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Post by theosgma on Sept 2, 2014 13:11:32 GMT -5
Awwwwww mirages, thank you so much for your kind words!  What can be more beautiful than doing what you love from the bottom of your heart and your work getting appreciated by others?! I feel very honoured that you've chosen my pics for this cozy little place for the "after hours".  I really admire all those people that are so good with words, who can express their feelings so accurately and so detailled by writing and who can create mystical places just with their imagination and words. Maybe it's because english is my second language but it is so much easier for me to express myself with pics or gifs. I'll be a regular visitor here and if it's okay I won't contribute with words but every now and then with a photograph of mine. Regular visitor and photo contributions - what could be better!! Look forward to that and was so happy to meet you in Las Vegas
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mirages
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Post by mirages on Sept 2, 2014 14:15:04 GMT -5
Mirage, lovely mood you have set in here. Moonlight always sets my mind at peace. I am a painter, mosaic artist and novice quilter. I have been putting off projects telling myself I am too busy with the day job. Maybe we can all inspire each other to find the time and confidence to express our creativity. I want to comment on the Gaga video/ Adam tweet discussion. The fans want to help, and have a connection with Adam through social media, but some don't always go about it very well. I think his intention was to educate, since some are not following his example of being supportive of other artists. Was his favorite of that tweet the best way to do it ? probably not... But, I think he is so thrilled and proud of the Queen opportunity he's worked so hard to earn, he was shocked when his fans made negative remarks towards one of his favorite artists, and just reacted. I agree, Shoshanna jumping in too made it very business like. He's still an emerging artist, and needs support. Adam's is a relatively new fandom. Sadly, I've seen the same craziness in many older fan groups. Just look at the disrespectful way a few Queen "fans" talk to Dr. May. I know they suffered when Freddie past. I grieved when John Lennon was killed, but I love celebrating his work when newer artists play it. Hopefully, the fans will continue to support Adam, and maybe evolve a little as he does. Welcome, nocturnal -- what a perfect name for the After Hours thread! The lovely mood is as much due to augenpoesie's photos and nikki and iris' posts as my words, but thank you. I've always been a night person myself and I was nodding along with comments made in the daily news thread recently about how in North America it's somehow more virtuous to be up early working than to be up late working -- why the heck is that? Our agrarian past, I guess, when you needed to make the most of every hour of daylight. I have the same hope you do that this thread will be an encouragement to do my own creative work -- to be honest, it's my way of trying to not have to give up my regular Atop time each day in order to focus on my own writing -- my thought is that if there's a thread here where I can check in and see people talking about finding time for their creative projects, sheer jealousy will impel me to do my own -- we'll see if the theory holds true! So far I'm doing pretty well on weekdays and getting blown right out of the water on weekends. With the kids back in school this week and more of a routine reasserting itself, though, I'm looking forward to carving out some regular writing time. If you ever feel like posting pix of your paintings, mosaics or quilts, I'd love to see them. nocturnal wrote: I want to comment on the Gaga video/ Adam tweet discussion. The fans want to help, and have a connection with Adam through social media, but some don't always go about it very well. I think his intention was to educate, since some are not following his example of being supportive of other artists. Was his favorite of that tweet the best way to do it ? probably not... But, I think he is so thrilled and proud of the Queen opportunity he's worked so hard to earn, he was shocked when his fans made negative remarks towards one of his favorite artists, and just reacted. I agree, Shoshanna jumping in too made it very business like. He's still an emerging artist, and needs support. Adam's is a relatively new fandom. Sadly, I've seen the same craziness in many older fan groups. Just look at the disrespectful way a few Queen "fans" talk to Dr. May. I know they suffered when Freddie past. I grieved when John Lennon was killed, but I love celebrating his work when newer artists play it. Hopefully, the fans will continue to support Adam, and maybe evolve a little as he does. mirages' response (I haven't figured out how to do the successive boxes in a reply yet -- anybody care to enlighten me?): You know, I think you hit on a key issue about having heroes or saviours in general: do we allow our admiration for them to challenge us to develop and evolve ourselves, or do we allow being a devotee to take the place of evolving personally? There are times, of course, when one does just need rest and respite and to have someplace fun and beautiful to go without having to leave the house -- Atop has often been my "take a trip and never leave the barn" place and will continue to be. But I want the part of me that responds to Adam to help me evolve, too -- what is it pulling me toward? There's a great poem by Rumi where he talks about how a yearning or craving is the connection between the yearner the object yearned for -- let me just find it, it's called "Love Dogs". Love Dogs
