Strip your mind naked, pilgrim.

HELL YEA ACT II!! It's already been broughten!! Yea, I went there, I'm a dork like that...love me, not your idea of me ;) I will cherish this experience always!! Act II is when things get heavy, when it starts to feel real. This is where the youth learns the lessons he will take with him beyond his youth. He will take with him...."what's inside is just a lie" and "only love is real". He will create his true self. The key to "the real" will finally be in his hands. What will he do with it? Is it a master key? Act II helps complete established lessons. Brings about "real" lessons. Tests if he's ready.

Berlin...that's where we are for pretty much all of Act II. The setting is a complete shift from the setting of Act I. Amsterdam spring sunshine, L.A. the sun shines every day of the year. Berlin was ugly, cold, and cracked...the snow was all about. Although the weather was waaaaay nicer in the first act, the bleak weather in the second act is more fitting. the more concrete the "real" becomes...the bleaker things become. Makes sense after all. The real is not all happy, happy, joy, joy....sometimes it's damp and dark and cold. Sometimes it's an ugly truth. Things have got to be bad from time to time in order to recognize what makes you feel good. Like the youth says during "Stoned" in Act I...."It's like I can't get too comfortable. Otherwise I'll forget all the shit there is to complain about." "It's hard to write songs when your already in paradise". "Paradise is a bore." He realized that world was not his 'paradise' after all. Goodbye sex, drugs, and rock & roll!! That truly was a ton of fun. Indeed there will still be sex, there will still be drugs, there will still be rock and roll. But, it'll become more like...Making love, experimental escapes via drugs, and performance art. Sure, that doesn't have the same ring to it, but it's as real as ever!!

He continued on his journey to find "the real". Berlin: A black hole with Taxis. Berlin: A forest of sharp corners. Berlin: Swallowed if harmful. It was two miles from right, it was always all night. As soon as he hits the scene he's hit in the face with a RIOT!! Oh "May Day"!! I just love it!! I get so AMP. I don't know what it is about this song...well, I guess I do. I love that it sounds and feels like 90's house music!! It is the reason "Du Hast" is on my 'Passing Strange' play list. It sets the scene and introduces some wild characters. Individuals. Hugo, bitter music critic. Sudabey, post-modern pornographer and social critic. Mr. Venus, a. performance. artist. And Desi, the den mother and social engineer. This is the Nowhaus gang. Desi is the founder. "We wish to create an anti-bourgeois living community, that stands in opposition to capitalist society". Heavy huh? Waaaaaaay heavier than "We just had sex." Nowhaus was not looking for "the real", and they wouldn't hesitate to let Mr. youth know. They will all force valuable lessons upon him. Listening is waiting, he will take from it, what he will.

The youth has been on his own for quite some time now. Having a blast, creating, experimenting, destroying. He has matured a bit. He is developing a better understanding of "the real". He's still as selfish as ever. Has he learned any lessons? A while back he discovered his love of music. That love still reigns supreme. He's been writing songs. It is not until he is introduced to performance art that he learns...."the only way to become your true self, is to create your true self." He is born again here in Berlin. His chains have been broken. He is head strong. He goes full-force. He will conform to no one. He is more hurtful than ever.

I love Act II. A lot of things come back around full circle. Much how life is...every 7 years some say. That sort of fits here as well...the youth was about 14-15 when he first discovered himself as an artist to this point in the story, when he's about 22....hmmmm...STRANGE!! He gets struck with another musical revelation, no where near a church this time around. Thanks to Mr. Venus he's developed from cheesy pop song maker to a twisted poet. Edwina's jaw would hit the floor if she saw how much he "blackened up" for "the black one". If she could see just how much soul he put in his stroll, she. would. drop. dead. But, it's phony now just like it would have been phony then. He gets a first time high once again, but this time it's a heavier drug...take a guess at what it might be....if u guessed COKE...ding! ding! ding! Bring on the revelations and epiphanies! The Scaryotypes...pssssshhh...he doesn't need a band this time around, no sirree, he has created Mr. Middle Passage! Fuck that fishbowl, he has a stage. In Act I, you heard the Mom pour her heart out. You listened to her beg the youth to make room for her in his life. The youth asked "why do I have to change?" In Act II, another woman who loves him asks him to "come down now." "Remove your mask." His ultimate response..."it's not love if somebody has to change." He didn't see the point of love without understanding then, and he still does not to this day. Some things change, some things remain the same.


I will have to dedicate an entire blog to the triangle between the Mom, the Youth, and Desi. The relationship between them is like somebody ripped the pages out of the book of my life. My Mom has felt that way, because of me. I as a young person have been this selfish. I as a lover have felt this way on both ends...why should I have to change and my love is more real than all your dreams...ask me. I could go on and on but that would defeat the purpose of blogging about this later. LOL. I want to HUG STEW!! He can't possibly know how much this piece of work has touched my heart. How thankful I am to get to express the way I've felt, in ways that I couldn't imagine!! It's as if he's taken my life's journal, read it, deciphered the parts I left out, spied on me and my future self, figured out what kind of music I liked and made a play to tell me everything I need to know. WOW!! Are you really a magician Stew, because that will make me a bit hesitant to hug you....just sayin!! I probs still would though because I know full well, you have used your magic for good!! By creating this masterpiece Stew has painted pictures of my life and has given me the opportunity to express it in a way I love so much performance art. A story of an artist, written by an artist, performed by artists. Exquisite, like an orgasm in reverse.