Virtual Memories Show 569:
Silence
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“This story involves a mild concussion, and starts with an altered state of consciousness, but everything I’m telling you happened, even the neighbor and the waitress. At least, it’s how I remember it.”
No interview this time! Instead, our host, Gil Roth, closes out the year with the story of a week of transformations! This one’s got a Yom Kippur fast gone trippy, and a bathroom-door-induced concussion, a lightning-bolt realization about grief and mourning, a secret mission at a comics festival in Ohio, the Book of Life & the books of the dying, a pharma conference, Tom The Emotional Support Dancing Bug, crying eyes and deaf ears and a mess of signs & portents, plus a dwarf, a salamander, David Koechner and a lot more. But seriously, it’s about coming to terms with the loss of a dear friend, and what it means to know you’re not alone, so give it a listen.
JULY 27, 2024 UPDATE: Rebecca Damsen listened to the episode and made the following public comment on Instagram: “FTR CXC2020 was not cancelled, it was professionally produced online and included tributes to Tom. I didnt upgrade your room, I got you in the room block. And, most importantly (to me) I didnt “move on.” No one “moves on” from something like that, it is always carried. We adapt. It’s always there, just because it isnt on display doesnt mean it disappeared. Having a new partner does not dissolve the trauma. CXC is a terrific citywide celebration of comics and animation, which continues to grow in wonderful ways, and we often ask ourselves WWTD?”
“I realized with absolute clarity that I had never come to terms with Tom’s sudden death. I’d never really mourned him, and I needed to do something about it.”
“My anxiety leads to overplanning and micromanaging, not dropping everything and hopping a flight when I’ve got a conference looming. Not flying into the unknown.”
“He said a reason for the fasting was because angels neither eat nor drink, and by emulating them for a day, we can get closer to God. And maybe they don’t experience time the way we do, and I was getting a little closer to that through this.”
Enjoy the story-hour! Then check out the archives for more great episodes!
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Credits: This episode’s music is Fella by Hal Mayforth, used with permission from the artist. The monologue was recorded at Chez Virtual Memories on a Heil PR-40 Dynamic Studio Recording Microphone feeding into a Zoom PodTrak P4. All processing and editing done in Adobe Audition CC. Photos of Auguste Preault’s Silence, myself, and the late Tom Spurgeon’s house by me. It’s on my instagram.