Is Connecting The Dots Like Nap Time?

If You Just Let Me Survive This Black-Out, Oh Lord, I Promise To Never Again Shout Profanities At My Dishwasher
Having just experienced a harrowing two-hour black-out, it has come to me that the unexpected can occur at any time, even unexpectedly. It is true the black-out occurred before it got dark outside, but an intelligent mind instantly sees numerous possible scenarios, in fact, this is precisely the sort of thing for which we intelligent people have been known to receive criticism. Yet can we really close our eyes to the possibility that the lights would never come back on again, ever? That for the rest of our lives the people living in my apartment building might be cursed to live without electricity? What a nightmare - but the lights have returned, and I see now, it's time to get my affairs in order before it's too late. I've even started up a brand new pot of Marley Coffee (unbelievable coffee) - should the black-out be planning a return visit with us, at least I can get in a pot of coffee between crises.

One Person's Secret Word Is Another Person's Magic Word
So here's the thing I should pass along ASAP so as to avoid any risk of a particular possible secret dying with me: I may have had a hand in Paul Reubens adopting the name of one of his characters, Pee Wee Herman, as his official showbiz identity (I refer to his official showbiz identity prior to that incident when he, well, apparently, had his hand in something):

1. Paul Reubens, Tim Burton and myself all attended CalArts at the same time during the '70s, and knew many of the same people there. For a while I was friendly with a girl at CalArts who later worked for Tim Burton on "Beetlejuice", and who was hanging around at CalArts with Paul Reubens at one point. It is a matter of record that Paul Reubens' big movie, "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," was directed by Tim Burton, though I was surprised when Burton stated in an interview that they first met when that movie was being put together, which would put it at a point in time after they attended CalArts. And no mention was made by Burton that they had even both attended the same school.

2. A few years after graduation, in 1980, I sent to a (different) former friend, who was also a friend of Paul Reubens', my short story, "Sigmund Freud's Favorite Patient" (a key part to be excerpted momentarily). This former friend was later an influence on Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" (as was I). His influence was the part when they're all hunting for the mayor, Jack, by shouting his name over and over. Back at CalArts in the '70s, this person had enjoyed poking fun at the friends of someone we knew named Jack, mimicking them by calling Jack over and over. The similarity to fellow CalArts alum Burton's film's characters and their manner of shouting "Jack! Jaaa-aaack!" would be unmistakable to you if you had been there.

3. In 1982, Paul Reubens, who had not yet made Pee Wee Herman his official showbiz identity, was in a scene in a movie, "Pandemonium," with Tom Smothers, which I will be excerpting momentarily in a videoclip. This scene has something very much in common with the one I will momentarily be excerpting from my Freud short story.

4. In 1987 I copyrighted my Freud story with the U.S. Library of Congress, as part of a self-printed collection of my stories, "Inventing Air". I had previously self-printed it in 1982 as a story in my semi-novel, "The Coin That Came In Second" ("Coin" later to become a section within "Inventing Air"), and prior to that, in January 1981, I self-printed the story (slightly different draft) in "Mysteries of the Cosmic Boot." I posted "The Coin That Came In Second" at Archive.Org in June 2007.

5. In 1999 Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder were in a movie entitled, "Girl Interrupted." This movie title was quite similar to the title of another story from my "Coin That Came In Second" (only 10 pages away from the Freud short story): "Man Without Interruption". One of Winona Ryder's earliest starring roles in a movie was in Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice".

6. The name most frequently associated with Johnny Depp, throughout the world, is: Tim Burton. This is because Depp has worked with Burton in so many of Burton's movies.

7. In 2010, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp were in a scene in the movie, "The Tourist," that has something very much in common with the previously referred-to scenes in my Freud short story and in the Paul Reubens movie. To be excerpted in a videoclip momentarily.

8. In general, I have often been an influence (occasionally a significant influence) on the work of Tim Burton, and have also found myself to be an influence on the work of Johnny Depp, with my Depp influence not being limited to Burton films.

9. Videoclip, including the aforementioned scene from "The Tourist" and the aforementioned scene from "Pandemonium":



10. The aforementioned scene from my short story, "Sigmund Freud's Favorite Patient":

“I see, said Sigmund. “I see, I see… your name’s wrong.”

“It is not! My parents gave me that!”

“Of course, but what I mean is, well, let me put it plainly. You must change your name. Change it at once, I tell you!” said Sigmund.

Egbert slowly unclenched his fists. “How about if I change it to, oh, what do you say to Jimmy Mocassin?”

11. Though one may often enough come upon scenes where people decide to change their name, one would have far more difficulty locating scenes that share the more specific similarity to which I refer. For in these three instances, the humor derives from the idea that the subject should be so over-willing to suddenly make a change to his name, simply because it should be the just-stated wish of the person they are with. And I would further be making the point that it should be looked upon as significant that these three remarkably similar instances should directly regard Reubens, Depp and myself.