One night a man was crying, Allah! Allah! His lips grew sweet with the praising, until a cynic said, "So! I have heard you calling out, but have you ever gotten any response?" The man had no answer to that. He quit praying and fell into a confused sleep. He dreamed he saw Khidr, the guide of souls, in a thick, green foliage. "Why did you stop praising?" "Because I've never heard anything back." "This longing you express is the return message." The grief you cry out from draws you toward union. Your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup. Listen to the moan of a dog for its master. That whining is the connection. There are love dogs no one knows the names of. Give your life to be one of them.” ― Rumi
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Post by mirages on Sept 2, 2014 14:31:19 GMT -5
Hi, everyone. Thanks mirages for starting this thread. I am a writer too. I have written two novels in the past but right now I am doing freelance business and marketing writing for others. It took a while to get this business off the ground but now I have enough clients to make it full-time. I have a good idea for a new novel and hope to start working on it in earnest "soon," as Adam would say. This whole thing is part of a lifestyle change that I hope will eventually allow me to work from anywhere, enabling me to move to a small coastal town and away from the big city. There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about. —Helen Frankenthaler P.S. My thoughts on the Gaga/fan/tweet imbroglio is this. The internet really makes it marvelous to be a fan these days. I was a fan of musicians back in the day. I remember when you didn't even know any other fans, and your favorite artist disappeared off the face of the earth between albums, and you just had to treasure and dote for years over a tiny picture you cut out of TV Guide -- because that's all there was. Having worked in internet outreach for years for a large cultural institution, I learned that people are ungrateful for the new ability to communicate and connect. Rather than conduct themselves with self-restraint and politeness, they periodically unleash all the pent up rage lurking in the reptilian brain. That was certainly what I saw when I logged on and saw that Adam had dueted with Gaga -- a collective tantrum. Unfortunately the offending parties probably feel more self-righteous and justified than ever, and are clueless that they were even the ones being called out by Adam's favoriting of mys* [email protected]^#r's tweet. juniemoon, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you here! Your essays and engagement really set the tone for the Moon Garden and folks have been saying lately how much they miss having a place like that at Atop -- as you can see, Q3 decided to keep the Moon Garden thread intact in the Salon and create a new thread for ongoing discussion. Your essays always brought attention to the meta aspects of fandom which really interest me, but which don't always fit in a fast-paced news thread. You've done a great job getting a freelance/contracting writing career going so quickly -- it often takes years to make it big enough to keep you going on its own. How do you find the self-marketing aspect? I freelanced for a few years and found that part the most challenging ... I can sell anything on paper, but don't make me do it face to face! That's a GREAT graphic -- menacing, funny and vertiginous all at once, much like spending time in the right brain or wherever we think the creative work originates these days (they've debunked the left/right hemisphere theory, haven't they?). I love your image of the reptilian brain getting control of the keyboard and the mouse -- that would explain a lot!  I just don't understand why the reptilian brain gets triggered, since theoretically the distance afforded by telecommunication should reduce the sense of threat, not increase it. I do think the anonymity of internet communication brings out the worst in some folks, and I also think that fans develop a sense of ownership the longer they stay with an artist. In Adam's case, he came to us through a TV show that encourages ownership and buy-in by fans, and then when he lost the competition, many fans' protective instincts were engaged and never quite let go again. But as nocturnal points out above, we do see the same bad behaviour even in far different situations, as in those Queen fans who now seem to feel they have a better sense of what's appropriate to do with Queen's legacy than the original members do. I recall Roger complaining about that once and retorting, "It's OUR fucking legacy!"
