City of Legends

I am sorry for those of you who come here looking for fresh kill, in that I have been sort of adrift, creatively, these last several months.  I don’t think I have run out of steam, but rather have allowed myself to get sidetracked by minutae instead of the macro sense of the internet and my responsibility to my readers.

To this end I am going to try and make a few changes to make this place more fun and conversational, starting with either changing at least the colour scheme or fulfilling my year-long dream of converting the damn think back to a Blogger blog instead of a WordPress Frankensteinian nightmare.  Why did I change?  Go back and look at why…  Nothing like having the river guide dive out of the boat in mid-stream to give one a sense of one’s own failings at having not brought a map, a compass and a fresh set of oars.  I apologize, for the umpteenth time and promise that, in the future, I will keep my own counsel better (still subject to being ignored in the presence of long legs, pouty lips and an accent, of course).

If anyone knows a sane way to convert a WordPress blog back…please throw me a lifeline.

As I write this a violent thunderstorm rages outside my office window and I can see the bands of dark clouds moving West to East across the sky near Washington, DC.  It is an impressive sight.

I need to clean things up on here, maintain a regular update schedule and get more focused on such projects as Guerrilla Poetry Day, the new book, loveaddict, and the next CD…to be entitled…hmmm…let me see…what would be a good name fo rthe next CD?  I can’t ask anyone else’s counsel, as that would be hedging on a fresh promise and I have more than my fair share of hypocrisies already.

No, don’t say anything…I am thinking here.  The new CD will be called…

blister

Don’t ask, there is a logic to it.  Just, don’t ask.

change is inevitable.  just think about that the next time you carefully fold a few dollars into your wallet.

I am considering possible "theme" changes for this blog, to be enacted on upgrade over the weekend.  no final decision yet.  I even let my son, Dante, express his opinion on some choices.  he’s more interested in why I would want to change than the esthetic of the change.

we shall see.  I am brain loading on music.  the cats are cowering in the corner.  cowards.

okay, so I was a little effusive during James Brown’s "Get Up Offa That Thing".  and Neil Young’s "Rockin in the Free World" somewhat eclipsed my earlier performance to Warren "God" Zevon’s "Lawyers, Guns and Money".

why is the wallpaper melting? 

There’s a subtle cultural reference for you.

I realize I have been running in thousands of different directions at once, but I want you to know I have promised myself to keep it in the future to no more than ten or twelve new major projects a month. Unless I feel like it. We shall see. I probably won’t listen to myself, I rarely do.

The re-envisioning of williamfdevault.com moves forward and it is slowly getting prettier and filling out. I have a backlog of over 150 pieces still to add and I haven’t gotten around to the majority of the photographers and artists who have contributed. Hey, I’m a busy guy.

It has been suggested by a few of the photographers and artists that maybe I should have a new logo or three for my sites. I am considering throwing the doors open on that. Need time to think.

The Roman tells me if I upgrade WordPress to 2.6 it will automatically launch a nuke towards spammers. It is worth considering, but I don’t 100% believe him. Or really anybody at the moment. The crunchy sugar-frosted jade coating is wearing pretty thick of late. My tolerance for deception is as low as I have marked it.

Evangelist, out Friday. Lots of new poems on Amomancer. I am farming out the cover to my next book. Won’t reveal the title here, but I can tell you the colour of the cover. Deep purple (there’s another name for it, you figure it out).

Androne, sensing his brief season is drawing to a close, is getting ready to go back in his bottle, unfulfilled. A handful of people will understand that.

Thanks to Elena, Alan, Cody, Saint Thomas, Annette, C, Kevin, Sarah, Barb, Izzy, Susan, Shye and Karla. You guys have been great. Free books and CDs for all.

Tried the new search engine, Cuil, out yesterday. Not impressed. They claim to have so many more pages than Google, but of the ten topics I entered, they had nothing on three (all of which have thousands on Google) and a strange layout where picture did not match to text on several more. Try making it work right before trying to get rich, people.

Yes, my vision nears completion.

