Mr. Roarke or Khan

Ah kids! Their scope is so limited when they are young.  They remember things they see only in the context in which they see them.  For instance, Eddie Murphy is the voice of Donkey in the Shrek movies and my kids know the voice.  They have also seen the decidedly not British Dr. Doolittle character that he revived for a new generation. 

 

Me, I will always think fondly of the myriad of characters he brought to life in Coming to America from the Prince to the barber, to Sexual Chocolate's lead singer. I try hard to forget his role as a vampire, as I am sure he does.

 

All that is so far from his roles as Gumby, Buckwheat, and Mr. Robinson (who had a neighborhood) on Saturday Night Live. 

Though later in his career if but slightly, who can forget the leather jumpsuits from the Delirious and Raw albums. I wonder if tries to forget them too?

 

I often wonder how people will remember me? My mom told me just a day or so ago that she finds it amazing that I love to write, since my grade school, middle school and high school days were filled with less than stellar writing. Am I that young man who had no voice or the Master Mynd who writes for fun and manages to drag a handful of people along with him?

When I was younger and ads featuring the voice and occasionally the likeness of Ricardo Montalban would come on ("rich Corinthian leather" yeah it was all biblical like that, cause "rich Thessalonian leather" just doesn't have that umph.) Anyway, there were people who grew up in my generation who would say "look it's Mr. Roarke" and inevitably one or two kids would assert "look it's The Wrath of Kahn!" (Wrath O. Kahn would just be wicked cool on a business card (Note: his name was actually Khan Noonien Singh))

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How will I be judged? Guy who tried hard to blow 12th grade and high school in general? Or guy who got 4.0 throughout college?

There was the guy who was so insecure in a first relationship that it clouded everything about that relationship.  How about guy who was super confident in the next relationship and that clouded the whole relationship? Will it just be guy married for 19 years?

I hope I can be viewed on my "life's work." Give me my immaturity like early Eddie with a healthy dose of family man like Dr. Doolittle.  Give me some raging impetuousness like Khan while later the dapper Mr. Roarke who is a bit controlling, but tries to make peoples' dreams come true.

Minus the red leather jumpsuit, of course...