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Post by mirages on Sept 2, 2014 14:44:28 GMT -5
I am very excited, thanks to all who made this possible . I have written poetry my entire life, I grew up in a very bad place with very bad people and it was an escape. As I've gotten older much of my writing had become a statement of things as I see them. I'm often inspired by Adam and social injustice of this world. A lifelong Emily Dickenson fan I sometimes lean toward the subject if death but not the sadness, it's the peace and understanding I feel death brings that I write about . But since we are talking about the moon and darkness I will post a little poem I wrote years ago when I was so unsure what tomorrow would bring Perhaps the night will linger And grace me with its kiss, Tell the dawn it's not welcome. And dry the morning mist, For I'm frighten by tomorrow And yesterday was so sad , That darkness is now my fortress While in its arms I'm clad . It wooes me and comforts me Then whispers in my ear , Rest now my little one For life is drawing near. If only I could stay here Safe from care and harm , But I fear it will not happen For alas here comes the dawn. Ah, rosepetal, so good to see you here! I think you are one of the key inspirations for the launch of a new thread like this one: you asked if there was a place to post original writing at Atop and that sparked a bunch of posts about how much people missed the Moon Garden. So thank you! (For those who didn't see if originally, rosepetal posted a funny poem in response to the picture of Adam doing the Ice Bucket Challenge -- it went like this: I'm a little naughty and seeing Adam drenched in ice water made me think a rather naughty thought, so I wrote a little diddy. Since I'm new this is not allowed please let me know : Here it is:)
Adam doused himself with ice It gave u know who quite a fright , I hope he's fine and will rise above When Adam dons those pants we love. Read more: adamtopia.com/user/2001/recent#ixzz3BcK15inprosepetal, it's lovely how you are able to use poetry to make us laugh, and also to comfort yourself and others -- I did see the lovely poem you posted for mamba6 recently, too ( adamtopia.com/user/2001/recent#ixzz3BcKLRlq9). I love the way you image night and the way it can wrap comfortingly around you like a blanket (also known as a comforter, now I think of it) -- dawn is often used as a symbol of hope and I like the way you turn that on its head here. I am so glad that your writing has helped you make it through such hard times, and I look forward to sharing the journey with you here.
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Post by mirages on Sept 2, 2014 14:50:25 GMT -5
Awwwwww mirages, thank you so much for your kind words!  What can be more beautiful than doing what you love from the bottom of your heart and your work getting appreciated by others?! I feel very honoured that you've chosen my pics for this cozy little place for the "after hours".  I really admire all those people that are so good with words, who can express their feelings so accurately and so detailled by writing and who can create mystical places just with their imagination and words. Maybe it's because english is my second language but it is so much easier for me to express myself with pics or gifs. I'll be a regular visitor here and if it's okay I won't contribute with words but every now and then with a photograph of mine. augenpoesie, lovely to see you and thank you so much for contributing some of your beautiful, evocative photos. Not all pictures are worth a thousand words, but yours are -- and then some! You show very clearly that you don't have to be a writer to have something to say and say it powerfully. I think all the most important things we ache to say are impossible to fully say in words anyway (see my signature line from Heschel below) -- or as Laotsu said, "The Dao that can be spoken is not the true Dao." For me, words are a thread I follow through my own dark tangled woods, or I try to arrange them around the living heart of something I feel or intuit but can't fully see or grasp -- sometimes they help me see its outline. And your English is VERY good!
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Post by mirages on Sept 2, 2014 14:52:34 GMT -5
Awwwwww mirages, thank you so much for your kind words!  What can be more beautiful than doing what you love from the bottom of your heart and your work getting appreciated by others?! I feel very honoured that you've chosen my pics for this cozy little place for the "after hours".  I really admire all those people that are so good with words, who can express their feelings so accurately and so detailled by writing and who can create mystical places just with their imagination and words. Maybe it's because english is my second language but it is so much easier for me to express myself with pics or gifs. I'll be a regular visitor here and if it's okay I won't contribute with words but every now and then with a photograph of mine. Regular visitor and photo contributions - what could be better!! Look forward to that and was so happy to meet you in Las Vegas thosgma, good to see you! I always enjoy reading your posts and appreciate your perspective -- welcome!
