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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Man on the Moon...

Have you ever heard that song by R.E.M., “If you believe they put a man on the moon, man on the moon?”  There are actual individuals roaming this Earth who believe that the man on the moon stunt was a camera trick.

I don’t know about all that but like in the Cold War wasn’t Russia bluffing about stuff? And did I ever tell you about the man I met on a train once?

OK so I was like twenty-two and had just graduated from University of Michigan undergrad with an English Degree. I decided to spontaneously move to Washington D.C. for the hell of it.

So I first visited a friend in North Carolina and then took a train to D.C. While on the train I met a man who claimed he was in the CIA. I was interested. So I let him come and sit next to me.

I was such an idiot. He told me things like the president knows about aliens and travesties that are so bad that he didn’t have the proper authority to tell me, but I might like kill myself if I found out. It was one of those, I could tell you but then I’d have to shoot you.

He didn’t have any identification. Of course I didn’t even ask for any. I was just enthralled with his epic stories. He should have been a fiction writer.

I can’t remember what else he told me, it was a long time ago. The point is I believed him and after I told the story to a few friends and my boyfriend at the time, I realized he was pathological liar.

But you see I have this fascination with strangers. I don’t know if the man was ill or just having a good time. It doesn’t matter to me; I think it is fascinating that people will tell stories to complete strangers.

Like this one guy told me, when I was in Ann Arbor at U of M that he saw the angel Mary. I asked him what she looked like. “She was about your height.”

Now I know what you are thinking. These people are mentally ill. But what if this guy saw an angel, what if there is such a thing as angels?

I know, I know, I live in an imaginary world most of the time. My good friend is the one who named it Ninaland. I space out, I day dream.

But if you tell me something, I might just believe you. Your deepest and weirdest experience, your stupid thoughts. I’m interested.

I don’t even know you.

Call me gullible or stupid or naïve, but I will listen to you.

I wanted to be a therapist when I was a kid. But really it’s the story I’m interested in. I’m a writer and I love stories. I can’t help anyone. But I can write a good story.

There are people who think the Holocaust is just a story. I’m sure that years from now there will be those who think that a small tragedy like 911 was just a bunch of stories.

But we have footage now, from the news, on YouTube. Our stories have facts and legitimacy and no one can tell us we are lying. Except like the moon, they may, in the future, say it was movie, all staged.

If you believe they put a man on the moon, than come with me, I have some more stories to tell you.

nina

1 comment:

  1. nina,

    i am amazed at people who doubt the holocaust.

    i guess these people running around with numbers tattoed on their arms is just part of the big fantasy. (to get attention).

    truth is stranger than fiction.

    i do have a story. when we went down to mexico where we used in live (over the pres weekend) we learned that one of our friend's sons was dead. he had been kidnapped. and the family recieved 3 fingers that were cut off.

    not really sure if it was a daily thing or all at once. they got him back. he had gotten some kind of a staph infection and died.

    when we lived there, he was also taken, but they got him back, fingers and all.

    so now when we go there, we do not tell anyone we are coming. we just pop up. and when people ask us how long we will be there and where we are staying, etc... i am vague. or i lie.

    i tell them we are on our way to airport as soon as we are done visiting them. when we really have 4 days to go or more.

    i trust our friends, i do not trust our friend's families and friends.

    that is my story.

    brings up another thought. is it ever okay to lie. YES.

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