Stuff That I Have Noticed #53 – Orphan Ideas

• Posted on 2nd April 2022
• in Christopher Walken, entertainment books, Marijuana, Musical Theatre
• by Ben

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The first time I ever smoked a doobie was July 1964 in San Francisco when a lady I was dating introduced me to the miraculous* weed. And it was a long time before I had another hit; the following summer on tour with West Side Story.

(One night about six of us did the show stoned but that’s a whole ‘nother story. No one was injured.) I’m not certain but I think it was another year or so before I actually bought a lid.

Anyhow, although I was never a pot-head who started the day with a few tokes, by 1966 I was a regular, mostly social, user with one exception. When writing my second screenplay (optioned three times but no production yet) there were instances when I had a brain lock so I’d take a toke and it would loosen up my creative muse. Then in ’85 I just stopped. No particular reason. I just didn’t want to smoke it anymore.

A lot of years later when Elizabeth was getting chemo for her second (successful) bout with cancer in 2011 it was making her very sick. I wrote a “Stuff” about this a couple of years ago. (She had a third bout in 2016 and beat that one too. She’s a tough Lady.) But I digress.

As I mentioned in that same post I learned that cannabis is very good for the prostate so I called a friend, got some organically grown ganja and began to have a toke after dinner.

This is all preamble. Here’s the point: Almost every night, shortly after my single evening toke, while watching Rachel Maddow I’d get some creative idea and then forget it by the next commercial break. (This propensity for negating short-term memory is a classic side effect of the Herb.) Finally I began to dictate notes on my phone so the ideas could be recalled when writing time came along.

These are some of the notes verbatim:

Extreme right turn in GOP started in 90s w Gingrich then the orange fatty turned it into a cult
I’m a healthy 85 year old but I have two cardiologists, a hematologist, a urologist and, and…
If this guy was president of another country we would bomb it.
A tsunami of strangeness is now our political and social life.
Steven Miller was created when lightening struck a Charles Adams cartoon
Performative sycophancy (I have no idea what that note means but I love the words.)

None of these has been used as essay material except now in this sort of solipsism. (I think that’s sorta the right word.)

So what am I doing here, writing about unfulfilled ideas about writing? Sure, why not? The writer’s mind is the only creative tool available so observing the ups and downs of same can be reason enough to write about writing. (W)right?

I’m getting dizzy. (Or is it ditsy?)

So these orphans await a flash of inspiration. Stay tuned.

* This much maligned plant is now acknowledged to have
dozens of uses many of which are healing.

Tags: Canabis