So here is where the crossroads come in.
I am very torn over the directions this blog can take. I know we have all asked ourselves if we are doing our blogs for ourselves or for our readers. I have done posts on this subject, and my friends… (Yes, I consider many of you to be my friends)… always tell me not to worry about public opinion and just be true to myself.
At the risk of sounding like I am just trying to con people into reading my early posts, if you have any doubts about my massive ego, incredible conceit, and ability to be completely self-centered, go back and quickly scroll through my early Photoshop art. See all those pictures of my face, and the head-sheets of my head? And the drawings of me and the photos of me and the stories about me? I didn’t do those for the blog. I already had all those.
All I am saying is; Don’t worry about me. I will take all your advice into account, and consider it carefully. But if you think I am going to do anything other than exactly what I think will be the most fun for me, then you don’t really know me at all.
But the question here goes deeper than that. My conundrum is that I am also trying to pour out my ‘self’, my essence, my life story… (See how clever my blog name is? My name is Arthur… pouring my ‘Art’ out… but art sounds like heart… and I do art… How can you not love me? Seriously?)…
Here is my first problem. I can’t really pour my whole life out and keep this a kid-friendly blog. Let me explain, although, no doubt, some of you are leaping ahead to your own conclusions, and trust me, no matter how far you leap, you aren’t even going to come close to the truth.
I have been places, I have met people, I have done things. Not all of them are things I am proud of, but none of them are things I am ashamed of either. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 60’s and 70’s. I was never a big rule follower, I fight authority instinctively, and I have a venturesome spirit. This is a somewhat combustible combination. Don’t get me wrong, I never hurt anybody. I don’t steal. I never sold illegal substances.
That being said, I have had more than my fair share of encounters with the legal system. I have so many great stories from my rebellious days, but I don’t think my future great-grandkids… (or potential publishers and editors of my novel)… need to hear them. But I bet some of you would like to, am I right? A blogger friend of mine recently started a separate, bad-girl blog for similar reasons, and I sort of think she may be on to something there. But let’s set all this aside for now.
I have one other problem which keeps me from pouring out another side of me. I did a post just a while ago entitled; ‘I never cry’. I wanted to show that I can write, and that I have a tender side… (and judging by all the nice comments I received… thank you… I have done that)… The thing is, and not to sound all braggy, but I have a way with words. I can make words dance… (I can’t spell them worth a darn, but nature gives with one hand, and takes with the other)…
I play the guitar… (and now the bass, sort of)… and I sing, none of them particularly well, but I have written about 70 or 80 original songs. More than half of these songs are love songs that would tug at even Dick Cheney’s brand new heart strings. My love songs make women think about me in new and interesting ways… (sorry, but this is a fact, not a head-trip. I tested these songs thoroughly in my younger days)…
My novel, which I will soon be shopping out for publication… (come on, 10,000 hits)… is so funny that I still laugh while I am editing. Take every time you ever LOL’d while reading one of my silly little blog posts, and that is just one page of my novel. And there are 400 pages. It is chock full of action and adventure, and quirky aliens. And I make fun of everything that humans take too seriously. Seriously.
So what is the problem exactly, you may well be asking at this point? Here it is, in a nutshell… (No pun about the state of my mental health intended)…
You can see why I am reluctant to share some of my life story in this setting. But I am afraid to share my best writing as well, for the simple reason that I fear a mere copyright isn’t going to keep people from stealing my stuff… (and you were worried about my ego… ha!)…
My novel took a year to write. Talk about pouring my art out. It was like giving birth. I wrung myself dry.
I am a self-proclaimed computer moron, but by now I figure I have learned enough to video myself singing a song and post it on the blog. I know I could post chapters from the book. But I am a little vague on what can happen to these things after I do that. I know people have reposted some of my stuff already, without asking me first.
So, am I being needlessly paranoid? I really want to know.
Thank you for your time, and your friendship.
Pouring My Art Out 
Sorry, catching up on some reading (as you can tell from all my comments to you tonight)
This blog is you and is your art. Art isn’t just what hangs on the wall or is drawn on paper. It is what comes out of your creativity and most of your posts are extremely creative and sometimes warped like you. 😉
Seriously though, I love all sides to you. I think that is what makes you so unique. You are crazy, you are fun, you are thoughtful, you love your family, you name it.
Your past is what created the man we get today.
Which ever direction you go, just take me with you. 😀
That may be the single most wonderful thing anyone ever typed to me. Thank you. Sincerely.
:-).
At complete risk of stating the obvious (as we are all some form of artist here), I think you are over-thinking this.
