Hey folks, this is your old pal, Richard F. Yates, figuring I should take a moment to do some RE-EVALUATION of this whole situation, now that it’s suddenly become July. (I have a horrible sense of time. It seems to me like it was just Halloween or Christmas or something. I don’t have the internal sense that other folks seem to have which give them the ability to gage how much time has passed---I can only judge how long something has been based on the dates I write in my notebooks! It’s one of the reasons that I KEEP a notebook---because my memory is so flawed and awful.)
Anyway, there have been a TON of changes in my life in the last year: I quit my full time job at the printshop (which was physically demanding and way too low paying), I worked for a while at a Halloween shop (which was fun), took a vacation to California and visited a few theme parks, discovered STEEM and the Steemit community, did the Christmas thing (which I love, even though I am an atheist---I enjoy the TOTALITY of the holiday: songs, clothing, decorations, rituals, pageantry, parades, lights, cookies, presents, getting together with the fam, and all that jazz---I wish we had a TOTAL TRANSFORMATION of our living conditions EVERY MONTH…), I started a new delivery job (which is fewer hours per week, giving me more time to work on writing and art, but which pays pretty good when you factor in the tips), CLOSED DOWN my long-term website (which I’d devoted over six year to and where I and a few co-conspirators managed to accumulate over SEVEN THOUSAND POSTS!), I became a GRANDPA, and I’ve TRIED LIKE THE DICKENS to spend more time in the real world with my family (although, even with this effort, I could stand to get more exercise…)
It’s been a whack-a-doo of a year…
So where do we go from here? I’m still reading books and writing reviews, and that seems to be my most popular content by a VAST MARGIN, especially on the Steemit site! (I can’t believe how well some of those reviews have gone over!) I’m still creating new physical art AND printing off a bunch of my digital artwork, both so that I can archive it, in case the internet fails or the sites that I post the artwork to die, and so that I can SELL some stuff! I’ve been shocked at how well the artwork I and my family have made has sold when we do our little “Front Yard Art Sales!” It probably has something to do with the “face-to-face” factor. People like to MEET the artists and hear the stories of how things were created. It makes the “products” more personal and interesting---compared to just being one of the millions of other P.O.D. images or whatever that are all over the internet.
I’m also going to try to do more “personal blog” style writing AND fiction / poetry / creative writing. I know that I’m a hack artist---I’m untrained, sloppy, and uncommercial (in a WAY this is by design… It’s the aesthetic I’m going for)---but I’m a skilled writer and editor. I’ve been writing for decades, I’ve taken tons of creative writing classes, worked as a T.A. for writing classes, TAUGHT several writing workshops, and I worked for nearly a decade (between the three colleges that I worked for) as a writing tutor / editor. My true strength is in my WORDS---even if I LOVE my bad art…
Speaking of bad art, here is my newest piece of RARE DIGITAL, CRYPTO-ART, which has been tokenized by the folks at MakersPlace (utilizing the Ethereum blockchain). This piece is available as a unique, digital asset in a single edition of ONE, and it’s first come, first served! Go to my MakersPlace store to have a look at this little monster and all of my other punky-junky-Dada-zinester inspired crypto-bits! (Meanwhile, I've included the blurb that I wrote for MakersPlace, which tells a bit of the tale surrounding this particular cyclops monster.)
“The Monster Faced the Possibility of Obsolescence”
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The human race has come a long way since branching off from the furry rodents that skittered across forest floors, hiding in nooks and crannies and holes in trees or in caves. They developed cooking techniques, domesticated animals, learned to farm, created writing and art, and invented TALENT SHOWS. With the creation of the first arcade style video games, humanity reached its zenith, and further evolution seemed unlikely and INDEED, unnecessary!
Monsters, who had ruled the world before the rise of the hairless apes, faded into forests and underground caves and closets and into the imaginations of certain, lucky individuals---who understood the value of fangs and claws and growling and frightening folks who required a good bit of horror...
