Pain builds character. That's what my Uncle Randy taught me when I was still a teenager. He's probably correct. I've had a lot of pain - I have quite a bit of character. Keep on keepin' on! That's what you gotta do!
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
9 Jan. 2023
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[Posted to typed.art]:
"DAY 23
Exhaustion. It's what's for dinner!
For the 23rd day of the experiment, I'm going to ramble (unlike all the other days.) I'm thinking of this as a "typed" free-write! So.... What's on my mind?
The usual: money troubles, stupid cats always bugging me when I'm trying to work, never feeling like I get enough sleep - but also having serious trouble GETTING to sleep (even with all those pills I'm supposed to take), terror and sickness and legacy and horror...
You know... MONDAY.
That's what I've been thinking about lately. We made the decision to run, head-long, into the hordes of hell, thinking (WHY NOT?), but forgetting how problematic life can be when you don't follow society's rules. If you burn the bridges, you gotta swim.
At the VERY LEAST, I did get some artwork drawn today. I need to spend some time doing some photographing... OR maybe I should sit and plink on my phone until I get all of the photographed pieces on there cropped and colored and digitally tweaked. Hanging with the baby most of the day don't leave much EXTRA time (or energy) for creativity, though - beyond the hours of coloring we do each day. [For the few folks who are just joining the journey, I am a full time grandpa, and I babysit my three-year-old granddaughter so her parents can work. Daycare costs are CRIMINAL, so I figure, if anybody in this family should act like a criminal, it's me!]
Might need to up my blood-pressure medication, though... And my anxiety pills, and my other pills... We'll see in a few weeks. I have a check-up scheduled just after Valentine's Day. (TERROR. I am absolutely PHOBIC of medical shit.)
Mariah (my loving wife and connection to the world OUT THERE) made some chocolate chip MENTAL HEALTH cookies... Shit's been unfun lately. (She has a funeral to go to tomorrow... I'm PHOBIC about public events, like funerals, so I'm not going... I probably should, though...) It's all terrifying for me... HA!
Whatever. Still alive. Still making stuff. Still typing. It ain't GAME OVER, yet! The EXPERIMENT continues!!!
Later!
---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Clutch in Flames" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Felt pen on reclaimed cardboard with digital embellishments, color, and drawing.] It's an emotional abstract with hidden meanings... (Hidden symbols, at least... Well... Not HIDDEN, so much as EXPRESSIVE...) ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/20
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Odd Doll" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Crayon on reclaimed cardboard with digital embellishments, color, and drawing.] Don't throw that mac and cheese packet away! How dare you waste that cereal box by tossing it in the recycle bin! Every piece of cardboard is a potential TREASURE, regardless of how small (and how little money you might have for art supplies!) Some needy collector (who can't afford no BLU-CHIP cryptoarts) can undoubtedly drop five tez on a PRIMITIVE MASTERPIECE, right?? Maybe? (Ha!) ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/21
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Scary Kid" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Digital drawing created entirely in a no-longer-supported, free app on my phone.] A couple of computer bugs explore an old, abandoned house... Or rather, a NOT-SO-ABANDONED old house, cuz there's a scary kid that "lives" there! ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/22
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
10 Jan. 2023
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[Posted to type.art]:
"DAY 24
My head hurts... One more day of babysitting before I get a day off. I'm tired as a SMURF, already, and it's not even 8:30 P.M., yet.
Mariah and I have been dirt poor for the last month, and we're STILL massively underwater, but by the GODZ, we needed a steam valve to release some of the pressure. We bought books. NEW books! Stuff to read. We'll have stuff to read for the next couple of MONTHS now. (I've been rereading stuff, which is cool, but having brand new words to read is NIFTY! Hurray!)
Mega-burnout in the brain-pan is affecting me tonight, but I HAD to write something, even if it's not much. Just for flavor, here's a BRAND NEW Lowku! (Low-brow haiku.)
Cheese whiz on the tongue
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
Flattered by the pie
There you go: a poem that don't make no sense. That's the way poems should be: not meaning anything, but in perfect syllabic form!
Later, ya'll!!!
---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
11 Jan. 2023
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Block Head (But Happy)" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Crayon on reclaimed cardboard with digital embellishments and color.] Almost looks to me like this Block Head is living in a non-Euclidean apartment building (upper East-Side, I bet.) I don't know. Maybe he's not HAPPY, just hungry. I can't really tell... ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/23
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Ray Specter" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Felt pen on paper with digital embellishments and color.] I hope you can tell that this is a digital spell. (I'll give a King Size Snickers to the first person who can guess the specifics of this evocation...) ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/24
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Visitors (Dimensional Melt)" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Digital photo taken with my phone (evidence that people actually come here) that I ran through the Moshinator...] This event (visitation) took place a few days before Xmas, 2022. I don't LEAVE here very often, so people have chosen to start coming here... (I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that.) ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/25
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[Posted to typed.art]:
"DAY 25
There are only a few things that I do every day: take various pills, brush my teeth, post a nightly bedtime art share to Tweeterz, and (now) THIS... For the last 25 days, I've executed at least one written piece every day (without missing any), even if those efforts were perhaps a bit short or without much literary or historical importance. My FORCED WRITING PROJECT is not a commercial venture; it's a way to keep MYSELF in line by having a publicly accountable format for my actions. If I miss a post, everyone who follows along with my progress will KNOW IT!