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Post by rosepetal on Sept 2, 2014 15:09:57 GMT -5
I am very excited, thanks to all who made this possible . I have written poetry my entire life, I grew up in a very bad place with very bad people and it was an escape. As I've gotten older much of my writing had become a statement of things as I see them. I'm often inspired by Adam and social injustice of this world. A lifelong Emily Dickenson fan I sometimes lean toward the subject if death but not the sadness, it's the peace and understanding I feel death brings that I write about . But since we are talking about the moon and darkness I will post a little poem I wrote years ago when I was so unsure what tomorrow would bring Perhaps the night will linger And grace me with its kiss, Tell the dawn it's not welcome. And dry the morning mist, For I'm frighten by tomorrow And yesterday was so sad , That darkness is now my fortress While in its arms I'm clad . It wooes me and comforts me Then whispers in my ear , Rest now my little one For life is drawing near. If only I could stay here Safe from care and harm , But I fear it will not happen For alas here comes the dawn. Ah, rosepetal, so good to see you here! I think you are one of the key inspirations for the launch of a new thread like this one: you asked if there was a place to post original writing at Atop and that sparked a bunch of posts about how much people missed the Moon Garden. So thank you! (For those who didn't see if originally, rosepetal posted a funny poem in response to the picture of Adam doing the Ice Bucket Challenge -- it went like this: I'm a little naughty and seeing Adam drenched in ice water made me think a rather naughty thought, so I wrote a little diddy. Since I'm new this is not allowed please let me know : Here it is:)
Adam doused himself with ice It gave u know who quite a fright , I hope he's fine and will rise above When Adam dons those pants we love. Read more: adamtopia.com/user/2001/recent#ixzz3BcK15inprosepetal, it's lovely how you are able to use poetry to make us laugh, and also to comfort yourself and others -- I did see the lovely poem you posted for mamba6 recently, too ( adamtopia.com/user/2001/recent#ixzz3BcKLRlq9). I love the way you image night and the way it can wrap comfortingly around you like a blanket (also known as a comforter, now I think of it) -- dawn is often used as a symbol of hope and I like the way you turn that on its head here. I am so glad that your writing has helped you make it through such hard times, and I look forward to sharing the journey with you here. Thank you for the warm welcome. I am so looking forward to joining such a wonderful group of fellow glamberts that enjoying creating art if all kinds. I should say that poetry is my the only writing ability I posses, a really good narrative has always escaped me . I can't take decent picture to save my soul , my subjects are usually missing body parts particularly their head. As for quilting or any other type of painting etc. let's just I hate to see a quilt I made a picture I painted . It could be down right frightening. I admire those who can do these things so much and can't wait to see some examples the work all of you do. Lastly I want to thank you on behalf of all my coworkers who will no longer be forced to listened to my poetry.
