Arlo Gust

(Read: ~8 minutes) Hello and welcome. There are still a few stragglers finding their seats, but let’s go ahead and get started on time. I must say that this lovely theater in downtown Charlottesville is the perfect place to talk about La Bohème. Audiences here have seen an astounding variety… Read more: 1. Ted

(Read: ~7 minutes) Most memories fall into a massive black hole of forgotten, devoured, crushed. But not all. For a many of us, life’s worst moments still fester and turn pungent. The stink sticking to us. But also, some good ones hang on to existence, spinning out of reach of… Read more: 2. Memories

(Read: ~9 minutes) La Bohème talked now and then about the sadness of being studied. The feeling began in childhood, when people poked, prodded, examined her to figure out the cause of her strange memories, and followed her into adulthood, when plenty of people still wanted to poke, prod, test,… Read more: 3. Deviance

(Read: ~7 minutes) Back in the late 1930s, a Swiss chemist named Hoffman synthesized a drug called lysergic acid diethylamide-25 from a fungus naturally found on damp grains. Based on the trends of the previous twenty-four versions of his experiment, he hoped the compound might finally form the basis for… Read more: 4. Gaston Billingsgate

(Read: ~8 minutes) There’s a song played every once in a while on country music stations heralding the coming together of two people with little to offer except themselves. The singer declares their bond in a Kris Kristofferson-like tune with a Janice Joplin drawl. I woke up this morning, with… Read more: 5. Connie Nelson

(Read: ~13 minutes) In the 1960s, the inventor of the photocopier wrote UVA a check to fund the creation of DOPS. He and the university showed guts in the face of criticism and scrutiny to study what they call memory of reincarnation type, the metaphysical equivalent of making copies. Plenty… Read more: 6. Impressions

(Read: ~10 minutes) In the months following their visit to the museum, Gaston made a weekly trip to study Rosa in Norfolk. He maintained his belief that magnificent minds created past life experiences; intentionally or not, human intellect generated psychic phenomena. At the same time, he noted and wondered at… Read more: 7. Interlock

(Read: ~6 minutes) Connie bought and renovated a craftsman style bungalow near the hospital and Gaston moved in with her. She vacated the apartment in the first building she bought and was glad to rent the space to Letitia once she learned of Gaston’s interest in Rosa’s abilities. The building… Read more: 8. Madam Rouge del Rey

(Read: ~11 minutes) Rosa turned thirteen in the middle of seventh grade. A few days later, flopping wet snowflakes fell from the sky and public schools stayed closed. The university shuttered too so Letitia got the day off along with Rosa. Out on the street, only a few necessary or… Read more: 9. Snow Day

(Read: ~16 minutes) When Dr. Gaston Billingsgate first started studying Rosa at DOPS, he followed a predetermined regimen of testing and evaluation under close supervision by his superiors. The tests and their applications varied, aiming for unpredictability, but all were structured to determine the accuracy of claims made by the… Read more: 10. Tricks of the Trade

(Read: ~10 minutes) Connie Nelson frequently found herself in the right place at the right time. One day, while checking maintenance work at her apartment building, she saw the elderly owner of the strip mall across the street in the parking lot and waved to him. He waved back and… Read more: 11. Open Mic

(Read: ~10 minutes) The root of attraction between La Bohème and Jason Clementine fascinates lovers of romance, who speculate the pair’s connection stretches backwards and forwards through time, appearing and disappearing from otherwise temporary perspectives. If you’re inclined to look for a pragmatic reason, La Bohème found Clem compelling, frequently… Read more: 12. Clem

(Read: ~11 minutes) A few days after the interview, La Bohème and Clem kicked off the coolest indie festival the city of Charlottesville had ever seen right in the parking lot of the ugly strip mall. As home to a large state university, the city has experience managing large crowds… Read more: 13. Festival

(Read: ~10 minutes) Letitia Bix believed she witnessed a miracle, watching the scene at the festival unfold below. Peering from Rosa’s bedroom through the pouring rain, she cried out in horror when the supports of the giant tent began to wobble and the heavy canvas roof rippled violently. The structure… Read more: 14. Letitia Bix

(Read: ~9 minutes) Connie hosted a reception in Letitia’s honor at Mulligan’s after the ceremony, which the whole neighborhood seemingly attended, including plenty who skipped the church service. The bar took on a festive atmosphere, and for several hours La Bohème greeted and talked with well-wishers with fond memories of… Read more: 15. Dolphin Floats

(Read: ~9 minutes) Different spies in the US government continued to keep an eye on Dr. Gaston after the Drug Enforcement Agency gave up. The freedom of information portal run by the Central Intelligence Agency provides the proof in thousands of documents made public by court orders over the years.… Read more: 16. Bohemia

(Read: ~12 minutes) Any conversation about Bohemia invariably leads to Wildberry, the popular lead singer of the Dewberrys, an act discovered at the first open mic night hosted by La Bohème and represented thereafter by Connie Nelson, who, working through various partnerships formed with La Bohème, develops, distributes and promotes… Read more: 17. Dewberrys

(Read: ~10 minutes) The exterior of the apartment building stayed unchanged during the period of explosive growth around the rest of Bohemia. But on the inside, Connie began to adapt the space to the needs of the growing circle around La Bohème, including reinstating the communal aspect of an old… Read more: 18. Sex Drugs Rock and Roll

(Read: ~9 minutes) Preparing to call the number La Bohème put on her note, I thought back to the crypto conference, Sunny Wang and his enthusiasm for BohoCoin, Bohemia’s proposed cryptocurrency. Sunny set off my bullshit meter the first time by claiming enough people already vowed to buy the strip… Read more: 19. Sunny

(Read: ~12 minutes) Following Sunny inside the glass portico sticking out from the side of the building, the enticing smell from the kitchen made my stomach growl. He opened another glass door and we stepped inside the main dining space. Everyone ate and chatted happily. Sunny gauged my expression. “See,… Read more: 20. Shredgate

(Read: ~11 minutes) My next stop was the apartment building, of course. Sunny didn’t mind changing his plans, if he made any. He kept his schedule open to accommodate the whims of La Bohème and Connie, rolling with whatever the bosses threw at him. The reasons La Bohème chose Connie… Read more: 21. Wildberry

(Read ~6 minutes) Snapping out of the acid trip, shivering at the foot of a bed in a dimly lit room, naked, except for my socks, I lifted my head and saw Wildberry and the friend cuddled under a blanket at the head of the bed. A bubbling lava lamp… Read more: 22. Fortune Cookie

(Read: ~9 minutes) My future became entangled with the legacy of La Bohème when she invited me to Charlottesville to become her messenger and why she appeared to me after her murder in Wildberry’s bathroom. Of course, plenty of people say I’m a compulsive liar and claim everything I’ve said… Read more: 23. Preface

A cult of personality forms around a clairvoyant and her past life memories. “In the province of the mind, what is believed to be true is true or becomes true, within limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the province of… Read more: About Dolphins on Acid