The Phoenix

THE PHOENIX

Every author needs a loyal, philosophical and possibly insane colorful muse.

Let’s see, how does one describe The Phoenix?  He is a computer programmer, animal lover and Vietnam Vet (who fondly remembers the war as “relaxing”)

Although he doesn’t really care for children, he will be first in line for every Pixar movie ever made.

He has a dog he adopted from a shelter who literally ate the inside of his car.

He claims that he was taught to swim when his father threw him into a crocodile infested swamp, that he comes from a long line of people on his mother’s side who were electrocuted (not by lightning but by the guy that throws the switch in prison), and that his great grandparents were brother and sister.

He once tried to talk me into kayaking to Catalina Island.  Denied by me, he set off on his own, forgetting to look up the small craft advisory on the internet and therefore almost drowning before finally washing ashore Catalina island, where he was rescued by a group of scout troop counselors and dragged to their fire, where he dried out like the waterlogged carcass of Yedi before he was put in a wheelchair and shipped back to LA.

If there is any explanation at all for The Phoenix, it lies within his DNA.  If you will look closely, one of the beads is actually the eye of the Dramatic Chipmunk.  A small anomaly, to be sure, but it has caused a lot of trouble.