I make stuff, therefore I am (not as boring as people who don't make stuff... [This is, at best, a snarky comment. I understand that most people don't feel that they have the time / energy / talent / or NEED to make stuff, and this is in large part because consumerist society does very little to support the creative efforts of people who aren't doing it for the money... MONEY is how most people are taught to VALUE art. This is a mistake.])
I've jumped the rails already in this post. I was going to say something about being tired and sweaty (it's way too hot in this bedroom tonight, which is a shame for January!), and mention that I have tomorrow off from BABYSITTING DUTY, so I should have time to make a new pirate radio show and post a bunch of new art!!! That's the INTENTION at any rate. (By WILL ALONE I set my mind in motion!!!)
[I just realized, I haven't listened to the old techno / electronic band, EON, in far too long. They use a ton of samples from the movie, DUNE, in their freaky tunes, as well as tons of other sci-fi and horror bits and bobs... NOTE TO SELF: [ ] Add Eon to my current iPod playlist!]
Okay, I think I've mangled my way thru enough words for tonight. I need to shut the computer down and read. (I've started rereading THE HOBBIT. The last time I read it was... 1984? 1985? It was a long time ago.) I didn't sleep much last night (maybe about three hours), so I'm hoping I'll be able to konk out at a reasonable hour tonight. (If not, it might be time to up the meds again... Dang....)
LATER!
---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
12 Jan. 2023
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Cross Currents" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Ink on paper with digital embellishment, layers, and color.] Messing with reality is dirty business. One should only do it if they are a MASTER OF REALITY or incredibly drunk... ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/26
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Outside is Scary!" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Felt pen on paper with digital embellishments and color.] This is NOT a self-portrait. I don't know why people keep saying that!? Repeat: This is NOT a self-portrait. (Although outside IS scary...) ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/27
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"75 Small Furry Creatures Battling for Water Rights" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Felt pen and crayon on reclaimed cardboard with digital embellishments and color tweaking.] The battle was brutal, but the balance of power had to be established (before it could be challenged...) ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/28
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Nightmare Eater" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Liner pen on notebook page with digital embellishments and color.] For a small fee, Chester can be hired to hang by your bed for a few nights confronting and (if needed) chomping on any unpleasant dreams that might float through the room. (He has a payment plan for qualifying customers!) ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/29
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Goner!" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Liner pen on paper with digital embellishments, color, and layers over recycled and moshed older artwork. Yep...] Honestly.... I don't know. I'm not sure what's going on in this picture. Is it a monster with two faces, or is it a creature with a single face looking back and forth really quickly? Maybe YOU can tell! ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/30
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[Posted to typed.art]:
"DAY 26
I never seem to get as much done as I want to get done, but that's okay. Luckily, my "work" doesn't pay my bills. I do it cuz I love it! "Do what?" you might ask...
Today, I took a shower (not professionally but effectively), photographed a bunch of artwork (not all, but a lot), recorded a pirate radio show, AND (this is big) I managed NOT to have any soda! (Addiction is bad!) I completed one or two artworks (digitally via my phone), and I did get a few pieces (five, I believe, not counting THIS typed bit) minted on Objkt. I didn't get much WRITING done, today, but that's okay. (I'm going to have THIS written post finished before bed, and that keeps me on schedule!)
Here's a weird aside: My wife says I was talking in my sleep last night. I don't remember her ever telling me that I've talked in my sleep before. We'll have to keep an eye on that! (Maybe my third eye???) I also need to grab a new dream journal...or maybe try to find my old one. Another interesting note, I remember asking myself, either during my dream last night or right after Mariah woke me up to tell me that I was talking in my sleep, if I was awake or not. This is a key step in becoming a DREAM TRAVELER. Oh yeah... PSYCHONAUTICS is one of the best paths to creative psychology!!!
Anything else that I need to say tonight??? Nah. I'm good. Thanks for stopping by!
Later SKATERS!!!
---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[Posted to typed.art]:
"DAY 27
I had WAY too much to drink tonight, so this post is going to be short and incoherent. Rum plus ghost shows equals HAPPY TIMES.
Only 7:P.M. on a Friday night, but I'm fading. Tomorrow should be a productive day even if there haven't been many of those, lately. Jeebus! (I'm swirly!!!)
I feel like I should be doing some automatic writing, but I'm all flooshed.... Sorry folks! Maybe next time I'll have some gold for you peeps... But not tonight....
---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Visions of the Future" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
[Liner pen and gel pen on notebook page with digital embellishments and color.] Prognostication is an art form, not an exact science. It's tough to get a grant from the government for predicting the future (without computer tech being involved.) ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://objkt.com/asset/KT1F94smAkoLSgNT7PLaxYj7Ba1SKqXfGjsY/31
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Feelings.... Nothing more than feelings.... Trying to forget my...
That's enough. I'm moving on to a new post. Hopefully, you (as a reader / viewer) found at least one or two pieces to laugh at above... Hopefully.....
Later!
---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)