WHAT KIND OF FOOL AM I?

 

QUEST FOR BLACK BEACH -- IT IS OUT OF THIS WORLD!

CHRISTMASTIME.  And QUEST FOR BLACK BEACH is the PERFECT STOCKING STUFFER for the adolescent science fiction aficionado.  Filled with sinister robots, gruesome beasts, and reprehensible humans, QUEST FOR BLACK BEACH has it all! QUEST FOR BLACK BEACH is futuristic tale of two brothers on their quest of survival, decapitating robots and fighting all sorts of creatures and beasts that go bump in the night along the way.

It is the year 2113 and a series of brightblasts has resulted in four remnant groups vying for survival: the robotia, the roktillia, the pterosauria, and the humanoids.

The robotia represent what is left of the mechanical world.  These robots have an incredibly high artificial intelligence and adhere to the codes of conduct as designed in their individual and collective programming.

The roktillia are a mutated blend of mammal and reptile, with unique traits to help them survive both on land and in water.

The pterosauria are large featherless creatures that have the ability to fly.

Most of the humanoids have established themselves in closed communities along the waterways, while other humanoids have become alienated and are ruthless hunters and scavengers.

Two young sailors, Kllay and Buzz, row an old wooden boat, The Snail, along a creek to the sea sanctuary of Black Beach.  Along with their companion, Westminster, a member of the robotia, the battle against hostile humanoids, roktillia, pterosauria, and other robotia on their quest to reach Black Beach and reunite with their family. 

TO ORDER:  GO TO TOP-RIGHT MARGIN OF THIS BLOG AND CLICK:)

I WAS A YOUNG BUSKER (MANY YEARS AGO)

In the meanwhile, back to busking. I shall explain my snappy title, which has a play on the word, “fool.”

FOOL, as a noun, is a silly person; whereas, FOOL, as a verb, is to trick or deceive.  In this blog title, I am referring to the kind of fool that fools or tricks or deceives people.  And this is exactly the kind of fool I have delivered with success more than a few times during my adult life to date.

During my teaching internship I was fool enough to be offered an actual teaching position – this was before I had completed my teaching degree! As a university student I was an English Literature major, training to be a high school English teacher.  But then I was offered an elementary school teaching position during my internship, and I jumped at the opportunity! Degreeless, I started teaching English, Art, and Physical Education to grades seven and eight.  Factoid: Physically, I had not been in an elementary school since adolescence. In that first teaching assignment, I was a fool indeed!

My teaching of English and Art classes was adequate, whereas, my Physical Education (PE) teaching was horrible.  Teaching PE I totally sucked.  My curriculum was limited to “Murder Ball” and “Hockey.”  Murder Ball was the grittier modified game of dodgeball we played in the school gymnasium -- the kids loved it!  And hockey was just hockey. There was an outdoor rink complete with a warming shack right next to the school.  During my PE classes, I would march the entire class over to the rink.  For those who could skate, we played shinny.  While those who could not skate either watched the game or sat in the shack.  Reflecting on this, I should have been fired.  But I was not.

Factoid: Instead, I was offered a position of full-time high school English teacher. Yet, I still did not have my teaching degree – I was a real fool for sure!

(As it happened, my employer paid for me to return to university for the following two summers to complete all the classes necessary for my degree and teaching certificate.  That same employer, later paid for all my graduate classes leading to my master’s degree, which in turn allowed me the opportunity to teach Psychology at the University of Regina for 23 years running!)

So too, I was the perfect fool when I began to guitar busk.  I began as a drummer and singer in a ‘60s cover band, Sharie and the Shades.  During my time with Sharie and the Shades I started learning to play guitar.  And here is that story.

A concert to showcase amateur and local talent just happened to be booked at the local high school of my employ.  I convinced one of my bandmates, Judy, another singer from Sharie and the Shades, to join me in song at this concert.  I practiced and practiced and practiced playing guitar for just this one song, Summer Wine.  Come the night of the concert, Judy and I covered the Nancy Sinatra – Lee Hazelwood rendition of Summer Wine for the audience of 400 people seated in front of us.  Little did anyone in the crowd know that Summer Wine was the only song I could strum!

That was a springtime concert.  Come summertime, my son, Baron, and I loaded our gear and headed to Victoria, British Columbia for my very first buskation.  While we were busking on the mean streets in Victoria, I was agog and the adequate fool, learning to strum and thrum a few other songs on my guitar.  Since then, I have filled my pockets of pelf from guitar and portrait busking throughout Western Canada and countries elsewhere, namely, The Netherlands and Ireland and Morocco!

And now I am a bona fide guitar and portrait street busker, of which this blog is the written proof.  Of course, I jape, but for sooth, this blog is most certainly drubbing the competition.  If anyone Googles to find the “top ten busking blogs,” this blog, PSYCHOLOGY BUSKING A LA WORDSWORDS is always atop the list! In this regard, I AM NOT A FOOL😊

*(And I shall be posthaste publishing this blog entry!)

JUST GOOGLED THIS A MOMENT AGO!