All the World's a Stage

I’m just endlessly curious about the folks who’ve entered and exited my life. The folks who had some sort of an effect, left an impression -- good, bad or a little of each.

This is like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern or Antoinette Cosway/Bertha Mason or Grendel even. Right? Sort of. It’s interesting, satisfying on some amusing, existential level to hear/read how the minor but key players' or even just walk-ons' stories turned out.

Every now and then a name will randomly and unbidden float into my brain. Sometimes there’s no appellation -- just an image, a soft focus memory of a circumstance. I’ll torture my tiny bean until there’s a name to go with the face or flash of recollection.

I am, by the by, spectacularly wretched with the sobriquet-age. Yup, big time suck-age here. Possibly Google was invented for us of the Forgetful Tribe.

The name Dave Flippo wafted into my head the other day. My fuzzy memory, from way back when we were both freshman music majors at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, was that the boy had viciously stellar, mad piano chops. He was just ALL that and he, supposedly, knew it too. AOK by me -- he had the mesmerizing, knock out levels of talent to justify a King Kong sized ego if he chose to rock it.

A ton of fellow music major dudes were just all mega jealous, resentful and intimidated by the Flippo package.

Me? I was in awe.

Naturally, I had to google the man. Awesomely, he’s made a life of music. So many never continue with the art they studied, whether that’s visual, theatrical or music. What was once an all-consuming passion withers and fades when up against the harsh old rent payment needs and getting the kiddles kitted out with braces and math tutors.

Dave Flippo’s band is FlippoMusic and here’s a YouTube clip of a recent composition.
GodDAMN I wish I could hear it, hear him play (Why can't I? Deaf here. 'member?). If you’re in the Chicago area DO check him out!

 Another player, with an only slightly larger than walk-on part from music major days, was a fellow by the name of Rodney Van Valkenberg. At least, I believe that’s how his name was spelled. He was a theater major and, best I can recall, a ham. Nice guy but not destined to be a Daniel Day-Lewis, an Alan Rickman or the next Peter O’Toole. More of a William Shatner possibly.

In any case, upon employing my prodigious Google fu, all I came up with was a fellow in Chattanooga. He’s around the same age, in theater (in a backstage mover/shaker type role) but there’s no mention of him ever having lived or gone to school outside of Tennessee. The pic surely COULD be him but honestly, I just don’t see even a shred of the beautifully beaky nosed, handsome blond boy who I very briefly dated lo these 35 years ago.

He dumped me for a friend of mine, a fellow flute major in fact. Ignominiously, he made HER tell me -- had HER break up with me for him. Truly, I was more sad over losing her friendship than his (friendships don’t withstand this sort of thing at 18 years of age or so I understood). The only other bit I heard of him was that, within of year of hooking up with this friend, he decided he fancied men instead and she got her walking papers (possibly given to her by his new beau).

We can only hope Maturity jumped him in broad daylight and slapped him silly with the gifts of empathy and courage.

I’m curious, always and endlessly curious.