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April 12, 2006
Evil Kangaroos: The Story of Deanna Dahlsad
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
Kat asked me to write another profile of a Dream Team member -- and
this time the member is me. Lucky for me, not only am I one of my
favorite subjects, but I am very knowledgable in this area. And so I
give you, "The Story of Me, Deanna Dahlsad, As It Pertains to Kat
Caverly and No Evil Productions."
Do you remember when Donny Osmond sang this?
"When you were born a gypsy said that you
Would be the last of the red hot lovers
The last one of our time."
Well, if a gypsy spoke at my birth, her prediction would likely
have been that I was a red hot communicator.
Exhibit A: When I was a young woman, a psychic told me that one of my
gifts was communication and that my future was in communication. She
also told me that I would move west, which, in moving from Wisconsin to
North Dakota, I have since done. This is all the proof I need of her
predictions and psychic abilities -- or at least all the proof that I am
willing to share with you today. However, if you don't believe in
psychics, let me tell you a story of youthful indiscretion (yes, even
more of an indiscretion than paying to see a psychic).
One night in my early 20's (which is when one ought to make their
youthful indiscretions rather than hear "you're old enough to know
better"), I was out with friends partying heavily. Since this was the
mid-eighties, and video games were all the rage, I happened to be
standing near the coin operated Kangaroo game by Atari. Under the influence,
I was convinced the marquee kangaroo was out to get me. I logically knew this
was impossible. But over-served, I swore the cartoon kangaroo
was not only evil but fully capable of doing me harm. I could have
screamed. Or ducked from the punches I saw. But instead, I turned
calmly towards my group of friends, and asked them to confirm that the
only kangaroo in the bar was indeed the one-dimensional-lighted-game-marquee,
and that therefore I need not do anything other than ignore it. Favorable replies
not only confirmed that my logical brain was 'right', but soothed me. It was
proof that I was not alone with my kangaroo demons. And this taught me
that if I could communicate, if I could be understood and also understand
replies, nothing bad could really happen.
I learned that communication is proof that you are not alone.
That's pretty powerful stuff. I became a true believer in the power of
communication. I even received one of my degrees in Professional
Communications from Alverno College. But more than this, I became
committed to a philosophy of "I communicate, therefore I am."
So, when Kat and I, two active, enthusiastic communicators, met on a
website forum years ago, we hit it off immediately. Early on, Kat
declared her intentions for me to work for her, but my other commitments
at that time made that impossible. Time passed, and life took me on
another path, including away from the internet for a period of time.
When I returned to writing on the internet, in May of 2005, Kat quickly
rediscovered me -- and like Columbus, she quickly declared me as her own.
Making use of my love of and need for 'talking' she put me to work on
this blog. Here I put into text form what the other creative folks have
already expressed in visual and audio form. In other words, I am a
translator of sorts, helping Google and therefore you, the reader, find
what Kat Caverly and No Evil Productions has created. Along with
writing sentiments, this work allows me to celebrate, preach and embrace
the virtues of human expression.
Kat has promised (threatened?) that I will one day be required to work
on other writing needs for No Evil Productions. This is both intriguing
and terrifying. I'd like to consult that psychic or a gypsy about
this. Or perhaps have a drink to calm my nerves -- heck, I'd settle for
a pep-talk from the animated (yet potentially evil) Atari kangaroo!
But if that day arrives, and I am asked to collaborate more with the
other creative communicators on the team, I'll just turn calmly to them
and discuss my anxieties. I'm sure I'll find that my fears of such
projects are as founded as my fears of that punching kangaroo.
Posted by photocartoonist at April 12, 2006 10:38 PM