Tag Archives: artists

December 6, 2020 · 6:36 pm

Monoliths, Rapper’s Inspirations, Impersonating Imposters

For an hour tucked under the warm bedding of before get-out-of-bed time there is so much to learn. Knowledge awaits. While the daily distraction of a smartphone can hinder quietness and interpersonal relationships, it provides a multitude and myriad of sources to ingest information. There it is, on my bedside table, fully charged.

As I scroll down the morning newsfeed, one I realize has been personally created for me by an AI somewhere above the hills of California, I am invited to delve into non-fiction sci-fi, tech gift ideas, political upheaval/ridiculousness, recipes to promote healthy aging, sports articles I wish I cared about but don’t. There is so much information at my indexes available 24/7. I don’t always start my day perusing said chosen articles but on days when I don’t have to rush the morning routine, I browse as the sunlight slowly brightens through the blinds.

The first article to grab my attention is one about all the monoliths appearing around the world. Why haven’t I heard about this? I’m intrigued to find out how the monoliths got to these remote areas, what materials they’re made of, and the conspiracies surrounding them all. Turns out it may be a prank by a calculated performance artist. Or aliens.

I skip all the political articles for now because I really just need some fluff to enter my brain before coffee. So I check out the one about last night’s supposed spot-on performances by some SNL cast members impersonating the political ridiculousness. It’s amusing and relevant and I appreciate the talent. I then scroll on to digest some rather thought-provoking content.

A few weeks ago a song entered my brain, one I hadn’t listened to in probably decades. So I downloaded The Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By” into my iTunes library. I listened to that CD with my brother during various car rides and in our friend’s garage band he-shed. This morning I stumble onto an article about that very album. The band’s inspiration was part Richard Pryor and part self-reflection. Goofiness and funky beats amid the time of evolving hard-core rap. This read filled me with unexpected appreciation and some inspiring tips to relay to my son, who is deeply interested in making a living in the arts.

I give myself an hour, because I need a time limit. There are other activities and chores to do. Plus, coffee. I click off my screen and walk to the kitchen with a little more information in my brain. In olden times/when lip liner was in, I would have to purchase multiple magazines and newspapers to gather all that info (there is something about physically turning the pages and smelling the printed pulp though, right?).

So I find the fitting and the fluff, all within minutes, a hand’s reach, and before the drip and hiss of the coffee maker beckons. My brain is satiated for now.

6 Comments

Filed under Observations

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

October 8, 2016 · 8:52 am

To Create

Creators and inventors
before our time
Could they have had an inkling
of what’s to come?

To understand our future
is to know our history
That’s what I tell the children
when they sigh in boredom

All the Haikus in the world
The undiscovered
scribbled poetry
Every painting made famous
long after the painter
left this realm

Can one word
one stroke
one snapshot
one chord
change the world?

The question as ridiculous
as toy glass

But we must continue to ask it

Don’t put away the pen
The world’s heart cannot survive without
it.

leonid_pasternak

Image courtesy of waldenwritingcenter.blogspot.com

2 Comments

Filed under Sunday Night Sonnet

Tagged as , , , , ,

November 17, 2014 · 11:01 pm

Writer’s Cube

My writing muscle has kind of atrophied. Who was it that said there is no such thing as writer’s block? Was it Stephen King? Sylvia Plath? Oprah? When I first heard that I thought, “Bullshit”. But it only took me about 12 hours of off-and-on pondering to realize how freaking true it is.

It’s not that we don’t have anything to say. It’s that we have so much to say we don’t know where to begin or how to collect our thoughts. So we are incapacitated by this.

Kind of like I feel now.

I’ve had a few people encourage me to get back into writing. Because they are awesome supporters. And I have been pretty much off the grid for a while. I’ll explain the reason behind that at a later date. Maybe.

How I’ve missed typing these keys onto WordPress. But there’s so much pressure to be “perfect”. To say something that truly matters and inspires and is up to my own self-imposed standards. But what it boils down to at this point is that I just keep writing. Because when I stop it is not good.

It’s like a bubble is stuck in my throat. A block in my brain. And all I fantasize about at work is creating some form of art. I even daydream of coloring in a coloring book because at least then I would be doing something artsy. Even at the elementary level.

I even thought about writing at work. Like I used to do at every other job I ever had. Scribbled poems on the back of movie ticket paper. The outline of a story on a spare photo packet envelope. A line or two on a napkin at lunch break.

It doesn’t matter what you do for a living. The artist in you has to get out in some way or another. I remember writing poems at my very first job as a telemarketer in between cold calls. I even recited some of them to my stoned and bored coworkers. My fuzzy memory says they were impressed.

So here I am. Working out my writer’s muscle. I don’t want to block myself in. So maybe I’ll call it “writer’s cube”. Because at least then there is 3D space with which to create, fill, play.

writer's block

 

7 Comments

Filed under Observations

Tagged as , , , , , ,