: Welcome to my humble show, !
Do you enjoy being here?
: Not really. I'm uncomfortable talking to people, especially about myself. But it's one of those necessary evils, so I pop an anxiety pill and go on with the show.

: That's the spirit…
So, what's wrong with YOURSELF?
: I've had major depression and anxiety most of my life. It's caused a few problems along the way. I actually like the man that I've grown to be, though.

: I think I can understand that…
What are your major thoughts on SOCIETY, actually?
: Man, don't get me started on society. Well, actually, strike that. I think people as a whole are basically good. It's the politicians and corporations that are ruining the world. Personal freedom in my country, the US, is being thrown aside for the sake of safety. Unless you're talking about guns... for some reason, the government thinks that everyone needs a gun but poor children and old people don't need food. It truly sickens me. I can't have a cigarette in my own home, but I could have an arsenal of guns.

: Well maybe if you had a cigarette in your home, it might mean a risk to TRIGGER THEM GUNS… (--> Anyway, you're serious here?! )
So I guess that is meant to be just for your SAFETY…
Am I right if I describe the american understanding of "safety" like this?
Also, is it true that in the US, guns are basically seen just as "what made the country great?"
If so, how exactly is that "greatness" to be understood?
: Yes, this is the American idea of safety. We're so health-conscious that it's almost funny, with the exception of the guns.
The "Greatness" is propaganda. We did a good job in WWII, and went straight back to being a country with ignorant backwoods ideas. We used guns to take the country from the Native Americans, to steal land from Mexico, and to basically threaten anyone in the world who didn't want to follow our ideas. Again, I don't blame the citizens, but the leaders. It's impossible for a man of moderate wealth to get into politics; we try to elect the lesser evil that is running for the job, and that's the best we can do. Good and decent rich men are few and far between.

: Am I actually simplifying things here, if I wonder why citizens don't just take all the guns they have, and fire them at random bankers "their leaders?"
: Then we'd all have to learn Chinese. An unstable government would most surely lead to invasion. We have to follow like sheep, and hope we're following the right one. Or at least, the least offensive one.

: So you do not believe that there will be some new american revolution during the next, let's say, ten years, at all?
: I don't know whether it will come within the next ten years, but I do believe that eventually we'll have a one-world government. Whether we get there peacefully or not, I don't know.

: Do you think a world government would, theoretically, be a GOOD idea?
: Theoretically, yes. Practically, I'm not sure. My latest story is set in the future with a one world government, and it's not a pretty picture. Cultures are so diverse, it would really take a heroic effort to accomplish. My fondest wish would be a world without war, where issues are discussed and resolved rationally.

: Would you mind sharing that story with our noble audience, as well as commenting on it a little bit?
: The first chapter is here Five Bells (Chapter One) The bell rang three times. That meant that you had fifteen minutes to finish up your work and get to the dining hall. George 2001 began putting away his tools, along with the other thousand or so inmates. Although he was hungry, the routine of the WHO Emotional Rehabilitation Center was driving him mad. Every day was the same. No deviations were allowed, ever. Every inmate wore the same uniform, had the same haircut, and followed the same schedule. Seven days a week, no variation. Eat, work, sleep. He couldn’t remember the last time that he’d sat and watched the sun rise, or been out to a bar with his friends. All memory of outside life was being erased by the maddening routine. There were those who found the structure comforting, and were eventually released. Others were driven insane, and sent to Electroshock Therapy. George 2001 tried simply to bear the monotony and stay out of trouble. He hoped that he would be released before he began acting on the thoughts that It's set in the not-so-distant future, when strong expressions of emotion are forbidden (for the safety of the people.) The denial of emotions eventually cause some horrific problems. I think it's rather interesting that I made the World Health Organization the strongest branch of the new world government.

: Makes sense, I guess… Everyone wants to be healthy, as well as everyone wants to be safe, so what could possibly be wrong with whatever done in the names of HEALTH and SAFETY?
So, you're obviously referring to LOVE and HATE here… Which one would you consider to be the stronger/more fundamental emotion, and how do think this does reflect in our world?
: I think hate has the upper hand in the world today. Every country has enemies, every person has people they dislike, be it personal or impersonal. I for example can't help but hate Republicans. If love were the stronger of the two, the world would be an entirely different place. It seems to me that those who most often quote the bible are the least forgiving of others.

