of gristle. She wore a red chemise—exposed to the crowd when she was helped out of her black gown—and an auburn wig. She was executed on February 18th, 1587.



Seventy-one years before her execution, Mary’s first cousin once-removed, Mary I of England, was born on February 18th. She was known as Bloody Mary because she ordered the execution of hundreds of people. These controversial “Marion Persecutions” ridded England of the Protestant devout, so that England’s bond with Rome could reestablish.



February 18th, 1885: According to some, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first published. According to others, the controversial book was published a year earlier. According to a third party, it was printed in January, not February. I have a copy of the book. It is not the first edition, but it is the same story.



Arch Oboler’s three-dimensional film Bwana Devil opened in New York on February 18th, 1952. It was the first 3-D, full-color, full-length film to play in America. The plot involved railway workers fighting off man-eating tigers. The critics tore the film apart, and it is not widely-known today. To Oboler, it was still an achievement. A mark.



Only once has snow fallen in the Sahara Desert, we think. It fell upon Algeria, for an hour and a half, on the 18th of February, 1979.



In 2006 (on February 18th), I wrote in my journal: “Saturday, late night. Kim stopped by to visit me after her show. We talked about honesty, real-ness in a character, how acting makes good singing and dancing. When you approach it without integrity, it’s like a performance through rose-colored glasses…But when it’s honest, it’s edgy, and has clarity—it’s sharp and new and could go anywhere—enthralling and committed. Recently, my life has been rose-colored, blurry, not really focused. With integrity, I can be vivid again. Who am I? What are my standards? Am I living up to them? I am now: Hallelujah!”



I broke up with Tyler Commons on February 18th, 2007. It was a mark in a record that is still being written.