I never thought that this day would come. I thought that the truth could stay hidden, and that I could continue to be safely anonymous.
Now, circumstances are forcing me to admit to the world the truth of what and who I truly am.
Here in the United States, people like me have been relatively hidden. A few have braved the prevailing social climate and come out; some have been successful, and even accepted.
Now, I realize that it's time for me to take this step, to tell the world about myself and the small minority that I am from.
It's time for one of the last, and most misunderstood minorities, to come out.
We have hidden the reality of our being for too long; we have hidden our roots, our origins, our real names, for years, if not centuries; but this time, so fraught with manifold perils and possibilities, demands that we make ourselves known.
The world, beset with so-called leaders who are obviously unequal to the task at hand, needs real leaders, those of us who are truly qualified.
So We come out, to extend a helping hand to a world clearly in need of our help.
We are Giovanni Montino Lancelotto Xxxxxxxxx Guidobaldo Rolando Bourbon Del Monte di Santa Maria, Prince of San Faustino, Marchese Bourbon Del Monte Santa Maria, OTF (Other Titles Follow). You can check our pedigree in the "Libro d'Oro della Nobiltà Italiana", the book published in Italy that shows all the (Mostly legitimate) noble families of Italy. We hid one of Our names because We like to use it as a password.
Don’t think that this revelation comes easy; When I (I'll dispense with the 'We'; besides living and going to school in the USA, a stint in the U.S. Army '63-'66 pretty much nailed down my ordinaryness. Is that a word?) arrived in the United States in 1950 I quickly learned that Americans (as we like to call ourselves) don’t take kindly to titles and such, and I paid for my good name with blood (From my nose, mostly) until I learned to hide my true origins, my roots, my essence, as it were. The United States seems to publicly follow the rule of the ‘common man’, while in reality an aristocracy of sorts rules, not always well or nobly.
So... titles. Americans, despite their professed love for the 'common man', love the title of ‘Prince’; it’s got a ring that seems to mean something to the U.S. psyche. In actuality, the other, supposedly lesser title is better, because titles, like certain wines, get better as they get older. The ‘Prince’ title is a papal title, given by the pope about six generations ago, at the instigation of my great-great-great-grandfather, Prince Massimo, because his daughter Alessandra, distraught at having fallen in love with a mere Marchese, begged her father to intercede for her to his old friend Pope Pius IX to give my ancestor the title of "Principe di San Faustino", whereas the ‘Marchese’ title is really old, between 600 and 1000 years. The ‘first ancestor’, supposedly, was a lesser cousin of Charlemagne, Xxxxxxxxx, (Yep, he's the one whose name I like to use as a password) who was given a sort of certificate called a ‘mark’ (From which the term ‘marchese’, also known as a marquis) that gave him a fief in Italy, an excellent fief with good farm country and some excellent fortresses, including Monte Santa Maria Tiberina, a 90-acre mesa with springs that is accessible only one way; over a narrow neck of land that is easily defensible.
Of course, as history books say, parchments such as ‘marks’ were flying around like butterflies in those days; but there is no question that our family is old. One of our mottoes under our coat of arms says "Cunctando restituit’ which means that patience pays off; that was the motto of Fabius Verrucosus Cunctator, the general that ended up driving Hannibal out of Italy by being patient (‘cunctando') and never offering pitched battle, but constantly harassing him and preventing his foraging parties from re-supplying his army. That strategy was called ‘Fabian tactics’ after Fabius, whom we count as one of our ancestors. Of course we also lay claim to being descended from Julius you-know-who, and therefore from the Gods themselves; and the corollary to that is that J. Caesar would have to have had thousands of children to have so many people claiming descent from him in Italy. What the heck, it’s a great story, and as hard to disprove as the basis for religion. In fact, it's probably based on more fact than religion is. Hell, we INVENTED religion, along with our prelate subjects, as a tool for control of the masses. It's so much easier to wield imaginary weapons; they cost less and usually work just as well as physical ones. or at least they did in the past. Well, there's still people, even here in the USA, that run spiritual scams with pretty good results. There's also real spirituality, which I totally respect. More on that later.
Why, might you ask, am I choosing to Come Out at this time? it's like this. A few years ago, I came upon DKOS and recognized a resource, a place filled with spirit, with humor, with snark, with many qualities that I liked.
I became a member, under the name of 'princembm'; but after a while, during a particularly intense time, I decided to change my name to Mr Horrible. I chose this name for several reasons:
A- When you're Mr Horrible, you can't go anywhere but up.
B- I like to say things that are uncomfortable for many people to hear, and so... I'm Horrible.
C- My friend's cat, who ruled the neighborhood, was called... you guessed it... Mr Horrible.
D- This name was the antithesis of nobility. And at the time, I was indulging myself in keeping my noble origins hidden.
Now, I somewhat regret the change. My UID gained a few digits, not really that many. And I'm not really THAT horrible.
I'll continue with this story if enough people are interested.
Oh, and I'm totally Pro-Peace. If you read some of my other diaries, you'll see how and why.
More later.
Sincerely,
His Extreme, Supreme, and Monotreme Highness,
Mr Horrible.