: Now I don't want to spoil our humble audience too much, but in that story of yours, this seems to be reflected in the characters of George and John, too… Would you like to elaborate on that?
: It's really just your basic good guy/bad guy confrontation. In this case, though, there would be a huge shift in the lives of everyone on earth, depending on who wins. Maybe that's one reason people read/watch these types of books and movies again and again. We all love to see good prevail over evil, love conquer hate. We're not getting enough of that in real life.

: Although at first I didn't regard it a CONFRONTATION at all, well, yes that might actually be…
But why didn't you try going somewhere beyond that "basic good guy/bad guy" scheme here?
: Basically, I just got tired of the story and was ready to end it. Not being a scientist hindered me in a lot of ways. Write what you know, they say, and science I don't know. I'm really more of an emotional writer, but I had this idea for a story and decided to step out of my comfort zone.

: Would you rather describe yourself as an author, or as a poet?
: That's a tough question. I started out in music, went from there to visual art, then to poetry, now I'm trying to write short stories. I guess I'd better stick to 'poet' until I write a novel. Or maybe "jack of all trades, master of none."

: Well personally, I think you are most definitely THE master of VISUAL ART…
       
Why did you stop doing those, anyway?
About your writings, I thought I saw a tendency in them to combine personal experiences with a whole bunch of surrealism…
To make ends meet, so to speak…
Breakfast At Connie'sSmall birdbones, brittle
Large eggs over easy
Tiny dogs yip and nip at the feet
Under the table
A lock of hair in ashes
A crow cawing from the bookcase
Breakfast at Connie's is always
So damned surreal
Last chance for a smoke before the show begins
Light 'em if you got 'em, or just light a candle
Italian Catholic grey-eyed girls
Love ceremony
A pumping heart dessert
Hidden in plain sight
Ignored by all as proper etiquette demands
They leave softly
Marching in softshoe-step rhythm
Crunching small bones beneath their feet
Wondering why it's still dark and why the
Show still goes on   BirdsThe birds on the ground had to climb the tree, because they weren't birds yet. Little lives in the process of Becoming. When they reached the first branch, they knew they'd become the closest things to angels. They grew wings and flew, and shit on the earth because it had been so tedious. They thought they were gods, until bigger birds appeared and snatched them up in their beaks. Some of the birds on the ground saw this, and decided not to climb the tree. Others devised plans of defense and climbed. It didn't matter in the end, except for the few who realized that they were just birds. The world ended ninety days later and none of it mattered at all. The stars laughed.   There's A Woman In My Soup The world was spinning too fast, and Jim knew that he was going to be thrown off. A flock of porcupines flew by like the winged monkeys of Oz. Colors swirled until they mixed together and everything turned the color of mud. Trees laughed as they were uprooted, freed from their monotonous standing. Someone whispered in his ear… “You’re in the wild, wild west now, baby.” He awoke, breathing hard, behind the wheel of his ancient Pinto. Horns were honking at him as he pulled back into the proper lane. The narcoleptic episodes were becoming more frequent, and he was worried.
 Janice popped a couple of painkillers without water. She was used to it, now, but she couldn’t get used to the pain in her back. It felt like knives twisting into her. The pills always made her sleepy, but there was nothing else she could do to ease the pain. She lay down on the bed and waited for them to kick in. A ‘Scrubs’ re-run was on TV. “Who put the silv   I Took the Blue BusYou didn't put the phone back, left your pills on the table
I went thirty minutes without thinking of her
You made cookies I didn't eat, watched movies I didn't see
I went thirty minutes without thinking of her
You talked, then you didn't, then you talked some more
I went thirty minutes without thinking of her
You took the elevator, she took the stairway to the stars
I went thirty minutes without thinking of her
You swept out memories, wrote a manuscript of dreams
I went thirty minutes without thinking of her
I had coffee and cigarettes alone at four AM
I went thirty minutes without thinking of her
She took the stairway to the stars
I took the blue bus to nowhere
Is that true?
: Well thank you very much! I stopped painting because I lost my studio space. The photomanipulations satisfied my creative urge for a while, but I just seemed to run out of something to say with them. Repetition doesn't satisfy the soul.
You're right on the mark about the combination of the personal with the surreal. I've always been interested in surrealism, whether visual or written. I began writing poetry when my wife died after a long illness, so death is also a frequent subject in one way or another. I guess as a man, I try to mask my pain while howling it out.

