Occasionally, I wonder if regular readers of these witterings wonder if I could just once in a while stay on topic... What when it comes down to it is this blog for. Oh sure I talk about writing a lot, both the craft and my own works, and books in general, and do book reviews, and I am busy not analysing Poe (yes I am aware its been a while since the last Dear Edgar post came out back in march, but the project has not been forgotten), but I do seem to come out with a lot of randomness of late, and what happened to the philosophical science/paganism contemplative thoughts, those popular quotation posts? And when all is said and done whats all this Men in Dark Tweed stuff anyway?
"Really, can Hayes not find a lane and stick to it?" They ask...*
*or probably don't, I mean it nice to think people care about this stuff but lest be real most people end up here by accident i am sure.
Well no I can't, my mind wanders and occasionally just wonders. Besides, eclectic nonsense is so much more interesting and fun than any narrow path I could tread...
We need more eccentric blithering about in the arts. We need musicians who can converse with great eloquence on the subject of a snail telegraph system, write children's books about peat bog ecology, novels about resurrecting the Victorian dead in a sort of reverse Jack the ripper tale, as well as write and perform songs based on Greek mythology, Italian epic poems based upon the matter of France, and the true , if mild horrifying origins of 'the little mermaid'. We need a mix of the sublime and madness to make the world a place worth existing in. Otherwise what is the point of it all.
Unfortunately, we live in a world which does not always value the arts and artists of all strips as it should. If you wish to contribute to the great sanity and collective cultural wealth of humanity, you better get a day job unless you are willing to live in a cardboard box and not eat very often... the starving artist is a very real thing, just as the vast majority of writers don't make a living out of writing , the vast majority of musicians don't make money out of music.
If only the government could find a way to support the arts and individuals within it. Yet I know not one political party in this forth coming election has such an idea in there manifestos. I would not mind some of my taxes going to the arts, but short of the national opera no one else gets much of a look in. Certainly not your average musician trying to bring a little beauty into the world, or madness, or angry mermaids...
Luckily for me, I am in the rare position of being relatively affluent, which si to say I have a little more money in the bank at the end of the month than at the start. While not a great deal it does allow me to indulge my passion for the arts a little. So I patronise a few people on pateron, because I can. Until a government starts funding the arts more this seems a better use for my money than paying for bullets and bombs. Call it a little voluntary taxation if you will or just me trying to make the world a little better.
In any regard there are many many artists , musicians and writers on patron, (not me I really do have a day job) Its worth a look, and as she has just started a patron I am using this opportunity to recommend Jessica Law to you, mainly because she is thin enough already and really doesn't need to be a starving artist, just a artist in general...
So here is a video about making octokittens. Why would I share this rather than one of Jessica's music videos? You expect me to stay on topic , were you not paying attention to the start of this blog post ?
Anyway, here is a link to Jessica's pateron https://www.patreon.com/JessicaLaw/posts go check it out and consider perhaps signing up for free updates if nothing else. The picture below of a perfectly sane person in a perfectly sensible hat may also link you to her petreon page...
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