And even the mighty Cyclops, once a paragon of monstrosity, whose legendary strength and ferocity inspired a chapter in a Homeric poem, was left wondering, "Are we obsolete? Have humans become so monstrous in-and-of themselves, that we're no longer needed???"
Beowulf and the Dragon came to a similar conclusion as, mortally wounded, they confided their mutual respect for each other and died...
Perhaps all isn't lost, though, as human de-volution has begun to accelerate! Perhaps the monsters will get their day in the moonlight, once again, in some future age... They can wait. They've got time...
For now, monsters are out of style---as humans are too busy terrorizing each other to bother with shadows in hallways or howling calls from the moors or claws tapping on windows. Humans are the monsters now---or, more likely, FOR NOW... But, thankfully, it's tough to keep a good monster down...
Here’s some XTRA BITS that even the MakersPlace folks won’t get to see! I have the original sketch (orange highlighter on found cardboard BEFORE getting the digital embellishments and colors!):
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and an image of my perpetual helper, Gitzy, who is always right by me when I’m working on stuff---not matter how much debris I stack on her! (I know, it’s mean… Sorry. She’s an old, grouchy cat---likes to scratch most folks---but if she’s always going to be sitting by me when I’m trying to draw or paint, shouldn’t she EXPECT me to put my empty chips bags or cardboard trimmings up against her when I’m done with them? She should by now!)
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And that’s the new crypto-artwork! Check out my entire MakersPlace store for more weird stuff!
I work tonight---another closing shift---but I’ll be up at 6:00 A.M. tomorrow. I’ll turn on my tunes, have a coffee and some chocolate chip muffins, and start writing. I’m going to make certain that I get a good couple hundred words per day written from now on. (I just remembered: Tomorrow, July 2nd… My dad died seven years ago, tomorrow… I’m not mentioning this to bring anybody down, I just can’t believe how quickly time passes…)
I’m also planning on (FINALLY) doing my “How to Cut and Fold a Micro-Zine” post tomorrow! I’m particularly interested in this form because of how easy it is to make. Even a little kid can write a few words and draw some pictures on a single side of a piece of paper, take that sheet to the local library or a print shop, and make a dozen copies, then quickly cut-fold-and distribute their ZINE to their friends or family in, like, an hour---without needing to do any complex math or owning a long-arm stapler. It’s pretty cool… (I’ll show you how tomorrow!)
So that’s about it for today: a little introspection, a little history, a new piece of crypto-art to look at (and maybe own, if you’re into owning immaterial possessions!), and a plan for how to proceed from here!
Oh, one WEIRD thing!! I have to WORK on the 4th of July this year! This is WEIRD because it will be the first time that I can remember that I won’t be able to do that whole CELEBRATION thing with the family on that day. We usually do a cook-out, have some folks over, maybe blow off some fireworks, and maybe walk up to the lake to see all the shops and food booths that pop up for the local celebration every year... And what, you might ask, are we REALLY celebrating? We are excited by ELEPHANT EARS and sparkly fireworks---though we don’t really like the BANG kind---and bar-b-cued corn-on-the-cob and hanging with our loved ones and maybe seeing what useless treasures we can find at the flea-market and all that good stuff. We’re not the most patriotic folks in the world, but we love just about any excuse to throw a big party and experience some exciting, carnival-like hoopla! Yep… We like to have a good time---and this year, I’ll be at work until closing! (ACK!)
Oh well---I’m taking HALLOWEEN off this year as a religious observance day!!! (That’ll teach ‘um!)
Later…
---Richard F. Yates
(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)
SUPPORT INDEPENDENT FOLKS WHO ARE JUST MAKING STUFF BECAUSE THEY LOVE IT!!!
https://steemit.com/@richardfyates
https://primitiveentertainment.wordpress.com/read-a-damn-book-list/
https://makersplace.com/store/richardyates/