scorpio | kanzen sakura

By the time we got home from Woodstock……Thank you all for showing up for the 11/16 Birthday party. Please don’t swim in the nishikigoi pond. Thank you. and still watch out for the brown acid.

Happy birthday to my dear ones: to you who have gone one ahead, to those in Virginia, Durham, Hakone, Israel, Knightsbridge, Noo Yawk City, and N’awlins. May the year ahead be good to you: “we few, we happy few”. I raise my can of Coke to you in salute and wish I could give you all a big birthday hug and kiss.

Songs today reminding me of you and the years keep weaving through my head and heart: a tapestry of light, shadows, tears, laughter, faith, redemption, wildness and peace, but especially of love. I hear “Seven Bridges Road”, “Born to Run”, “Disco Inferno”, “Also Sprach Zarathustra” Handel’s Water Music, “Jolie Blonde”, …but especially I hear Seven Bridges Road.

I remember the night we introduced that song to Masashi and how it captured him. He sat at the piano and the five of us present wove that song for it seems like forever: alto recorder, violin, guitar, tenor sax, voices. We wove it until the stars went to sleep and the last note quivered in dying silver.

No, this is not one of those Sherlock Holmes type stories. I began thinking about the oddity of this a few days ago and so I compiled information about this group. The Society consists of nine people, one of whom is deceased (William V, father of William VI). All of us were born on November 16. All of these people are dear to me – a couple is related to me, the rest are trusted, loved, and respected friends. This is one of those posts that will seem odd to some people, boring to others, and to others, they would just wonder why. Read some of Cristiano Michal’s posts and you may understand. The 11/16 Society would make a good book.

Supposedly, persons born under the sign of the Scorpion are passionate, moody, spiritual, intelligent, and a bit twisted. I don’t believe in astrology, but I do have to say, this group is pretty true to what astrologers say. As far as passionate, we seem to mainly be passionate about life callings, our religious beliefs, and only two of us were passionate about each.

With that being said, here are some factoids:

All of us have dark hair and dark eyes – except for Cousin Billy (William VI). He has reddish blonde hair and blue eyes.

Four of us are Southern, two are Irish, two are Asian (Japanese and Cambodian). One is a Yankee – Cousin Billy was born in the south but moved to Jersey.

All of us are musically talented; either instrumentally and/or vocally and/or rhythmically (dance), and/or composing. Except for Cousin Billy – he has two left feet, can’t carry a tune in a bucket, and has the rhythmic ability of an earthworm.

All of us are involved in one way or another in medicine or engineering – except for Cousin Billy; he is a comic book artist.

All of us are wicked smart and our humor ranges from desert dry to slapstick, and not always the same for the same person.

Four of us are Buddhist; four were born and raised in the Church of the Nazarene (3 still active). Cousin Billy is Catholic.

Four are vegetarian; five are omnivores with two being especially fond of fried chicken.

All of us are male except for one. No, not Cousin Billy – me.

We were all born between 5:00 and 8:00 am, but different years. We range in age from 63 – 32.

None of us have any children, except for……Cousin Billy.

Four have ties to Duke University. One has ties to M.I.T. and two to Oxford. One hopes to have ties to Duke.

We all root for the Duke Basketball team – the unofficial slogan is: We’re Duke. We’re hated. We don’t care.

Five of us have clocked in over the years, 300 Bruce Springsteen concerts – some separately, some with each other or in a mix of the group.

We all prefer to go on vacations that seem to consist of good food, a good measure of solitude, interesting things to look at and learn, and lots and lots of sleep. Cousin Billy always adds a roller coaster or two on his. We did that wooden monster on Coney Island when we were 10. Not since have I been on a roller coaster.

Five of us are insomniacs.

Between us, we have lived in 32 different cities and traveled to all 50 states, and parts of the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. Three have gone surfing in Australia.

We all are interested and enjoy all things Japanese: samurai, feudal period, language, food, culture, humor, cinema, we seem to agree one of our favorite pieces of art is The Great Wave ofKanagawa by Hokusai…except for the Japanese. He fell in love with the South and immersed himself in its history, culture, food, and humor. In fact, in spite of his accented and perfect English, he could do a spot on North Carolina drawl that if your eyes were closed, you would be shocked and amazed when you opened your eyes. Before he returned to Japan, he learned how to make fried chicken, potato salad, and banana pudding that were acceptable by any church dinner standards.

We all agree that I am the best cook in the group.

Five of us are Star Trek/Star Wars/comics/science fiction/fantasy/science geeks. Five of us watch Big Bang Theory, get all the jokes and laugh ourselves breathless. Age of the geek, baby!

So. There are more similarities in this group, but I figure by now you all are bored. Let me say however, IMHO, we are the most amazing, talented, funny, intelligent, intense, sexy, and interesting Society in the world. This Society has been in existense, without a break since 1949 – with different members being born into the Society in different years.