Coping with our obsessions.

[theballoonman]

Well,as a chubby,alcoholic,sex addict who smokes; i have, in my years dealt with the many and sundry obsessions that haunt me.Sometimes more successfully than others. I was a chubby baby, a chubby kid, and am a chubby adult.My obsession with food was the first to manifest itself(at a very young age,long before a conscious,learned, decision could be made)but followed not far behind that, was my yearning to perform. I can't remember a time i wasnt performing.From crappy card tricks at 4,thru a gauntlet of jokes and pranks that sullied every one my school years.My parents were in town recently,my dad told me of an old neighbor he recently ran into, who asked about me"Is Mike still goin around mooning people?"he joked. My dads stunningly apt reply was, "Yes,actually he does it for a living now." at 8 years old,mooning was the best material i had...close to 3 decades later...i've got a much wider repertoire(and ass,for that matter). I've gone from class clown to world class clown...was it my obsession with attention that caused this behavior...not probably,absolutly.
I know that if I'm not doing my show for a while(a month tops) I get a lil tweaky,find myself being "on" for long periods,in odd locations.I need the outlet now.I admit it.I'm good at it.I love it. I used to care about the reasons I am the way I am...Now,I try to analyze less,accept more...i wouldnt have it any other way...
I've also read that traverlling is an addiction,we get used to our brains processing the extra information of a new locale,language,etc.
Again,if i spend too much time in one spot,i find myself restless,and yearning for the road...Thankfully I've(we've,I know i'm not alone) found a gig that satiates my various yearnings,accomodates my problems with authority(a whole other topic)and allows a succesfull wage that allows my semi-retirment lifestyle.Obsessions,thank you,i wouldnt have made it this far without you.Unfortunatly,these are traits that too many women my age see as negatives,because its not the norm...
oh well,whats normal to some...is abhorrable to others.
gotta go...dying for a smoke....
mike shick
The Balloonman Show

[ 11-18-2003: Message edited by: theballoonman ]</p>

[jonnyflash]

Politics and performing are my (in?)plausibly undeniable obsessions. I tend to get sucked into either vortex, and vast amounts of my resources have been ploughed and re-ploughed into both fields. Im always looking to put them together, but haven't yet found a way so am doing one fulltime, then the other in few-year increments. The constant trip-taking inherent in streetperforming makes it really hard to do any political stuff because that work tends to require some geographical stability. Staying still means death to sharks and street acts, unless we are getting a few shows a day at a good pitch. My economic vehicle, the Jonny Flash Show is deeply affected by global political developments(SARS-cancelled gigs, dramatic tourism fluctuations,etc), yet Jon Tardif
, his regionally tied alterego is unable to dig in and get concrete results through organizing work among specific groups. And now here I am in a country where I dont speak the language well enough to work on any political project, with lots of downtime to write messages like this one. Hmmmm.

For the past year I'm doing the one relationship at a time thing, and its working great. Less drama, more productivity.
I find doing lotsa shows keeps me satisfied enough to not want to augment anything. When I stop doing shows for any reason, within a few weeks I start getting those old player thoughts again, as though I should be getting total life satisfaction from a partner in a relationship.(never should, never will).


Caramel has turned into an obsession, cooking it up at home with peanuts, granola inside. I dont drink or smoke much so its caramel and sex for me. Pretty healthy escapes. recipe shared upon request.

If anyone has any ideas on how I can combine my obsessions in a productive way(not including doing a sex-based streetact raising $$ for DPRK and selling caramel after the show),
hit me .

[scot]

ewen,
You want everyone else to appreciate you to. You should use bigger words. I understood all of those.

[Peter Voice]

So, I take it that everyone agrees.

We are all obsessively attention seeking self centred individuals.

I don't actually have a problem with this, I was just curious.

[RINGON]

Rock on Airborne Dan... You are the MAN.

[Butterfly Man]

I can't seem to stop asking myself ... over and over again ...

What made Chad "Mad"?

[img]mad.gif[/img]

[Stephon]

Could be his difficulty in mastering technology. <img src="graemlins/haha.gif" border="0" alt="[ha ha]" />