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Post by toramenor on Sept 2, 2014 16:40:54 GMT -5
I posted this a month ago in the Vocal Masterclass thread, but it is really more appropriate for After Hours (SO glad for it, thank you), for it is not actually about Adam's vocals, but rather the metaphorical 'voice'. Adam Lambert can change the color of his voice with such consistency and accuracy, without compromising either the strength or the purity of tone, that I see it as proof of not just his marvelous vocal technique, but also of how open and accepting his mind is - he is "in tune" with all the different colors and facets of his inner being; he is open to different sides of himself and fully accepts and embraces them, rejoicing in the variety rather than attempting to exclude or silence certain parts of himself in favor of others. That, to me, is the most inspiring thing about him, even beyond his social activism or his empowering music. He keeps showing the world that a person can and should celebrate and express ALL the differently-colored threads that are woven into his or her being. In other words, the 'message' I get from him is: be ALL of yourself, not just ONE part of yourself - a 'message' which has always been my motto in life and one that I wish I could spread around me--and in my mind, Adam is doing that just by being himself, and (consciously or subconsciously) he is helping spread it across the world. Read more: adamtopia.com/thread/28/running?page=85#ixzz3CC83EZB0*** I too am a writer - although I haven't written in a while. My problem is that I have so many ideas and so many stories in my head that I never quite finish them. I start writing a story/novel and then my mind finishes it before I'm able to write it all down, so I start on another story before I've finished the previous one, and thus I wind up with dozens of projects that are all in different stages of unfinished. And then, of course, on top of all that, I too suffer from the perfectionist complex: I am constantly rereading and editing what I have written, because that voice in my head which says "I'll be damned if it's not perfect by the time it's done" won't let go. *** I'm officially joining this Atop movement of people who want to stop procrastinating with their writing or dive back into it. Let's all light a fire up our collective butts (pardon my French) and write, write, write.
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mirages
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Post by mirages on Sept 2, 2014 21:05:24 GMT -5
I posted this a month ago in the Vocal Masterclass thread, but it is really more appropriate for After Hours (SO glad for it, thank you), for it is not actually about Adam's vocals, but rather the metaphorical 'voice'. Adam Lambert can change the color of his voice with such consistency and accuracy, without compromising either the strength or the purity of tone, that I see it as proof of not just his marvelous vocal technique, but also of how open and accepting his mind is - he is "in tune" with all the different colors and facets of his inner being; he is open to different sides of himself and fully accepts and embraces them, rejoicing in the variety rather than attempting to exclude or silence certain parts of himself in favor of others. That, to me, is the most inspiring thing about him, even beyond his social activism or his empowering music. He keeps showing the world that a person can and should celebrate and express ALL the differently-colored threads that are woven into his or her being. In other words, the 'message' I get from him is: be ALL of yourself, not just ONE part of yourself - a 'message' which has always been my motto in life and one that I wish I could spread around me--and in my mind, Adam is doing that just by being himself, and (consciously or subconsciously) he is helping spread it across the world. Read more: adamtopia.com/thread/28/running?page=85#ixzz3CC83EZB0*** I too am a writer - although I haven't written in a while. My problem is that I have so many ideas and so many stories in my head that I never quite finish them. I start writing a story/novel and then my mind finishes it before I'm able to write it all down, so I start on another story before I've finished the previous one, and thus I wind up with dozens of projects that are all in different stages of unfinished. And then, of course, on top of all that, I too suffer from the perfectionist complex: I am constantly rereading and editing what I have written, because that voice in my head which says "I'll be damned if it's not perfect by the time it's done" won't let go. *** I'm officially joining this Atop movement of people who want to stop procrastinating with their writing or dive back into it. Let's all light a fire up our collective butts (pardon my French) and write, write, write. Hello, toramenor (care to tell us about your screen name?), and welcome! You're right, I think a discussion of "voice" definitely belongs here -- it could go so many ways, whether we want to go back to the discussion of appropriation of voice (cultural appropriation) that Adam weighed in on a little while back, talk about how to find our own authentic voice or, as you point out above, whether we, like Adam, may have many authentic voices. I think one of the things that really tickled me when I began watching more Adam interviews and concert footage was how many voices/faces/personas he could inhabit, and how he didn't care a fig whether they were consistent or not. I had somehow internalized the idea that all my values and expressions should be consistent -- I dunno, there seemed to be some virtue in it. But, watching Adam, it struck me very strongly that he has many true selves or facets and yeah, some of them are contradictory. I know there were folks who felt he pulled a "bait and switch" with his "boy next door" cuteness and almost squeaky-clean, non-threatening presentation on I dol versus what came later, but both sides were always there (see especially the highly eroticized "Ring of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Love" especially). Many of us have commented over the years on those wonderful moments when he pulls out of a down-and-dirty onstage rut and gives that self-aware, "isn't this hilarious? and fun?" grin. I think it's our own dualistic, "if something is this then it can't also be that" thinking that wants to put a limit on that -- similar to our resistance to fluidity in gender. Oh, and perfectionism -- that's a beast! Are you also a "P" in the Myers-Briggs type indicator? P's tend to love starting things but much as you said above, once the creative work of figuring out the shape of the story or project is done, actually finishing it bores them to death, looking like drudgery. The biggest bete noir between me and my work is a kind of morbid self-co0nsciousness, but the beast's teeth were probably filed sharp by perfectionism. I'm jealous of your many ideas, though -- I'm still at the stage of clearing all the debris away that has blocked that channel. I'm glad we can give each other courage along the way, whatever we face, though -- drudgery can be as fearsome as anything!
