You trickster in my house Creeping in the side door Stirring up my doubts So sings my brother Pat Wictor in his original song “Mr. Blues.” Pat sings about the Trickster from the viewpoint of someone currently experiencing fear, sorrow, and confusion. Well, some of us DESERVE TO FEEL FEAR, SORROW, AND CONFUSION. I now…
A post for my brother Pat
October 16, 2015
My brother Pat Wictor is a folksinger. Yesterday he called from the road in New York, and we had a two-hour conversation about our father Edward, who died on February 23, 2013. Ed was a mystery to us. He was the most secretive person I’ve ever known. In fact he scared me my whole life…
Fire burns, but…
December 13, 2014
Last night I had a dream that was brought on by hate mail. It was a very unpleasant dream, but it led me to finally understand why I’ve been so doggedly building up the planet’s largest collection of World War I flamethrower photos. Hate mail caused the dream, the dream made me go through my…
A first for me
May 20, 2014
I HATE commercials. The main reason is the music and the actors. Since I don’t watch TV, I see commercials only on the Internet. They drive me crazy. For whatever reason advertising companies use ukulele music or jinga-jinga-jinga acoustic guitar music or tinkly piano kindergarten music or smarmy Wal-Mart slop. And the actors are always…
Wictors and airplanes don’t mix
April 23, 2014
I don’t know why, but Wictors and airplanes don’t mix. Chapter Three of Hallucinabulia: the Dream Diary of an Unintended Solitarian is devoted to my experiences with the Old Hag and my nightmares of being in airplane crashes. Dad hated flying as much as I do. It’s my final unconquerable fear. Though I’m not afraid…
Hurricane House, the Tin Man, and free e-books.
April 19, 2014
During our time in Venezuela, we spent three summers on Sanibel Island, Florida, in a little resort called Hurricane House. As best as Tim and I can remember, the years were 1969, 1970, and 1971. Tim took these photos in 1970; our brother Paul shot the picture of Tim. It was on one of these…
Never heard of this instrument
March 20, 2014
I began playing the bass at eighteen. When I was thirty, I became a music journalist, a job I held for ten years. My brother Pat Wictor is a professional folk singer. From 2002 until 2012 I didn’t listen to music because it was too painful, representing the loss of all that I loved. Still,…
Put the pie back
March 11, 2014
When we’ve settled Mom and Dad’s estates and sold the three houses and their contents, Tim and I plan on moving to Austin, Texas. We’re a bit nervous about it. From 1972 to 1975, we lived in Tyler, Texas. It wasn’t very fun. We were aliens from Venezuela, and this was a different era. But…
Thirty-three years and counting
December 27, 2013
My friend Joe Cady dropped in for a visit today. In Ghosts and Ballyhoo, he’s The Punk Who Set Me on My Course (pages 17 to 20). Unfortunately, I’d set my camera to take time exposures or something, so all the images of Joe in Tim’s house came out blurry and yellow. Here’s the best…
We’re seeing them for the first time
November 1, 2013
These photos? We’re seeing them for the first time. You and me both. Mom had thousands of images, but we didn’t talk much about them. Mom’s guiding principle with her children was to not “regiment.” This was a reaction to her own upbringing. Unfortunately, Mom felt that telling us things about herself and her family…