The Point
For every person in the world, words are often understood with a general meaning, but a word's true definition is left up to the interpreter. To begin with, I would like to address some personal definitions that I have, so that the entirety of this entry will be better understood.
To start with: pirate. There has been debate as of late, as to what exactly goes into making a pirate? However, to the best of my knowledge, no one has really given a definition of what exactly they feel makes a pirate. As you guys may remember, Brian gave me a (kickass) book for my birthday entitled The History of Pirates. This book has an incredible amount of information concerning pirates, but one detail seems consistent in every account of piracy and why people did it: freedom. Yes folks, for me, piracy is ultimately defined by how you view your freedom. Folks in the old days (or at least, the romantic or "true" pirates) turned to piracy because what it really meant was freedom; absolute freedom from a strict and imposing society that held you by the thumb unless you fully abided by its laws and cultures. Freedom is the ultimate definition of a pirate, and I'll tie into it later.
The second word: friend. This is not limited to just the word "friend" but also applies to friendship as well. As most of you should know about me, I value friendship more than anything else in the world (I include friendship with family). To me, a friend is someone who you trust with your entire being. In front of a friend, you're not ashamed to cry or reveal a part of yourself that you might keep hidden from others. It may be hard to do it, even in front of a close friend, but the level of discomfort is at a significantly lower level. With a friend, you don't have to worry about what they think of you behind your back, because no matter what, friendship is loyalty. Perhaps most importantly of all, a friend can tell you anything without worry, because a friend, while they may judge, will still be a friend. That being said, I hope I don't offend anyone, because I'm speaking to everyone as a friend, and from the looks of the results, everyone thinks I'm a pretty good friend, so I shouldn't (and am not) be afraid to speak my mind.
I'll start by being frank. I'm tired of this bullshit. I told Travis that I found myself feeling guilty the night after Matt made his post, because more than anything, I was wishing that I was with my friends in L.A., and wishing that you guys were more like them. You'd be amazed to see how they interact. Every time I'm down in L.A. with them, I feel genuinely loved. They hug me and smile when I arrive, and they hug me and pout when I leave. We're able to talk about our emotions, and everyone is so accepting of one another, that any problems are so insignificant that they're solved within a matter of minutes. Once, when I was down there and something particularly bad had happened due to a misunderstanding, I found myself feeling really upset and just generally sad. Everyone picked up on the feeling and do you know what they did? My friend Ben picked up his guitar and started playing "Yellow Submarine", and soon, we all started singing along and everyone just enveloped me in this huge hug. How fucking corny is that? It truly, truly warmed my heart. Every time I see them, I'm overcome with an amazing feeling of friendship, one that I sometimes feel is lacking here in Alameda, especially recently.
Like I said, I felt incredibly guilty comparing you guys to them. All of my friends mean just as much to me as all the others. However, I find it very disconcerting when you guys feud amongst yourselves. When I mentioned that Matt's post made me feel that way earlier, I'm not saying it was just Matt. It was Travis's response to Matt's post. Then it was Dante's response to his post, and after that, it was Matt's retaliation to their responses. I found the hostility honestly astonishing, and I was at a loss for words as I read what sort of things you had to say to each other. You guys are all my friends. There is no way I could ever take sides among friends in such a double-sided issue, and as a result, it always puts me in an awkward position of trying to play peacemaker. We're all friends here, and so to me, the issue should be simple to solve, but unfortunately, I understand that it's not always that easy.
First of all, to address Matt: I'm completely fine with your decision to not "pretend" you're a pirate anymore. I'm not being sarcastic; I'm simply quoting the word you used. The reason I feel it's not pretend, is because when we talk about being pirates, we're being metaphorical in the first place. It's a form of symbolism to us, one that we have a lot of fun with. Consider what I said about my personal definition of a pirate. It ultimately comes down to freedom. Now, to you, freedom as a pirate may mean being completely uncaring to the consequences of your actions, and not caring what anybody else thinks, but keep in mind that their are numerous contradictions to that within the world of pirates. After all, if pirates were completely uncalculating and didn't care at all about the consequences, how could so many have built great names for themselves? There is plenty of evidence that shows yes, pirates did think ahead, and even worry. The pirate life is a contradiction, and can only be determined as a pirate life by those who live it. After all, some pirates raped, pillaged and committed mutiny, while to other pirates, women were never to be harmed and to commit acts such as mutiny against one's captain was the worst dishonor a pirate could commit. As for the "little bitches" comment and about how we all "feel guilty for every little wrong thing we do", that seemed pretty harsh.