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Post by mirages on Sept 2, 2014 21:10:03 GMT -5
Thank you for the warm welcome. I am so looking forward to joining such a wonderful group of fellow glamberts that enjoying creating art if all kinds. I should say that poetry is my the only writing ability I posses, a really good narrative has always escaped me . I can't take decent picture to save my soul , my subjects are usually missing body parts particularly their head. As for quilting or any other type of painting etc. let's just I hate to see a quilt I made a picture I painted . It could be down right frightening. I admire those who can do these things so much and can't wait to see some examples the work all of you do. Lastly I want to thank you on behalf of all my coworkers who will no longer be forced to listened to my poetry. You're very welcome, rosepetal, and I so agree -- I love to look on the beautiful images and items people make, even though I have no talent in that direction at all. Words are just one tool we use to communicate; images, colours, patterns, textures are others. I remember moments of being so profoundly filled with what paintings and sculptures were communicating that I felt dizzy, and could hardly speak -- I emerged from days at the Musee d'Orsay and MOMA like that.Words are meagre in comparison, but (she slips into a BeeGee falsetto), "words are all I have ..."
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Post by chapf on Sept 3, 2014 0:42:33 GMT -5
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Post by toramenor on Sept 3, 2014 2:52:52 GMT -5
OMG, those smilies are everything! I think it's beautiful that we all have our different ways of expressing ourselves artistically. I can't draw for the life of me, and I certainly would not be able to create such smilies as you, chapf - you are truly magical, the way you just appear with them to provide a succinct, interesting, humorous comment on the goings on of this forum. Sending you lots of love and admiration!
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Post by toramenor on Sept 3, 2014 4:40:34 GMT -5
Hello, toramenor (care to tell us about your screen name?), and welcome! Thanks for the welcome. The explanation for my screen name is longish, but since you asked, I'll try to explain where it came from and what it means. It is actually a name in a made-up language (made up by me for a novel I started writing 10 years ago and never finished!). This made-up language (oh, did I mention I am a linguist and fascinated by languages? - that should explain a lot) is called the First language and its status in the world of my story is not unlike Latin is to us today - a dead language used occasionally for specific purposes and known only by scholars. The difference is that the importance of the First language is much greater in my story because it is the language in which certain prophecies have been written. Anyway, the characteristics of the First language are such that the meaning of a word/phrase can be divined only from context - in other words, it is very difficult to interpret and a single sentence can have as many interpretations as there are those who try to study it. However, it is the ultimate language, language of Fate: it can express every single thing in existence, even the most abstract ideas and relationships, the most mystical and the most metaphysical. (Probably why it's so difficult to understand and interpret.) Ordinary people, of course, don't speak or read it, but what remains is the tradition of using the First language for proper names - names for people, cities. Most people will know at least what their own name means, as well as the names of their friends and family, but usually not more than that. My screen name is the name of one of the main characters in the novel and it consists of 3 words: TOR a MENOR. In the most basic interpretation, "tor" means darkness, "menor" means light and "a" is a preposition which means "from-into" or which juxtaposes two opposing things, such as darkness vs. light. There are several unusual things about the name. First of all, it is a male character, and traditionally, the word menor (light) is found only in female names. Secondly, people's names are never about a confict, or opposition. Thirdly, the character's mother, who named him, was a bit of a scholar who studied the First language and so it's odd that she should name him thus. I won't go into an explanation of why this character is named so, although there is a very good reason, important for his story. I will say that at some point he realises his name is a prophecy in itself and it actually means "darkness together with light" and that it is not about an opposition but about the blending of the two concepts. (Think about the yin-yang symbol, it's similar to what I'm saying.) Even though I never finished this story, I