This morning, about half an hour before my usual waking time, I was dreaming about my visiting, with my sister, an extremely tiny bar somewhere in the boundary between rural North Carolina and nowhere at all. The one remarkable thing about the bar was a small musical stage--room onstage perhaps for a drum kit and two standing people, maximum, and space before it for maybe as many as 20 chairs, or 40 SRO. She was unimpressed, and I did my best to defend the virtues of the performers I had seen there, who were mostly unremarkable except for my friend "Pete Thompson", whose career had never really materialized but who wrote a few good songs for other area bands.*
I woke up suddenly from the dream, knowing that was the wrong name, and tortured that I couldn't remember the actual one. Fortunately, here in the future, I have access to things like The Comics Journal Index online. A quick search for the review that Peter had written of Miracleman #15 and I found him.
I'm digging through his journal, backwards, now, but I was gratified to discover that he was instantly recognizable from the very first posts--how many Peter Cashwells could there be who would remember Alan Moore's plagiarized Lafferty story and have fond memories of seeing English Beat in Memorial Hall at UNC-Chapel Hill? I am also filled with happiness knowing that he and Kelly are still married and, judging from the photos and the journal, happy--it seems like every time I catch up with an old friend, their marriage has ended and it's always nice to see counterexamples.
So, if you don't know him, or if you knew him long ago and wondered--go visit Peter's site. It's warm and smart and funny, very much like the Peter in my memories of twenty years past.
*The main text of this post is a slightly edited version of the e-mail I just sent to Peter. However, on re-reading, I just recognized that in the dream I was holding a 45 of "Is This It?", by Chapel Hill singer/songwriter Matt Barrett. I was gratified a few months ago to have found Barrett's web site as well; although I still had my copy of "Is This It?", I'd waited 20 years to hear "Niko Leaves Tonight" again.
Mainly, I love living in the future. It keeps the past alive.
I woke up suddenly from the dream, knowing that was the wrong name, and tortured that I couldn't remember the actual one. Fortunately, here in the future, I have access to things like The Comics Journal Index online. A quick search for the review that Peter had written of Miracleman #15 and I found him.
I'm digging through his journal, backwards, now, but I was gratified to discover that he was instantly recognizable from the very first posts--how many Peter Cashwells could there be who would remember Alan Moore's plagiarized Lafferty story and have fond memories of seeing English Beat in Memorial Hall at UNC-Chapel Hill? I am also filled with happiness knowing that he and Kelly are still married and, judging from the photos and the journal, happy--it seems like every time I catch up with an old friend, their marriage has ended and it's always nice to see counterexamples.
So, if you don't know him, or if you knew him long ago and wondered--go visit Peter's site. It's warm and smart and funny, very much like the Peter in my memories of twenty years past.
*The main text of this post is a slightly edited version of the e-mail I just sent to Peter. However, on re-reading, I just recognized that in the dream I was holding a 45 of "Is This It?", by Chapel Hill singer/songwriter Matt Barrett. I was gratified a few months ago to have found Barrett's web site as well; although I still had my copy of "Is This It?", I'd waited 20 years to hear "Niko Leaves Tonight" again.
Mainly, I love living in the future. It keeps the past alive.