RAY CABARGA
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Uh... about theArtist
On April 28th 1959, Ray Cabarga, starting life at age 0, felt
from day one that he’d been had. Even leaving the hospital
in his mothers arms on this bright sunny afternoon, it seemed
she was trying to pull the wool over his eyes. But he wasn’t
born yesterday, not yet anyway, and by day two it was clear
that Ray was a victim of circumcision. Yet, somehow despite
his mother and the odds against him being stacked, Ray
Cabarga survived and would go on to play a major role in his
life. Albeit a role in which many feel he was miscast.
As a child, Ray’s fertile mind was neutered by formal
education. Academic subjects in elementary school were so
elementary they seemed academic to this precocious 7 year
old for whom kindergarten presented less of a challenge
each year. His report cards reflected good marks for “use of
scissors” and “eagerness to share” but oddly when he tried
combining his skills and ran across the room to share his
scissors with a classmate, he was reprimanded.
Apparently advancing too quickly, Ray often grew impatient
waiting for the other children to learn curricular activities
he had already mastered, such as 'milk and cookies' and 'nap-
time.' His passion for art was squelched and his best work
destroyed weekly by a philistine bathroom janitor. After
school, Ray would often walk in the park to avoid home life
which was no walk in the park. His filthy gerbil-infested room
was almost uninhabitrailable but at least it provided some
sanctuary from parents who interrogated him incessantly,
“Finished your dinner Ray?” “How was school today Ray?” “Do
you need any laundry done Ray?” He surmised that they were
keeping a file on him for some evil plot and that they had
been searching his room while he was at school as he would
often come home to find his linens somehow changed, dirty
underwear mysteriously missing, even his trash was regularly
confiscated and probably analyzed forensically.
Brought up feeling let down by those who raised him lowered
his self-esteem. He tried reaching for the stars but his father
would always say, “The sky’s the limit son.” When he asked
his mother, “Mom, do you love me?” she said, “I can’t
possibly love you any more son.” Devastated, he sought
guidance from the man upstairs and Jesus, was that ever a
disappointment. He then turned to Buddhism. Spending ten
years living in total seclusion in the mountains of Tibet as a
Llama, studying, meditating, soul searching, enduring great
hardships to become a master and teach the ancient wisdom
to hundreds of young disciples, however, was just not in the
cards for him. Later in life he would receive a masters degree
in sociology and economics, and a Ph.D. in physics, writing
several books on those subjects, winning him the Nobel
Prize, or so he thought. But none of that would happen
either. Predictably, his life took an unexpected turn in
another direction and after winning his bout with drugs and
alcohol, he now embraces them as an important part of his
daily routine and the primary inspiration for his work.
On April 28th 1959, Ray Cabarga, starting life at age 0, felt
from day one that he’d been had. Even leaving the hospital
in his mothers arms on this bright sunny afternoon, it seemed
she was trying to pull the wool over his eyes. But he wasn’t
born yesterday, not yet anyway, and by day two it was clear
that Ray was a victim of circumcision. Yet, somehow despite
his mother and the odds against him being stacked, Ray
Cabarga survived and would go on to play a major role in his
life. Albeit a role in which many feel he was miscast.
As a child, Ray’s fertile mind was neutered by formal
education. Academic subjects in elementary school were so
elementary they seemed academic to this precocious 7 year
old for whom kindergarten presented less of a challenge
each year. His report cards reflected good marks for “use of
scissors” and “eagerness to share” but oddly when he tried
combining his skills and ran across the room to share his
scissors with a classmate, he was reprimanded.
Apparently advancing too quickly, Ray often grew impatient
waiting for the other children to learn curricular activities
he had already mastered, such as 'milk and cookies' and 'nap-
time.' His passion for art was squelched and his best work
destroyed weekly by a philistine bathroom janitor. After
school, Ray would often walk in the park to avoid home life
which was no walk in the park. His filthy gerbil-infested room
was almost uninhabitrailable but at least it provided some
sanctuary from parents who interrogated him incessantly,
“Finished your dinner Ray?” “How was school today Ray?” “Do
you need any laundry done Ray?” He surmised that they were
keeping a file on him for some evil plot and that they had
been searching his room while he was at school as he would
often come home to find his linens somehow changed, dirty
underwear mysteriously missing, even his trash was regularly
confiscated and probably analyzed forensically.
Brought up feeling let down by those who raised him lowered
his self-esteem. He tried reaching for the stars but his father
would always say, “The sky’s the limit son.” When he asked
his mother, “Mom, do you love me?” she said, “I can’t
possibly love you any more son.” Devastated, he sought
guidance from the man upstairs and Jesus, was that ever a
disappointment. He then turned to Buddhism. Spending ten
years living in total seclusion in the mountains of Tibet as a
Llama, studying, meditating, soul searching, enduring great
hardships to become a master and teach the ancient wisdom
to hundreds of young disciples, however, was just not in the
cards for him. Later in life he would receive a masters degree
in sociology and economics, and a Ph.D. in physics, writing
several books on those subjects, winning him the Nobel
Prize, or so he thought. But none of that would happen
either. Predictably, his life took an unexpected turn in
another direction and after winning his bout with drugs and
alcohol, he now embraces them as an important part of his
daily routine and the primary inspiration for his work.