2006

When I was younger and a gigging musician, my stage attire often involved a lot of make up. On this particular night, on our way to a show, my face had been painted similarly to how Alice Cooper does his make up. I used to enjoy freaking people out a little; unless the show was happening near Halloween my appearance could be quite a shock to some folks. So it was on this night, we were stuck in traffic on Park Avenue at the intersection of Salisbury Street, and I was the passenger looking out at the people stuck in traffic going the opposite way. Several of them appeared startled when they saw me and I got a chuckle out of it. Traffic was beginning to move again, and eager to make an impression on whoever was in the next car I made sure my face was visible in the window as I leered out… The woman who looked down at my from the SUV going the other way seemed unperturbed, but also her features were not at all natural. It took a while to put it together, but her expression never changed and she looked exactly like one of the old lady cartoon characters from Gary Larson’s “The Far Side” comic strips. The exaggerated features and dead-on real life version almost seemed like it had to have been a rubber mask… no one could look like that in real life! I failed to give her a scare but she certainly left me in an odd headspace afterward. I had other things to think about, and the show went on as it always must… but I still wonder about the woman from the Far Side I saw that night.

Submitted by A.P. Strange, Liminal Ambassador