Okay, not completion, but initiation? Okay, somewhere past initiation, but well short of completion but on the right path and gaining momentum and resource? Is that better?

Sheesh, sometiems I feel like Daffy Duck in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Do you have any idea how many ex or current boyfriends or husbands of muses or ex-girlfriends come to this site daily? Trust me, you don’t want to know. Several. And most think I don’t know about them or have means to track them! Of course, now I’ve told them. Some won’t believe. Hey, biker dude. Hey, J. (waving)

Back to the purpose of this post. I have mentioned before that I was looking to do a phoenix job on the old City of Legends, the test case for it being the very limited edition with graphics I have over on www.williamfdevault.com. This required a few pieces falling into place, including my having the schedule and stamina to undertake yet another Herculean task, the right graphics being available and a general sense that this is something that people want.

#1: Check. #3: Check. #2: I had to slide back into my bag’o'tricks and contact my old friend, model, photographer and all around lovable soul Shye, who you may recall loaned her pleasant body and face to a small section of the old City that was blasted to atoms when we did the move to WordPress.

Well I heard back from her today, and she is on board. Not only will I have access to her prodigious catalog of work (you thought I was going to say "body of work", weren’t you?) but I have asked her to see if any of her models or friends might be willing to trade their images for exposure.

This gives me the bank of images I need to have no more excuses. So, tonight, I begin.

Thank you, Shye. Big hug. Put some clothes on. Or not.

I wasn’t watching close enough as the shuffle on my iTunes did its dance and I got into murky territory…David Bowie, pre-Thin White Duke (if you know what I’m talking about you know what I’m talking about). Somebody Up There Likes Me, followed by Rock and Roll Suicide off of the David Live album.

It is good, after a long day of keeping the world amazed and amused with my creeping evil to be able to stretch out and tune into a vibe. Nah, it’s cool. The woman who married my best friend from college, to this day, insists I am the anti-Christ. I’m sort of used to it. Usually they only think that after I sleep with them. Who knew?

The past year has taught me a lot about people. No, check that, has reminded me of a lot I had known and forgotten. Something about people my age, we forget things and our faith in humanity is renewed. At least for the moment. I’ve never borne a grudge against anyone, or criticized people for finding fault with me. I should, perhaps, as my silence is often seen as tacit acceptance of a criticism that may or may not be rooted in reality, but then I could spend the rest of my life turned inward on a vector of self-defense. I don’t really forget the things that happen or are said, but I try to accept them. And find them charming. Too much anger, hate and fear in the world. We all fall down.

I am toying with using the kick off read to the tour, on August 17th, as a stunt and do an all-day read. I want to do something interesting with it…I shall have to think of the possibilities. I owe Dan McTaggart a joint reading, so maybe I can roll him and a few others in and make it a festival. The attack of the guerilla poets.

I got asked out today. I have a month to decide, the party isn’t until the last weekend in June. I am ambivalent (in the real meaning of that word). We shall see. She’s a little young for me (Yes, Twist there are grown women too young for me, stop looking so shocked).

I was checking my stats today and found that one person…one person…accounted for over 25% of my last 500 hits. Not so bad if they are reading separate postings and poems, but it is the same two or three pages, over and over again. Like they’re going to magically change…what’s that definition of insanity again?

I am trying to find a way to reconstruct the bookstore and the Radio City of Legends here, inside of The City…but I am still just learning WordPress. Eventually we will get there, I promise. Joe Cocker is blasting my eardrums. Thank God. Was hoping I’d hear Van Morrison, but I think that’s scheduled for July (inside joke).

Ack! Joe Strummer! Sorry, man, you understand. Lo Fidelity All Stars call me to attention with Battle Flag. That’s better.

Legacy has always been big with me, my legacy. I’m going to confound it. Right now.

Hear that?

I just secure deleted the last remaining master of my memoirs. The poetry is enough. No one really needs to know what was said and when to who and if I knew when it happened… I know. And God. I won’t delete personal correspondences and postings without permission, that would be ungentlemanly.

I travel lighter now. And a certain Angel can breathe easier.