House Cleaning...sort of....

Technology has been zooming right along creating new ways to express ourselves with little smiley faces in our e-mail, short hand in texts and various new ways to get, sort and store information. I use to remember all my close friends phone numbers and would keep a little address book for business and other important information. Now everything can be contained in a pocket unit.

Between my cellphone and my computer I have the information for contacting who I need. The sad truth is I don't remember anyone's number anymore. I couldn't remember my sisters phone number to save my life. I do keep a notebook for information I may or may not use. If I find I am calling or e-mailing I add the address or number. I also go and clear out the clutter about once a year. I don't know if anyone else does this but it is becoming a tradition of sorts for me.

Start of the year I clear phone numbers out of the cell and addresses out of my e-mail account. I sort of go over things and see who is new and who is getting deleted. I hate to say that this year had more deleting than adding. Some are expected, ex-girlfriends, short term co-workers, companies I worked with for a short time. These we expect.
Then there are those we didn't expect or with we were not deleting.
This year seemed to have its more than it's share.
There are a few “friends” I am happy to delete but I have 3 that I am sad to say I am deleting because I feel I have tried to stay in touch and my effort is...well...it don't get results. This is the way things go, sad but true.

Then there are those who have pasted away. If feels strange to delete someones contact information when they have past. Sort of a final statement of loss. Of the ones that really hit me nothing hit me like the realization that I will not see Jim Cellini again. I had forgotten his e-mail address was stored on my computer.

Jim Cellini is considered to be one of the greatest street magicians of the past century, certainly of the last half of the 1900's. I had a chance to get to know him around the year 2000 when he was in New Orleans filming his DVD's about street performing. I know I wasn't his greatest friend and certainly I was not his student. At the time we became friends I was working on a very different style of magic. We did talk about performance and the nature of magic though and I did have a couple Christmas cards from him.
The last time I wrote to him via e-mail I had plans to visit Europe and wanted to go to Switzerland to see him. He told me his door would be open for me to stay with him. Last year he was going to be teaching in Cardiff Wales and I was going to try to get to the event. He had a stroke before he could go to Cardiff.
The whole magic community got together doing benefits, sending money and praying. He lived a few months but the stroke got the best of him. I think as a performer since he could no longer work he more or less gave up.
I had forgotten I had his e-mail on file.

I didn't delete it...not yet. I don't know why. I know I will but I can't do it...not today, not this week...I don't know when.

There seems to be something strange about deleting living humans and not the dead ones. Something lonely about keeping the dead contact info.

I wonder how Houdini's wife felt when she did his seance for the last time.

Maybe I want to get one last e-mail from Cellini...”Rosabelle, believe”.

Here is a video of Jim Cellini, one of the greatest magicians of our time...and a friend.