I’ve been writing all week for my Memoir Class. Got the short end of the stick and am one of four student’s who has to present 15 pages by Tuesday.
This week’s assignment is to write the story of your life in 400 words or less. The instructor chose the back cover from Jimmy Buffett’s book A Pirate Looks at 50 as an example
I haven’t gotten to it yet, I’m too busy traveling back in time to reconstruct my road trip from New York to San Francisco 46 years ago.
Here’s Jimmy’s story:
"I broke out of the grip of Catholicism and made it through adolescence without killing myself in a car. I flunked out of college. I learned to play the guitar, lived on the beach, lived in the French Quarter, finally got laid, and didn't go to Vietnam. I got back into school, started a band, got a job on Bourbon Street, graduated from college, flunked my draft physical, broke up my band, and went out on the road solo. I signed a record deal, got married, moved to Nashville, had my guitars stolen, bought a Mercedes, worked at Billboard magazine, put out my first album, went broke, met Jerry Jeff Walker, wrecked the Mercedes, got divorced, and moved to Key West. I sang and worked on a fishing boat, went totally crazy, did a lot of dope, met the right girl, made another record, had a hit, bought a boat, and sailed away to the Caribbean.
I started another band, worked the road, had my second and last hit, bought a house in Aspen, started spending summers in New England, got married, broke my leg three times in one year, had a baby girl, made more records, bought a bigger boat, and sailed away to St. Barts.
I got separated from the right girl, sold the boat, sold the house in Aspen, moved back to Key West, worked the road, and made more records. I rented an apartment in Paris, went to Brazil for Carnival, learned to fly, went into therapy, quit doing dope, bought my first seaplane, flew all over the Caribbean, almost got a second divorce, moved to Malibu for more therapy, and got back with the right girl.
I worked the road, moved back to Nashville, took off in an F-14 from an aircraft carrier, bought a summer home on Long Island, had another baby girl. I found the perfect seaplane and moved back to Florida. Cameron Marley joined me in the house of women. I built a home on Long Island, crashed the perfect seaplane in Nantucket, lived through it thanks to Navy training, tried to slow down a little, woke up one morning and I was looking at fifty, trying to figure out what comes next."
Now I’m not asking everyone to write 400-word comments but I thought it might be an interesting experiment if we picked out a few of the most memorable times in our lives.
Here are a few highlights from my life as an inspiration.
I grew up in an extended Irish Catholic family in New York. I left New York to live in California. I started a small community newspaper. I worked as a journalist both online and in print. I married and had a daughter. I was diagnosed with MDD. I became a vegetarian. I divorced and left Bolinas. I returned to school for a Masters. I moved to Sausalito. I started volunteering for Barack Obama’s campaign and was one of the first people to start up his office in Oakland, CA. I started studying Yoga. My father died. My only child moved to Nicaragua. I formed a small environmental nonprofit. Things were great for two years, until we were unsuccessful in finding funding and had to close up shop. My daughter moved back from Nicaragua and for the first time since she was 18 lives close by. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. Nothing seems appealing yet. I joined an online dating site for seniors. I am volunteering with our town’s Disaster Preparedness committee. I still practice Yoga and have gone on two yoga retreats: One to Morocco, the other to Umbria.
Now it’s your turn if you choose to accept the dare …
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