"I sometimes wonder if I could live more or less perpetually 'on the road,' given a plausible excuse. I'm leaning toward 'yes.'"
- Mac Tonnies, via PHB post 8/29/08
Mac Tonnies had a strange attraction to this particular Kerouacian theme: life "on the road". And when it wasn't dogging his waking state, he would have recurring dreams about trains and being on trains with uncertain destinations. He once mentioned to me that one of the things that drew him to obscure and "ascetic" symbols and/or handwriting were the chalk marks - hobo glyphs - that those "on the road" left for other travelers as references, suggestions and/or warnings.
Mac loved "Beat". It resonated with him, haunted his fiction, and peered out of his Posthuman Blues posts as well.
And this is how I like to remember Mac... on the road, wandering somewhere out there under the stars, or, in Kerouac's words:
"And for just a moment I had reached the point of ecstasy that I always wanted to reach, which was the complete step across chronological time into timeless shadows, and wonderment in the bleakness of the mortal realm, and the sensation of death kicking at my heels to move on, with a phantom dogging its own heels, and myself hurrying to a plank where all the angels dove off and flew into the holy void of uncreated emptiness, the potent and inconceivable radiancies shining in bright Mind Essence, innumerable lotus-lands falling open in the magic mothswarm of heaven."
- Jack Kerouac, excerpt from On the Road (1951)
***
Note: Post-Mac Blues is now going into sleep-mode.
Rest assured, if there is any Mac-related news, I shall dutifully post it here. If I should start another (unrelated) blog, or a more formal Mac-Tonnies-Central site should arise, I'll post links. But, for the most part, this blog is now predominately archival.
Interestingly enough, November marks the time of the Celtic New Year. And it kind of feels that way for me. So, Happy New Year to you... and thanks for accompanying me on this journey! My special thanks to all those who have contributed to PMB in any way, shape or form. May Amaterasu shine on you! Till next time...
Peace Out,
Dia
Happy New Year to you...and we'll just consider this a breathing stop..a hiatus...because the road always wanders on.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's like any creative project, Bob... the magic moment comes and you know your work is, for the most part, done...
ReplyDeleteTiming is everything. :-)
D
Arrividerci, baby...Thanks for the memories and your blog about Mac.
ReplyDeleteI've followed your posts over the past year with interest and fondness for your efforts in his memory.
Bye-bye, cheerio, good day, sayonara, goodbye, so long, adieu, ciao, adios, farewell, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, and may Mac "requiescat in pace."
I think you're right about timing, and that this is the right time to close or put this blog to rest, at least, since it's just over a year now since his tragic passing, and perhaps it's time to let him go, to wander and wonder endlessly among the infinity of stars...and for you to also move forward and into your next phase of life's adventures...
Thanks again, for doing this, and I understand, due to the impact on you of Mac's being suddenly gone late last year, that this was part of an unfolding process of heartfelt tribute and understanding, or coming to terms.
We will all still miss and fondly reminisce about him, at times, but it does feel like some kind of end point has been reached, and as life is for the living, to take one more step beyond, as the road still beckons to those who wish to travel it, pausing occasionally at the curious roadside attractions, as long as life and will allows.
And so, bye, for now. Please post a note here, with reference to Mac, if you ever restart a website or blog to display your fantastic artworks (as I use a Google alert in Mac's name, so that whenever he's mentioned online, I'm notified to check it out).
R.I.P., Mac.
--S. 8^}
Thanks for your input, Steve.
ReplyDeleteCreating Post-Mac Blues was an almost alchemical process. Ultimately, however, I felt the blog did come full circle in some odd way and any further posting would've been redundant. Meanwhile, the "philosopher's stone" is there for those who need to find it.
I feel there ought to be a formal website dedicated to Mac's work, though, but I won't be the one to establish it. I will, however, note when and if I start an art-related blog.
There may yet be some more (marginal) activity on the blog at some point this year... so, I guess it's not over till it's over!
Best,
D