still love the names I made up for the purposes of this "First language". Since the names really have no other meaning than what I dreamt up, they are also ideal for usernames and passwords on the Internet - no one can just stumble onto one of my passwords, 'cause I use long made-up character's names and similar. My first e-mail address, which I still use, is toramenor; and I have used Toramenor as a username for other sites, like youtube, so when I decided to register here, I just picked it. I think one of the things that really tickled me when I began watching more Adam interviews and concert footage was how many voices/faces/personas he could inhabit, and how he didn't care a fig whether they were consistent or not. I had somehow internalized the idea that all my values and expressions should be consistent -- I dunno, there seemed to be some virtue in it. But, watching Adam, it struck me very strongly that he has many true selves or facets and yeah, some of them are contradictory. I know there were folks who felt he pulled a "bait and switch" with his "boy next door" cuteness and almost squeaky-clean, non-threatening presentation on I dol versus what came later, but both sides were always there (see especially the highly eroticized "Ring of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Love" especially). Many of us have commented over the years on those wonderful moments when he pulls out of a down-and-dirty onstage rut and gives that self-aware, "isn't this hilarious? and fun?" grin. I think it's our own dualistic, "if something is this then it can't also be that" thinking that wants to put a limit on that -- similar to our resistance to fluidity in gender. It is also my understanding that most people put themselves into boxes. It can be a consequence of the environment, of the outside world "telling" you: you are this, you are not that, but the outside world is not the main culprit - your own brain is. In terms of gender, the world tells you: You are a boy, you are not a girl, and boy is this.... so you are this.... It is actually a logical fallacy--human brain is highly logical and it will latch onto what sounds logical, but if you start from a false premise, you cannot reach a true conclusion. If you make false assumptions, you are bound to give yourself a false set of rules. Some people escape the false premise; some may change their opinions and points of view later in life if they realise their premises were false; others, unfortunately, will never change their mind, because they cannot or will not open themselves to the possibility that their starting point is false. I am thankful that I was able to either completely avoid false premises or see their fallacy very early on in my life, as a child. I can't know how it really happened - I think it's probably because I am a highly imaginative, thoughtful, analytical person. As a child, I read books and thought about everything I read, going further in my imagination than the actual writer. My parents and my teachers could not tell me what to think, because I understood that my thoughts were outside of their realm. And I also understood that my thoughts were what made me and that my imagination was infinite. I think when a person has that as a starting point, it is highly difficult for the outside world to tell you who you are or what you ought to be thinking. It's not even about needing to think outside the box; it's about realising that there never was a box to begin with. The box does not exist, unless you create it with your own mind. Oh, and perfectionism -- that's a beast! Are you also a "P" in the Myers-Briggs type indicator? P's tend to love starting things but much as you said above, once the creative work of figuring out the shape of the story or project is done, actually finishing it bores them to death, looking like drudgery. There is some truth to it. Drudgery is boring.  Not that the unfinished stories themselves bore me - I still go back to stories I started years ago and enjoy reading them and thinking about them, and I often add bits and pieces to them. This tells me that I haven't lost interest in telling those stories or exploring those thoughts and ideas. My curse is that I am interested in everything I can wrap my imagination around and I think I am like an explorer who does not have a specific goal but will allow any single thing she encounters along the way to cause her to swerve from the path. For me, it's not like walking along a road and stopping a moment to smell the flowers. For me, it's more like this: Ooh, look, a pretty flower! I need to stop and examine it. I need to smell it, I need to find out its name, its purpose, can it be found anywhere else?, which insects like it?, does it have any healing properties?, there is a story of a secret garden in which such flowers grew and they had magical properties, and a thief came and stole one of the magic flowers... lol