Getting more to the point, you seem to have based all of your perceptions on our "pirate" way on one incident, when we scared those girls on Bayfarm. I cannot speak for what was going through everyone else's mind that night, but personally, I didn't feel guilty or feel the need to apologize. As you may recall, I simply wanted to stop from further messing with them and thought we should abandon the area so as not to get caught. Think of it like this: pirates have just messed with some village people, and the marines or navy may possibly come to where the pirates are. One of the large aspects of being a pirate was avoiding unnecessary encounters with the authorities, since, remember, the whole point was to not be caught. At any rate, those are my thoughts concerning the incident and the aftermath on your part. It's not as though I will stop being your friend for simply deciding not to do something you don't feel comfortable with, but I hope you'll think about the fun it seemed like you did have being a pirate with us.
As for Dante and Travis: I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed with you guys. Insulting Matt and calling him a traitor is something I have a problem with. All he said was that he wanted to not be a pirate anymore, but by retaliating as harshly as you guys did, it only escalated. Matt's still our friend, he just doesn't want to be part of something that we have in our group. Yes I'm aware he basically insulted us and I agree that it was out of line, but that's just Matt's opinion, and there really isn't anything we can do about it. To be honest, I had a couple of dramatic thoughts in my head concerning Matt and I actually thought about beating the hell out of him and telling him that until he could beat me, he couldn't stop being a pirate (you know, something dramatic that Matt might understand). Of course, I don't know if I could actually beat Matt, and more importantly, I would never do anything like that anyway. It was just something I thought about and laughed about later. The point is, Matt's still our friend, and he still cares for us (in that sick way that only Matt can). I think that you guys take the pirate thing way too seriously if you're going to let it determine whether or not you have any respect for Matt.
We are pirates. I've already explained my definition of pirates to you guys, and I personally think we're good examples of pirates in spirit. Remember again, it all comes down to freedom. We're all genuine people who don't put up a front and pretend to be someone we're not. Despite what Matt feels, in a lot of ways we don't care what people think, and have proven so with the way we act around each other all the time. From slap-ass, to my Disneyland stories on the bleachers to scare the norms, we care little for how people view us, because at the end of the day, we know that we have a great group of friends who have a strong bond of loyalty and trust. Remember guys: pirates themselves define what it means to be a pirate. They create their own guidelines and maps by which to live by. Fighting amongst pirates (or friends if Matt prefers) is petty and has no place in our little band. As a Bleacher Boy Pirate, I like to think our foundation is one of friendship first, and loyalty until the end.
Nuff said. Arrr.
-Black Jack Kidd
To start with: pirate. There has been debate as of late, as to what exactly goes into making a pirate? However, to the best of my knowledge, no one has really given a definition of what exactly they feel makes a pirate. As you guys may remember, Brian gave me a (kickass) book for my birthday entitled The History of Pirates. This book has an incredible amount of information concerning pirates, but one detail seems consistent in every account of piracy and why people did it: freedom. Yes folks, for me, piracy is ultimately defined by how you view your freedom. Folks in the old days (or at least, the romantic or "true" pirates) turned to piracy because what it really meant was freedom; absolute freedom from a strict and imposing society that held you by the thumb unless you fully abided by its laws and cultures. Freedom is the ultimate definition of a pirate, and I'll tie into it later.
The second word: friend. This is not limited to just the word "friend" but also applies to friendship as well. As most of you should know about me, I value friendship more than anything else in the world (I include friendship with family). To me, a friend is someone who you trust with your entire being. In front of a friend, you're not ashamed to cry or reveal a part of yourself that you might keep hidden from others. It may be hard to do it, even in front of a close friend, but the level of discomfort is at a significantly lower level. With a friend, you don't have to worry about what they think of you behind your back, because no matter what, friendship is loyalty. Perhaps most importantly of all, a friend can tell you anything without worry, because a friend, while they may judge, will still be a friend. That being said, I hope I don't offend anyone, because I'm speaking to everyone as a friend, and from the looks of the results, everyone thinks I'm a pretty good friend, so I shouldn't (and am not) be afraid to speak my mind.
I'll start by being frank. I'm tired of this bullshit. I told Travis that I found myself feeling guilty the night after Matt made his post, because more than anything, I was wishing that I was with my friends in L.A., and wishing that you guys were more like them. You'd be amazed to see how they interact. Every time I'm down in L.A. with them, I feel genuinely loved. They hug me and smile when I arrive, and they hug me and pout when I leave. We're able to talk about our emotions, and everyone is so accepting of one another, that any problems are so insignificant that they're solved within a matter of minutes. Once, when I was down there and something particularly bad had happened due to a misunderstanding, I found myself feeling really upset and just generally sad. Everyone picked up on the feeling and do you know what they did? My friend Ben picked up his guitar and started playing "Yellow Submarine", and soon, we all started singing along and everyone just enveloped me in this huge hug. How fucking corny is that? It truly, truly warmed my heart. Every time I see them, I'm overcome with an amazing feeling of friendship, one that I sometimes feel is lacking here in Alameda, especially recently.
