Ahoy, There!

Did I mention that I'm a pirate? Yeah, I've been a pirate for two years or so. I've always been fascinated by them. I became one the other year when CYT did Treasure Island. I tend to take part of the characters I play with me after the show is over. I'm one of the the two girls in there. The rest of them are my henchmen. That was my all time favorite show to be in. It was not one of CYTs better productions but we had so much fun that I think it made up for it. Our director was always telling us little factoids about sailing and pirates. I was lucky enough to have the best of all worlds because I was double cast. I got to be a main comic character and then the next night I would switch parts with another girl and play a pirate for the first few scenes and then a loyal english sailor for the rest of the show. As a pirate I got to murder some one, (my good friend Jared) and wear cool cloths and have henchmen. Being a sailor was awesome cause it's just nice to be a good guy cause you win, even if you die doing it like my character did. The other sailors were really fun to hang out with. On stage there were all sorts of subplots happening behind the main action that the audience probably didn't pick up on. There was a rivalry between the captains sailors in our blue and white stripes and those unruly fellows in all manner of colors who turned out to be pirates. Us sailors started out being very civil but they were always pulling pranks on us like sloshing buckets over us while we were trying to swab the deck. Then it was war. Good times.

But that ended. The pirate-ness came home with me and infected my younger sister. Now I am the boatswain on a small but sturdy craft. The captain is fierce and fearless. We're not a particularly successful but we have so much fun together that none of us would dream of giving it up no matter what bride or black-mail we are offered.

Pirates are source of endless entertainment for a theater kid with a camera and some imagination.

Pirates are infinitely cool for many reasons. (The greatest of these being their incredible fashion independence.) I am as much fascinated by the history as the reputation and images they have accumulated through popular culture. I would love to read trials of some of the famous pirates. I read a children's book about female pirates that had a bunch of legends and tall tales. It was great fun. There was an old viking legend that had me glued to the book just because it was so odd. Normal women simple do not become pirates and then accept their arch enemy's proposal of marriage. I mean, the guy slaughtered her crew, then fell to one knee on the bloody deck of her ship and asked her to marry him. And she accepted!! It made my 'Wow list'. But I liked it. If you try to fill in motives and things to these stories you get some really interesting characters. Then there was a story about woman in colonial america who dressed as a man to rescue her husband from prison. I Really liked that story but when I researched it I could not find out if it was fact or fiction. Not that is matters so much. A good story is a good story but it was frustrating that I could not find any more details than the kids book gave. Jean Laffite and John Paul Jones are my favorite historical pirates. Well, I guess Jones wasn't really a pirate but he had that under dog tenacity.
I've always wanted to write a pirate story. With all the bells and whistles; plank walking, buried treasure. It would be really fun. Now, if only I can think of a plot. I have several character sketches and beginnings but no point, no conflict. I'll get to it some day.
Why am I writing all this? No particular reason. It's in my head right now and I am having fun putting pictures in my blog. I have allot of pirate pictures.