Quiver & Quill

Most Myspace profile pictures are predictable. There’s your body shot variety: a picture of breasts, abs, butt, mouth, then there’s the classic yearbook picture. Next are profile pictures featuring couples, babies, and pets. Finally, icons, celebrities, and cartoons conclude the most common profiles pics. Occasionally, I’d say 1 in 500; you’ll come across a profile that makes you wonder the story behind the picture. I came across a few such profiles; here are their stories.

I am a botanist. Last year we went out to Death Valley because it was a year of record rainfall and the whole place was just covered in flowers. It was amazing. Near the edge of the road the flowers were mixing with broken glass. But where I was sitting, there was no glass.

I had recently gotten my heart broken by a soon 2 be doctor that is seeking a trophy wife and I felt the need to relieve some frustration. Instead of hitting the bars like I was advised, I hit the road. Nothing but me, a 12 pk of beer, my best friend, and a kick ass CD. We went back to eastern KY where I am originally from and had a therapeutic mudding experience that my ex referred to as “uncivilized!” Once again, I came to the realization that it is better to be hated/left for who are, than to be loved/kept for someone that you are NOT….

The picture is one I found on a website about queer culture in pre-war Berlin. It’s vaguely (and optionally) labeled as being two prostitutes looking for a job and/or of a lesbian couple dressed to the nines on their way to dance the night away. Which? Why? How? I was intrigued. I recently met and fell in love with a woman O N L I N E who meanly and very effectively woo’ed me for two months, said I was everything to her, and then, cruelly, abandoned it with little explanation. I actually met her on myspace. The picture is about where uncertainty and privacy cross–for me–and a little about self-promotion and self-protection at once. And, as you can see, I just created this profile as an outlet to focus on my writing and adopt a persona outside the memories that cling to the “self” under which I met her. I suppose this idea could be a little creepy–multiple selves–one seen, one generally under the radar, but it feels new and private in that creepy public way. I find that being a musician with whatever “following” puts me out there as a target for lonely girls.

The Strokin Saga started about 5 years ago in a bar called Bondy’s Tavern in Cresskill, NJ. My friends and I have been doing karaoke there for quite a few years. We started playing a game called Karaoke Roulette. Basically you put your name on one slip, and the most ridiculous song you can find on the other. Someone picks your name out of a hat, and you pick a song out of another. Well I got saddled with Strokin, by Clearance Carter and not to be outdone by the song went all out with it. By the time the song was half over I was there, shirt off 2 other friends joined in, tore there shirts off and started dancing around the stage. The crowd at the bar was going nuts, laughing, cheering some even stuffing singles down our pants! From then on we got requests to do that act every week for about two years straight, and Seth and the Strokers was born!

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