Aint Nothin Free But jesus

Or so says the folks from the south. Maybe your people say it too. So, here I am, reading over writings at least 10 years old, sometimes more than that and I'm not old enough to feel accomplished by all of this. More relieved. I can meet the minimum numbers required by all the writing competitions. If you can't impress them with the quality, then at least overwhelm them with the quanitity, right?

Okay, that may work for the already wealthy and accomplished and the preponderance of spoken word "artists" (hint: most people aren't really listening so just scream the most incendiary phrases and you'll get ego-soothing applause). Instead, I'm going for quality and quantity. Suddenly I have faith in my faith of my words. heck, they are more dependable than my entire reproductive system - at least they are predictable and while they are often the result of pain, they are never a source of pain.

that Neil Gaiman's laid-back style is really rubbing off on me. I like the way some writers approach the craft. I would tend to say everyone except Americans, who are entirely too self-concious about being artists, but there are tortured artists the world over. But when I think of the writers i admire for just writing and approaching the whole venture the way one would approach cleaning the carpet after a year of college partying or refinishing a chair by Home Depot instruction - I like the idea of the simplicity of it all. You have a vocabulary, you use it, you expand it, you get curiouser and curiouser about the world and at the ned of the day you're trying to lie without showing the fierce machinations behind your poker face, though sometimes you smile at the shared joke. I like that approach to writing. Bono once said he admired hip hop artists because they understood capitalism - you wanna a hip hop branded chair - have a hip hop branded chair. it's a communal art form without the airs and snobbery of rock, classical music blah blah blah.

maybe i am a hip hop writer. in spirit. i mean, i am of the appropriate generation. we shall see.