Saturday, November 9, 2013

From one snake-charming institution to another...



It’s been over two years since Nelson blew his cover at Podiatry. Two years since I’ve had a front row seat to the circus of consumerism. Two years since I played usher to the clambering crowds coming to worship at the altar of material goods. Two years since I submitted my body as a pawn to the gods of capitalism, becoming the fitting room snake charmer and luring others to bend to the gods’ wills and purchase, purchase, purchase! And oh what delights, wonders, and horrors did I discover. It is only right, then, that Nelson’s next persona be in an equal position of wooing others, of appealing to emotions, of using rhetoric to persuade the masses to join in a great and influential machine that is over and above them with a force seemingly too great to counter. Thus Nelson, no longer a Podiatrist, stripped himself of the chunky jewelry, grew out the edgy haircut, and hung up the color-blocked tees only to don the billowy, ankle-length, skin-covering sack-like garb of the righteous. Nelson Mandela is a Methodist.  

Just as Podiatry was at the same time a social experiment and a means of cash-getting, Methodism currently serves as a source of income for my household. My spouse, who will henceforth be known as Voltron, has recently wrested a Methodist church pianist position from the cold, bureaucratic, nearly-dead fingers of the pianist-finding committee. In an act of solidarity, I have agreed to not only attend this institution but lend my snake charming voice to the alto section of the church’s choir. Just as he did at Podiatry, at church, Nelson will play a part; this time, Nelson shall play the part of the devout, crafting a character with the right dress, turns of phrase, and, of course, the perfect prayerfully communing with Jesus face. 

Stay tuned to the next post for the introduction of a few of the cast members: Big Geezy and Nose Hair.

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