Writer, musician, wizardly guide to platform independence
“A honey bee flew into the house. My dad let it roam the halls, following along, watching as it flitted through sunlit rooms and played among the curtains, before finally slipping out through the front door. He insisted that it was you, visiting, telling us you were okay, that you had moved on. Hello and goodbye.”
From “the saturdays we have left,” by e.
When it’d get “too quiet” during the week I used to default to “oh no, what’d I miss? What’d I forget?! WHEN IS THE OTHER SHOE GONNA DROP!?”
Then a wise friend suggested, “maybe it’s so quite because you remembered everything.”
This is from Tom Bedor, about programming and code, but like most solid nuggets of wisdom, this is universal:
If you are requesting human attention, demonstrate human effort.
You want people to buy your album? Sign up for your class? come to your event?
If you are requestion human attention, demonstrate human effort. WOW.
As a young punk rock kids we made zines and stared music blogs (instead of complaining that the major music outlets wouldn’t cover our bands), booked our own shows (when “real” venues wouldn’t book us), and released our own music (when labels wouldn’t give us the time of day).
What’s better “marketing” than this? Screaming fans, tender moments, so many smiles – who wouldn’t want to be on that train ride, you know?
And the fun part is this; you don’t need to be as big as Hayley Williams to live this. To be this. Today, make your magic, put it into the world. Big, small, doesn’t matter, it all counts.
Doing my best to get back to walking 10 miles a day. Time on the road, looking at the clouds, it helps me deal with the loss of my cat. For seven years I revolved my life around being home at 4pm to feed that little bugger, and usually it was around 2pm that the screaming and yelling would begin, when Blue would awake and start demanding to be fed.
Tonight it’s chilly. A rainy, cold night. The college kids are notably absent, too, so it’s quieter than normal. We would have settled in nicely this evening. Maybe made some tea, which he’d always sniff and recoil from the smell. Then he’s burrow between my legs and sleep like it was his job.
So seven years of that… of a familiar presence when I was home, going about my day. I didn’t realize at the time how much that little buddy felt like home.
From Raj Kaur, “Blue is immortalised in my sketchbook, from a session with wonderful Beth Spencer.”
I submitted a photograph as source material for Beth’s online drawing session, and this is from Raj’s sketchbook. I took the file and sent it to a local printer, and they made me a nice print.
I miss my buddy.
Blue returned to the cosmos today. I miss you so much, buddy.
Tonight, a friend walked me around their space, showing me the works of art left to her. A precious, sweet remembrance of a dear friend.
Tomorrow, I drive to upstate New York to visit an aunt in the hospital. She’s not an artist by definition, but she made people laugh and smile. What else is art but joy?
Remember the laughter, the smiles, the experences along the way. Celebrate the sunset, the dinner together, the conversations that flow like music into the evening.
People want proof because they don’t want risk.
When I dare suggest that maybe we can exist without social media, or musicians can take their music off streaming platforms, I basically hear this: “give me 25 examples of people doing it that are successful.”
As in, prove that other people have done it and maybe I’ll entertain the idea.
And really, eh, I’m not trying to convince anyone. If you wanna use something, use it. I ain’t your dad.
But if using a particular product or service pains you, if it’s triggering, it’s harmful to your mental health, or your sobriety, ummm… yeah, I think it’s okay to entertain the idea of not using that particular product.
If you’re a recovering addict, it’s okay if you don’t wanna play in bars.
Hell, if you just hate the bar scene, I’d say it’s okay to not play in bars.
Going first, without evidence, is hard. Which is maybe why so few do it.