I haven’t blogged in a long, long time and I feel like a wretched worm for not doing so. So please, blog reader, please accept my apology for letting my creative blog writing hit a brick wall and almost stop. Usually I keep myself motivated and steered in a follow-able direction by blogging what I’m reading about. Lately I’ve been trying to read The Collective Journals 1997-2009 by Eric Clayton.
Oh my gosh! This thing is long! I don’t know how I’m ever going to finish it and get it done before my kids graduate from high school (which is 6 years away for the youngest one). Good grief! The text is small and spaced tightly (i.e. the “leading” is short). This guy packs a lot of words into a page. And he doesn’t ever use a period! He ends his sentences with ellipses … like that to continue a thought or an emoticon like this 🙂
Very creative idea, but it slows the read a bit. If you are not aware, Eric Clayton is the frontman for the goth rock band Saviour Machine. I wasn’t sure how this collection of journal postings would read. The only thing I was told was that “there was cussing in it.” The last I heard (passed along as “concerned information”) this guy was a manipulative, deceptive jerk. It wasn’t hard to believe, but I kept my mind objective the past several years as this artist had kind of gone underground and didn’t reach out to me as he had done so often in the past. The Eric Clayton I knew was not a jerk. I didn’t think he ever lied to me, etc. The Eric Clayton that I’m reading about, also, is very kind, compassionate and rich in wisdom. In particular I’m impressed with his attitude towards his children. He exalts them as precious gifts and talks eloquently (and with wisdom) about being a parent and what kind of effort, attention and priorities it takes.
Last night I could not sleep, so I read some more. The early chapter I read just got into the drama and legal issues he had faced. The first impression I get is, “Oh my gosh! This is horrific!” Apparently one day he and his wife were interrogated by federal agents and much of his material from the as-yet-unreleased Legend III:II was taken out of his house as “evidence.”
He tells about being asked about anti-American and anti-government views and so on. I never thought he’d get in trouble for burning those United Nations flags in concert, but apparently he got some people’s attention. He also dipped the Palestinian and Israeli flags in blood. Very theatrical and fitting for his apocalyptic themed music. Even though it’s fascinating reading, it’s going slow for me. Not sure if it’s because I’m always trying to read it at night, if I need reading glasses or if it’s that dang small and tight text or all of the above.
It’s nice to get my old friend’s perspective on his life, his art and the controversy surrounding him the past decade or so. Oh, and the dude does cuss like a European.* Not filthy or smutty trash, but expletives when he’s aghast or shocked or angry about something.
(*No offense meant towards my Euro brothers and sisters. Sometimes it’s easier to reference something cultural like this when you bring it out of the conservative Southern US context a bit.)
And now for something completely different. Here’s a video I found about Social Media that plays on how addicted we can become to our little devices. Is it a coincidence that the word VICE is in the middle of “device?” It’s a conspiracy, I tell ya!
j/k
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