Of Pride and Predjudice (by guest blogger Martin Petersime)
Martin is a good friend I met in 1995 in prison when I signed up for a music theory class he taught. Martin's many talents include being a gifted pianist, composer and choral director. He and I went on to become cellmates for several years and collaborate in writing and producing a half dozen musical theatre works that were well-reviewed and seen by thousands of folks across Ohio and beyond. He remains behind bars.
Of Pride and Prejudice
by Martin Petersime
[with thanks to Bill Maher]
There I was, standing in line for breakfast — on this day it was French toast, only the guy in front of me insisted on calling it Freedom Toast because he has a thing against the French, but it's not limited to the French and includes any and everything that he doesn't consider all-American, so I asked him if he was aware that 85 percent of the French turned out to vote in their most recent national election and he countered that 85 percent of Americans probably voted for American Idol and then asked me why the French never asked their candidates where they stand on evolution, school prayer, abortion, stem cell research, or gay marriage and, in reply, I hypothesized that the French don't care about the candidates' private lives and that although Segolene Royal has four kids but never bothered to get married and Sarkosy and his wife (though married) live apart and lead separate lives, the French people are okay with it, perhaps for the same reason they're okay with nude beaches: because they are not a nation of 6-year-olds who scream and giggle if they see pee-pee parts because they have weird ideas about privacy — they think it should be private, at which point Freedom Toast dude reminded me that France has high unemployment and a nasty problem with its immigrant population, not to mention all that lousy accordion music, and I had to agree, but not without mentioning their healthcare system — arguably the best in the world — and the facts that France is not dependent on Mideast oil, it has the lowest poverty rate and the lowest income-inequality rate among industrialized nations, and it is also the greenest, with the lowest carbon dumping and the lowest electricity bill — and the French are not fat — and I was going to intone that where we have bullets, the French have bullet trains, and where they have public intellectuals, we have Dr. Phil, but just then a seat opened, so I ran to grab it before I could even point out that the French also invented sex during the day, the ménage à trois, lingerie, and (for all intents and purposes) the tongue, and that we might just learn something from them. The French Freedom Toast was cold.
To contact Martin, leave a comment below or send an e-mail to insightoutside@yahoo.com and I will happily forward your remarks to him.
I love this - sounds like a good guy to have for a cellmate!
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Thanks, Lady! He was the best.
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He is not a "Good Guy". I met him in Prison and he was always trying to extort all the younger guys. He is a Child Molester now and forever. I pray they never let him out, he has twenty counts of various sex crimes involving children... "Good Guy"
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"Always trying to extort all the younger guys"? I'm a younger guy who spent six years in prison with him. I slept in the same cell with him, ate meals with him, worked with him, wrote and performed with him, and I NEVER saw him once try to extort ANYBODY. He is as soft and harmless as a prisoner can be. I find the suggestion that he would be able to extort a fellow convict (or even attempt it) completely laughable.
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I agree with Lady.. I love this... You shared a cell with him?? How cool... you must have talked about a lot of interesting things... he sounds intelligent.
Freedom toast.... it's like freedom fries.. those didn't last long did they? Thank goodness...
The French don't sound as uptight as American's do.. for all our TV skin and sex we show.
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Thanks, Chris! I think we celled together from 1996 to 2000, before he transferred to another institution. Lots of cool conversations....
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Viva la France et Viva la Difference!
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Mais Oui! Merci beaucoup, Liz!
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This was a fantastic blog! I love the way Martin wrote it as one long uninterrupted sentence, breathlessly, as a total stream of thought... and then the coup de grace, "The French Freedom Toast was cold." Brilliant! And I was really... um, "french tickled"? lol... by his list of what the French invented, including his "(for all intents and puposes) the tongue". Thank you for the smiles! And I will certainly send you an email to forward on to Martin.
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Thanks a lot, Dianne! I appreciate it, and I'm sure he will as well.
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A few days ago I got a long letter from Martin. Rather than leave a comment here I quote his letter: "I also haven't heard anything from John in several months. I assume he's just busy, but since the cut-off was so sudden, I am worried that something may be amiss in his life. I hope not."
I was surprised to read this blog this morning and wonder sometimes why you don't get in touch with me either.
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I had sent a few things to Martin over the summer, wondered why he hadn't responded (which is unlike him), and then finally got the items I'd sent back from the prison along with a notation that Martin was no longer weher he was. Then I called the facility and found that he was indeed where he was after all - and the person I spoke with claimed the mix up was due to a mail room mistake. I have since sent more mail to him - and it hasn't come back to me - so I believe the problem is resolved now.
Just to let folks know, I generally print my blogs and send them to Martin, though I haven't sent him September's yet. Will get caught up on that soon....
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wow. great prose. america's love/hate relationship with france--so old--will outlast our shitty lust for russia and our masochistic desire for china. viva la france!
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Thanks, Zayn! I've missed you.
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Thank you for sharing this, John, and thank Martin for sharing it also! I really enjoyed reading! Caused critical thoughts for consideration. Peace,
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Thank you very much, Sharon!
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Jesus Crisis,
You truly are the hardest working Poet in show, as in show us the light, business. Not only do you carry the water for the rest of us wannabe poets, but you make the juice, as well! It seems that each page I turn in this joint totally turns my mind around. Please give my many many thanks to Martin for this beautiful work of poetry. It should be required reading...no...it should be required memorization for the population.
Many thanks my Prophet of Poetry and Madness! ~I. Cant
Peace.
Vote.
Vote Peace.
Vote Obama.
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I'm one of Martin's Cousins. I write to him a good bit but he never mentioned that he was able to blog outside of prison. Tell Him hopefully 1 more year and it will be his turn to smell the fresh air again.
Thanks
Kent
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Will do, Kent! Pleased to meet you.... I've been asking Martin to write a blog for some time, and I'm happy he finally did. I have another he sent me by snail mail (he has no internet access, as you know) that I hope to post as soon as I have time to type it into my computer. I hope to visit him soon, too - when the weather cooperates on a day I'm available.
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Glad to meet you also. It's too bad that with him working for the University and writing software for them that he couldn't get outside access but that's not the case. I was going to visit him in May when we were in Ohio but found out we did not have visitation rights. I didn't know that you had to have permission to visit and be on a list. His Mom can't visit anymore because of her health and mental state so I'm sure he gets few visitors. Anyway when the Ice and Snow go away pass on my thoughts to him.
Nice chatting with you.
Kent
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I have no friends
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