Like I said, I felt incredibly guilty comparing you guys to them. All of my friends mean just as much to me as all the others. However, I find it very disconcerting when you guys feud amongst yourselves. When I mentioned that Matt's post made me feel that way earlier, I'm not saying it was just Matt. It was Travis's response to Matt's post. Then it was Dante's response to his post, and after that, it was Matt's retaliation to their responses. I found the hostility honestly astonishing, and I was at a loss for words as I read what sort of things you had to say to each other. You guys are all my friends. There is no way I could ever take sides among friends in such a double-sided issue, and as a result, it always puts me in an awkward position of trying to play peacemaker. We're all friends here, and so to me, the issue should be simple to solve, but unfortunately, I understand that it's not always that easy.
First of all, to address Matt: I'm completely fine with your decision to not "pretend" you're a pirate anymore. I'm not being sarcastic; I'm simply quoting the word you used. The reason I feel it's not pretend, is because when we talk about being pirates, we're being metaphorical in the first place. It's a form of symbolism to us, one that we have a lot of fun with. Consider what I said about my personal definition of a pirate. It ultimately comes down to freedom. Now, to you, freedom as a pirate may mean being completely uncaring to the consequences of your actions, and not caring what anybody else thinks, but keep in mind that their are numerous contradictions to that within the world of pirates. After all, if pirates were completely uncalculating and didn't care at all about the consequences, how could so many have built great names for themselves? There is plenty of evidence that shows yes, pirates did think ahead, and even worry. The pirate life is a contradiction, and can only be determined as a pirate life by those who live it. After all, some pirates raped, pillaged and committed mutiny, while to other pirates, women were never to be harmed and to commit acts such as mutiny against one's captain was the worst dishonor a pirate could commit. As for the "little bitches" comment and about how we all "feel guilty for every little wrong thing we do", that seemed pretty harsh.
Getting more to the point, you seem to have based all of your perceptions on our "pirate" way on one incident, when we scared those girls on Bayfarm. I cannot speak for what was going through everyone else's mind that night, but personally, I didn't feel guilty or feel the need to apologize. As you may recall, I simply wanted to stop from further messing with them and thought we should abandon the area so as not to get caught. Think of it like this: pirates have just messed with some village people, and the marines or navy may possibly come to where the pirates are. One of the large aspects of being a pirate was avoiding unnecessary encounters with the authorities, since, remember, the whole point was to not be caught. At any rate, those are my thoughts concerning the incident and the aftermath on your part. It's not as though I will stop being your friend for simply deciding not to do something you don't feel comfortable with, but I hope you'll think about the fun it seemed like you did have being a pirate with us.
As for Dante and Travis: I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed with you guys. Insulting Matt and calling him a traitor is something I have a problem with. All he said was that he wanted to not be a pirate anymore, but by retaliating as harshly as you guys did, it only escalated. Matt's still our friend, he just doesn't want to be part of something that we have in our group. Yes I'm aware he basically insulted us and I agree that it was out of line, but that's just Matt's opinion, and there really isn't anything we can do about it. To be honest, I had a couple of dramatic thoughts in my head concerning Matt and I actually thought about beating the hell out of him and telling him that until he could beat me, he couldn't stop being a pirate (you know, something dramatic that Matt might understand). Of course, I don't know if I could actually beat Matt, and more importantly, I would never do anything like that anyway. It was just something I thought about and laughed about later. The point is, Matt's still our friend, and he still cares for us (in that sick way that only Matt can). I think that you guys take the pirate thing way too seriously if you're going to let it determine whether or not you have any respect for Matt.
We are pirates. I've already explained my definition of pirates to you guys, and I personally think we're good examples of pirates in spirit. Remember again, it all comes down to freedom. We're all genuine people who don't put up a front and pretend to be someone we're not. Despite what Matt feels, in a lot of ways we don't care what people think, and have proven so with the way we act around each other all the time. From slap-ass, to my Disneyland stories on the bleachers to scare the norms, we care little for how people view us, because at the end of the day, we know that we have a great group of friends who have a strong bond of loyalty and trust. Remember guys: pirates themselves define what it means to be a pirate. They create their own guidelines and maps by which to live by. Fighting amongst pirates (or friends if Matt prefers) is petty and has no place in our little band. As a Bleacher Boy Pirate, I like to think our foundation is one of friendship first, and loyalty until the end.
Nuff said. Arrr.
-Black Jack Kidd
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