: Btw it doesn't happen very too that someone gets inspired just by being interviewed… I Am A ManI wrap my pain in surreal blankets
Even while howling it out
I am a man; I roar only in the darkness
Hoping it will conceal me
While I wait for a healing hand
What gave me the honour?
: Just the train of thought you put me on with your questions. You are an excellent interviewer, truly making me think.

: Why, thanks for that!
If you want to hop on that specific train of thought for just a bit longer and elaborate further, feel free to do so!
: I think that sometimes the most profound ideas can be expressed in few words. I realized from your question about the mixing of the personal and surreal in my poetry that attempting to mask my pain, wrapping it in surreal imagery, was just what I'd been doing all along without really thinking consciously about it.

: Actually, I never said you were trying to MASK your pain at all…
How did you get that idea?
: As I said, it just came to me that I'd been doing that when you brought up the mix of personal/surreal. You didn't drive the train, but you bought me my ticket.

: So, where do you want to travel with it?
: Another good question. It's one that I'll have to think about over time and see what happens. I do think that the addition of the emotional to the surreal enriches both. I see no reason at present to make any big changes. Time will tell...

: Well actually, me neither…
So in the meantime, why not rest a bit on some of your older laurels instead – which means your DLDs, of course!
Tallmy words are green tonight
written in the air in a neon glow
standing on the corner in the snow
reciting poetry from memory
i feel very tall
there is power in words
and tonight i'm in control
looming large and strong and
razor sharp
and feeling very tall
have i had too much? no,
just enough to clearly see
my shoulders are straight, my
head held high
speaking green words
and very, very tall  

Mature Content

  BiographicalitiesFIVE DECADES 10/05/10
when i was a child i lived within a bright circus of illusion
it surrounded me, but i could only see it, not touch it
i was in the center ring with the dark lions nibbling at my feet
the light dying out before it reached me in my small prison
where was the spotlight, and someone to tame those damned lions?
nowhere.
that was the sixties.
when i was a teen the darkness fell and the clowns went mad
no light nowhere, even the illusion faded to black and died
i was in a corner of the abandoned circus tent chanting for its return
the few things i loved began falling apart all around me
where was home, and comfort, and salvation?
nowhere.
that was the seventies.
when i was a young man i tried to forget the circus and light
i hated everything; the darkness; myself most of all
my heroes were dead, the clowns insane, the lions starving
i cannibalized my brain and spawned motherless children
where was the path to anything, maybe just to a full-color world?
nowhere.
that was
Now, what do you think makes a DLD so different from a regular DD that it even has its own name? For example, your writing skill is great of course, no doubt about that…
But still, how come that currently you got 12 (--> TWELVE! ) DDs on literature, but just one on digital art, and that one being not even the best of them?
: The rules are a little more strict for a DD... only one every six months. I thought it odd that the manip that was picked received a DD. I guess it all depends on someone liking something enough to suggest it for a DD or DLD. I certainly had nothing to do with the process, but I was happy to get them however it came about.

: I never said you had… Which leads directly to the question, who does!
So I just made some experiment and suggested all four of your manips featured above for DD… If just one of them will be accepted before this interview gets POSTED, I think that'll be quite a good result!
Until then… Who do YOU think has to do with that?
: They won't be accepted for DDs, It hasn't been long enough since my last one. Maybe five or six months from now, one might squeak by.

: Answer the question, please.
: Haha, I don't have any idea about the inner workings of DA. I have suggested people for both DDs and DLDs... I guess it just depends on whether the CV you suggest it to likes it as much as you.

: I guess you do have a point there…
So, do you have any hints for our noble audience, on MAKING CVS LIKE YOU?
: I've never tried to make anyone like me. I'm friendly to all, unless they just want to argue.

: What do you actually think about dA's writer scene, as a whole?
: I would call it thriving. There are a lot of extremely talented writers here. Lately lit seems to be getting a bigger chunk of attention than it once did. I meet poets and writers on a regular basis whose work just blows me away. Of course there are those just getting started as well, and DA is a good place for them to find teachers and mentors.

: So what would YOUR advice to the aspiring writer be?
Also, do you have any favourites amongst those?
: My advice is twofold: One, don't try to write in rhyme. If you must, make sure you're not using words for the sake of rhyming. Make sure you're saying what you want to say. You have to be the master of the words, not the other way around.
Secondly, write all the time! Keep writing, even if it's not good. The more you practice, the better you'll get. You might write ten pieces that no one will ever see, but strike gold on the eleventh.
I do have a few favorite young writers, but I can't mention names without the risk of leaving someone important out.

