Unfortunately
the drawing continued to become somewhat atypical and aberrant and it
was impressed upon me that such images might not be suitable for public
viewing. In the summer of 69, there was a valiant attempt to stop me
from doodling infamous contemptible fascist dictators upside down on my
stomach with a ballpoint pen. I was consoled however by the
encouragement to continue penciling in faces of flamboyant cowboys such
as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger and Tonto on my toenails but
was expressly forbidden to talk to them at night.
It
can be said that there are defining moments in a dogs life that can
only be described as pivotal. Mine came when I received a gift of a
flesh toned 12 inch plastic movable human doll attired in cheaply made
military fatigues called "GI Joseph". I however named him "Stanley
Mulver" and immediately resigned his commission from the light infantry.
My Mother helped in this by sewing small business suits and leisure
wear out of leftover Christmas fabric embroidered with holly and
snowmen, tinfoil shoes and one tasteful Safari suit made of tight
fitting powder blue rayon that proudly shone cobalt in the summer
sunlight. It wasn't long before I had begun making enlarged wigs out of
gray plasticine. These wigs soon became huge pompadours for Stanley and
looked even more grand when I meticulously imbedded small hairs from my
daily body and face shavings. This hirsute practice along with walking
upright allowed me to fit in with other children even though my father
considered it a waste of time. In short, Stanley had become a visage of
the Man I could never be, of that elusive self one sometimes glimpses
down the tunnel of infinite reflected mirrors. Although ridiculed by my
peers, I proudly wore Stanley around my neck at all times as if to say
"SEE! This is the man I will be, a good man, a kind man".
I have worked in many fields over the years, attended obedience classes and art colleges, jobs designing horrible buildings in architectural studios, medical art facilities, digital service bureaus, suspicious casino computer game companies, eventually working at computer modeling, digital animation and visual effects for television and film. Some award nominations have been attained and I have been driven in long black liquor filled limousines and walked on hind legs down red carpets in Pasadena while wearing strange smelling rented tuxedos.
I live in a brick house with my wonderful wife Jane and a coyote called Bonnie. I like eating avocados and I don't really mind being a dog.
Ray Caesar