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2014 9:35:28 GMT -5
You've done a great job getting a freelance/contracting writing career going so quickly -- it often takes years to make it big enough to keep you going on its own. How do you find the self-marketing aspect? I freelanced for a few years and found that part the most challenging ... I can sell anything on paper, but don't make me do it face to face! That's a GREAT graphic -- menacing, funny and vertiginous all at once, much like spending time in the right brain or wherever we think the creative work originates these days (they've debunked the left/right hemisphere theory, haven't they?). I love your image of the reptilian brain getting control of the keyboard and the mouse -- that would explain a lot! I just don't understand why the reptilian brain gets triggered, since theoretically the distance afforded by telecommunication should reduce the sense of threat, not increase it. I do think the anonymity of internet communication brings out the worst in some folks, and I also think that fans develop a sense of ownership the longer they stay with an artist. In Adam's case, he came to us through a TV show that encourages ownership and buy-in by fans, and then when he lost the competition, many fans' protective instincts were engaged and never quite let go again. But as nocturnal points out above, we do see the same bad behaviour even in far different situations, as in those Queen fans who now seem to feel they have a better sense of what's appropriate to do with Queen's legacy than the original members do. I recall Roger complaining about that once and retorting, "It's OUR fucking legacy!" Hi, mirages, yes -- the self-marketing/prospecting part is definitely the hardest part! It can be very discouraging. I try to work as much as I can through networking -- so that as I get a client, and do a good job, I can get them to refer others to me. The others are quasi-pre-sold, which really helps. In July, I landed a "big" project that will last an entire year, and it was landed through a referral from a guy I'd worked with for years in another capacity. There's a lot of serendipity and patience involved -- but it seems you do "get back what you give away" if you can plug away at it long enough. Look at Adam and Queen! I also worked with a business coach for several months to get some ideas and encouragement on how to go about the prospecting and other aspects of the business, and I recommend the investment. I plan to work with him again next year as I near the end of this year-long project. In the meantime I am keeping up with smaller side projects too. I loved the cartoon about the reptilian brain! If anyone else is on stage with Adam, the hive response seems to be "Must.Destroy.The.Invader." There are even fans who don't want Adam to have a good band, as if Adam could be threatened by being on stage with excellent musicians. I sat next to a lady at MSG who complained after the show that there was "not enough Adam." She missed out on the riches of Queen because she was paralyzed by fear that Adam was somehow not getting his due - of all things! It seems to me that much of our popular culture runs on fear. Idol is structured around fear. Fear by the contestants, who wear a constant look of desperation, and fear instilled in the audience that their favorite will lose. Idol did not make the world, it was just designed to play off it. Success is a zero sum game. If Adam "wins," then Freddie "loses." If Gaga gets something, then Adam loses something. The result is ungenerousness and incivility. Adam does his best to discourage this way of thinking. There is plenty of room for musicians to succeed. Adam is respectful, honest, compassionate. This is why he is headlining a world tour with Queen. Does anyone think that Queen would be touring with Adam if he were an arrogant shit, even with his extraordinary talent? Adam treats us, his fans, as fellow human beings. As an entertainer, he presents us with a narrative that requires us to be thoughtful and mindful, that requires people to focus. As an artist, Adam wants to draw us into a virtual reality and take us on a journey and change us. (Is it any wonder he cannot be sold like soapflakes!) 
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mirages
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Post by mirages on Sept 3, 2014 22:10:12 GMT -5
Oh chapf, I love this -- thank you!!! And you're Exhibit A in the case for not needing to write to communicate powerfully (and hilariously). This week I'm the smilie giving her quill a shake to figure out what's wrong with it -- nothin' good comin' out!! If you don't mind, I'd like to add this to the opening post on Page 1, too (and then figure a way how to get it on every page of the thread. Repeatedly.).
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