=Pelicanh

In some of the early Superman comics there was portrayed a doppleganger world named "Bizarro". It initially was named "Htrae" ("Earth" backwards for those who need a little spoon feeding) and was a cubicle world somewhere "out there" in space and time. On this planet EVERYTHING was backwards and the inhabitants had super powers but were self destructive and it was a crime to do anything good. The original Bizarro character was created when Superboy was exposed to a "duplicate ray". It was an odd concept that didn't live long in the Superman realm and was subsequently sort of phased out when in 1985 DC Comics rewrote some of the continuity of the Superman saga.

My Father was a holy rollin, Hell Fire and Damnation, speaking in tongues, evangelical preacher. As a child I spent many nights lying in bed terrified I was going to spend an eternity "burning in a Lake of Fire" if I didn't "repent of my sins", the most egregious of which was being born!!! It was hammered into my young brain that I was "by my very nature" sinful. "Born in sin and shapen in iniquity" according to the Scriptures. Many nights I would get out of bed, sneak into my parents room, and lean over to listen for their breathing. Every night that I heard the rise and fall of their lungs was another night I had been spared the doom of Jesus having returned to Earth, taken them to heaven, and left me.

35 years later I was hooked in to my hang glider and staring off the cliff at Glacier Point. It was three thousand two hundred fourteen feet to the Yosemite Valley floor.
"Hey George", I grinned at my friend, "am I chicken?"
"You're the bravest man I know", he responded, "it's the easiest launch in the world. Just three steps and you're off. But hey, Michael, don't trip or you're dead"
"Oh....OK....see you in the meadow" I laughed as I ran into the morning sky.

I was on my way to work when I was 12 years old. I worked in a public library after school and spent many many hours reading in the musty basement.
I learned there were other ways to think about God besides my parents way and it scared me.
One fine Spring day I was walking to work, listening to my transistor radio, and dancing along.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was listening to the Beatles!!! The Beatles were, according to my Father, straight from the pit of Hell. And I was DANCING!!! Everyone knew dancing was a sin because it was a prelude to SEX....which, of course, was SO EVIL we never even discussed it!
I can take you to the very street corner....6th Street and Bullitt Ave. in Roanoke Virginia. I stopped. Time stopped.
"I am NOT evil" I thought. And I was angry. I had been as honest and open with my Father's God as I knew how to be and on this day I realized it was time to quit having imaginary friends.
"I'm 12 years old" I told myself, "I haven't had TIME to be evil. And I WAS NOT born that way"
SO what to do with this "lie" I had been sold?
On 6th Street and Bullitt Ave. on that day, I decided to follow my own path. To pursue truth and beauty. I decided to be honest no matter the cost. Oddly, in some ways it was sad. I felt alone. But I felt POWER!!! My power.
I knew I would be called "rebellious" when my path led away from the beaten one. And I knew I would sometimes be loved when it fit.

I no longer ask if I am chicken, even if it is a joke, because I know I'm not. I am running off the cliffs of life and into the unknown with every breath. I dance to whatever music I want, drink whatever nectar I choose, and enjoy the evils of sex when my lover is near.
I love what I do and do what I love and the farther away from my parents (read "Bizarro) world I get, the stranger it looks to me. I haven't needed their approval for many many years.
I get a kick out of the shit storm some of my images create here on DA. I see people get upset and write long threads of back and forth banter and it makes me smile. Like I said, I don't need anyone's approval. I will create my art, I will step off that cliff, and I will fly into the sky on wings of freedom unfettered by compliment or criticism.

Here's a phone conversation I heard about between two of MY friends.
"Hey Sally, have you seen Michael's DA gallery? I didn't know he was shooting porn!!!!!!"
"Gee, Jennifer, I've been all through that gallery and I didn't see any porn!"

Perspective is a funny thing. We all think our viewpoint is right and if we could only CONVINCE other people to see it our way then what a happy world it would be! Well...guess what...it isn't that way! LOL
I hope everyone on DA can grow a bit from all this site has to offer. Don't be offended if you see something you don't like...just go find something that brings you joy!

Life is too short .... find YOUR wings!

But now it's time for me to find my Heineken!