: Alright, without mentioning any names then…
What is it a piece of literature must actually have to become YOUR fave?
Are there any criteria for that?
: I enjoy a wide variety of styles. Good grammar is a must. The poetry I like most makes me feel something, even if it's written in a surreal style. I dislike long strings of words meant to show off the poet's knowledge of the language without any real meaning or feeling.

: Now actually, there's several books written by you available on the market…
www.lulu.com/spotlight/Bark
Does this mean you're not only a writer, but also a publisher?
: My books so far are self-published, yes.

: How would you actually describe that experience?
: It's satisfying to be able to get my books into print for those who want them. It hasn't been rewarding financially so far. But publishing through Lulu is cheap and fairly easy.

: What do you think it does with/to your NAME?
: I think it gets my name out there. I see no stigma to self-publishing. Maybe a "real" publisher will see something they like and give me a deal. If not, I'll still have left something behind when I leave this world.

: So when you "hope" for that, it sounds like, in the u.s. it's just like over  here, where "real" publishers actually do not even give a shit about LOOKING at the stuff they get delivered to their very own damn homes at all, because all of their "editors" are too busy writing biographies for comedians.
Is that true?
If so, what do you think is actually behind that CULTURAL DECLINE?
: Sadly, there's a lot of truth in what you say. I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I do feel that I'm stuck in the midst of the dumbing down of the US. I really don't understand what's causing it. People don't have the attention span to read an entire book anymore, when they could be watching some "celebrity reality" show on television or a video of a cat playing the piano on the internet.

: Elaborate on how else you personally experience that "dumbing down", please!
: Tea Party Republicans! Corporations eating the world and having their way by lining the pockets of politicians. Our government has become one of morons elected by morons.
I meet a lot of highly intelligent people here at DA and in my daily life, people much smarter than myself; I have no explanation as to what's caused this catastrophic situation.
One thing I have to say, my girlfriend has a Masters degree, yet she still watches these ridiculous shows on television. Why? I'll be damned if I know.

: Do you actually remember some bill that has been passed by your congress within, let's say, the last decade, that has seemingly been of just absolutely no use to anyone? I mean like, do you actually remember something like the german "Rechtschreibreform?"
: Their have been so many useless and garbled-language bills passed in the past, but I can't recall any certain one at the moment. I've actually tried as hard as possible lately to stay away from politics with the exception of presidential elections. I sign petitions for Left-wing causes, but the nightly news disgusts me to the point of trying to stay uninvolved. Maybe that's part of the answer to your previous question about why this is happening. People have become so distraught over the situation that they're withdrawing and becoming fatalistic.

: This might turn out to be just the most stupid question ever asked, but why do just PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS of all things still appear not only as a part of so-called "politics" in your mind, but also as the very ONE part you still do somehow feel the need to personally attend?
Is it something similar to your girlfriend and her stupid tv shows?
: Well, since Bush stole his re-election with the help of his brother, I guess it is pretty idiotic. My conscience dictates that I do at least that one thing. If you don't vote, you have no right to complain.

: As an american, what are you actually referring to when talking about "rights?"
: I just said that if you don't vote, you have no right to complain. We have our Bill of Rights, free speech yadayada. Personally, I think everyone should have the right to good health care as they do in other countries, and that the "right to bear arms" doesn't mean that any crazy motherfucker who wants an AK47 should be able to get one. It's all propaganda anyway. There are certain things you can't even say in jest without government agents knocking on your door and taking you away. I'm not going to say anything like that here even as an example. They don't have a sense of humor.

: Are you talking from personal experience there?
: No, I've never been arrested for talking or writing. But I know what can and can't be said.

: What does THAT mean?
: Since 9/11 and the rash of gun violence in schools, someone can simply be overheard making a dumb statement (as kids are wont to do), but the government takes any threat super-seriously. Even if it's meant as a joke. I can't be any more clear than that.

: Alright, I guess I see…
So, do you still have some ALTERNATIVE last words left for our humble audience?
: I think you've gotten more words out of me than my last three wives. Do you really think anyone's interested enough in what I think to read this entire interview?

: You actually might not notice it that soon, but yes, I'm absolutely sure of it!
Thank you for comparing me to your three wives!
Ladies and gentlemen, here's for you!



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