You are already effectively pouring your Art, your heart, and your art out. Keep it up… as for your novel, don’t worry about sharing, your mind races a million miles a minute, you can already go onto the next random thought here, if some of the stuff here is funnier than your novel than you’ll know you are getting better and you can write a second one (after you buy all of your commentors a new laptop with all that lucrative book money you’ll be making. 😀 )
As for the stories that may be risque, you already have your own answer. You’re an artist AND a writer. Come up with an alternate universe version thats safe for kids but enough innuendos (in UR endo) that us adults (well, other adults, not me, I’m naive.) get what really happened. 🙂
Yeah, I’m just messing with you… Let me know where the dirty blog ends up.
See, that is the kind of well thought out response I have come to expect from you. Thanks. I like asking questions like that. It just opes up some new view points. I don’t really want people to solve all y problems. People like my problems, for some strange reason.
Pingback: Porn Worthy Quotes: « I probably shouldn't have said that…
Wait, why are you quoting me back to myself?
That’s a ‘PingBack’ silly man! She linked you in her blog post.
You know I am a moron… a brilliant, clever, smart, intelligent moron. I figured it out, even though I have no idea what it is, what it does, or how it works.
And it sounds dirty, like you could get a hooker in Bangkok to do a pingback, for 50 extras bucks… just saying…
Mail a copy of the novel to yourself. Even if it’s not the completed version. Get it postmarked. That’s the cheapest way to do that. Whenever I want something copywritten now I usually do it the right way and register it. It’s usually only about $20-25. Since you’ll need to register it at some point anyway no harm in doing it too early.
As paranoid as you are about having something stolen from you, people are just as paranoid about being accussed of the theft.
Now that is good advice. I hope you have been protecting all your copies of ‘letters to Hustler’… {;-)
I like the private blog.
I like the agent.
I like the idea of dirt.
I don’t think you’re being too paranoid. As the Doors say, “People are strange.”. And a little creepy and dishonest. I have $700 missing from my wallet. I’m feeling a little paranoid myself. But sharing some of the dirt with some good friends and hand picked bloggers can give you a feel for public reaction. You seem to know people that are willing to be honest, and you seem more than capable of handling it.
Good luck with it all. G
One more vote for secret dirt. And thank you.
Dear pmao,
Regarding your novel, if you want some people to read it to give you some feedback you could make a new blog and keep it private. That way, only the people you choose to invite will be able to access your posts. Then you don’t have to worry about it being public fodder for reblogs and stuff.
And you know I think you should do the other blog, you’ve been debating about it for a while now and you keep coming back to the idea. Do it. I made another one that I don’t use for anything, just to see how it works, and it’s all on the same Dashboard, you just switch from blog to blog. And if you do decide to make a private one for your novel, that would be there too. It’s easy-peasy.
Love Dotty xxx
Dotty, what a great idea, making the blog private! As you pointed out, it would be a safe way to get input. Thanks very much, I’m off to use this for my own purposes.
We all need a blog for each of or personalities. Like I did on the chat lines, way back ina post about my ‘college’ days.
You are being helpful again, but when you help me, it is alright.
You are NOT being too paranoid. I have a separate blog too. I am assuming you have gone through the process with the copyright office with your novel. If you have, then post some of your stuff but not the BEST stuff. If you haven’t, then you should, and after you do, you can post some of your stuff but NOT your best stuff. Do you have an agent? An agent would be a good place to get advice.
This is fascinating.
I am going to get an agent soon. Thanks.
My other blog is for uncharitable thoughts.
I can understand your not wanting your kids and grandkids to read some of the more colorful adventures but maybe when they’re our age they’ll like to look back and say, “Dad was so interesting” or “Gramp was so cool.”
Right, when they are twenty one.
Was I not following you before? Because I thought I was. But I am now… unless I already was, in which case I may have unfollowed bu pushing the button. I will start rooting through your old stuff soon, I bet.Or was I already? Damn stupid ol brain…sorry…
No need to be sorry. You’ve rooted through some. Was delighted to see you followed me and thought to myself, “HA! I finally got a prize!”
I swear I thought I was…
It’s okay. I forget stuff too, big stuff, frequently. This morning my husband asked me what we would be doing with the old couch when the new, and last couch we will ever buy, arrives. I told him the descendants will be getting it, that they came over to make sure it will fit through their apartment door, when he was here. He didn’t remember. It made me feel better about the things I forget. A couch is pretty big.
Size doesn’t matter
Another myth.
Not with couches.
What were you referring to?
size, we were talking about size. You said a couch is a pretty big thing… too forget.
See what I mean? I forget things too.
Huh? Do I know you?
WAY TOO PARANOID. Ha. (You asked.) Be like the rest of us and tell us some dirt.
One vote for dirt… got it.