Northern Renaissance, Calm Before The Norms, If He Had A Rich Man In His Hand

Mmm...Pistol Whip...

It has been another rousing week for this Renaissance man. Kerry King I wish I was a Renaissance man; I would write poetry while reading physics books and swim across Lake Superior using my bass as a flotation device/creative output . I have been so envious of others and wallowing a lot lately. Which is great stimulation for personal innovation but nonetheless I am left wanting more from life. Everywhere I look it seems that acquaintances are off on some great adventure or making plans for their next one. Everyone around me tells me I am being too clamorous and that I can't have music be the paramount of my existence. But honestly unless I am on tour, recovering from a tour or booking the next tour I am pretty much a barren shell; an astringent apparition clutching to evanescent memories. So basically until I can afford a van I am going to keep whining and complaining on here over and over again about the same shit and how now one likes me or my shitty band. I apologize in advance for having to deal with that. I did just start a new character in "Skyrim" though so I guess that I do have some adventures waiting for me. Nothing soothes the soul quite like slaying a dragon. Except maybe not being a loser and doing something with my life instead of writing about how much I hate everything. I should be pistol whipped until I forget all about my fruitless aspirations. Fuck it, do it live.

Me during ArtPrize.
Confused and imbalanced.

Speaking of the Renaissance and hating everything, ArtPrize is upon us once again! By this time next week I will be neck deep in yuppie shit-monocles. For those of you who don't live in or around Grand Rapids, ArtPrize is a yearly "art competition" where a bunch of fucking mouth-breathers swarm our city for 2 weeks and everyone gets to vote for the best artwork and the winner get's $200,000 to go create more inconsequential, knavish bullshit devoid of any relevance or cultural importance. I have complained about this the past couple of years but I have to lament and express my pure unadulterated malice I have for this shit. First of all, 98% of the entire American population are complete, absolute, outright fucking insensate imbeciles. 80% of those people live in the Midwest. So whom better to judge the "artistic expression" of the aristocracy than the beguiled brutes of Middle America? But honestly, I wouldn't mind the proverbial upper middle class "circle jerk" known as ArtPrize so much if it just didn't affect me so much on a daily basis. These vacuous automatons meander into my place of work every single moment of every single day for the duration of this tragically hallowed gala. They almost look human, aside from the fact that they feed their progeny motor oil and that their skin is actually liquid mercury. The key is to look into their dead eyes, that's the easiest way to spot them. Sometimes it is hard though because they often refrain from making eye contact and prefer to look back at their tedious compatriots while transferring their credit cards. Kerry King forbid they look at you when they have important business to attend to or while downloading new updates from the inane Hive Mind that tells them how to live everyday. You are nothing more than a vending machine to them. Remember, they believe they own you. And ArtPrize is nothing more than a colossal reminder that what is considered stirring and ingenious to the masses is nothing but a vapid identity spilled upon canvas. Once again though, I wouldn't have it any other way. True art and expression should always be buried beneath the bastions of orthodox scrutiny. I say let them toil in their trivial endeavors; the creative pool spirals fastest before the drain. Just stay the fuck away from me.

This is what I see when I take an order.

"But I being poor have only my dreams..."

All this talk about how the average person lives actually makes me feel a lot better about my own stake in life! Sure I am just an idiot who plays bass and wishes I was cool but thank Kerry King I am not working in some office worrying about T.P.S. reports or drudging around the water cooler talking about frivolous trite.And sometimes I wish I had gone further with my schooling and I think for a lot of people they are able to find purpose and meaning in their education and I truly applaud them for that. As William Butler Yeats once said, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." But almost any career I would have chosen I know I would have been forever miserable and live with constant regret. If for nothing else, just imagining the people I would have to surround myself with would be enough to make me retch into a recycling bin every day. I have said this many times and I am sure I will say it many time more, but to me life is about acquiring a wealth of experiences and not experiencing the amenities of wealth. I guess my point is that being poor you gain more character and as long as you enjoy the few joys you may have then you will be a better person for it. In summation, just stay fucking gloomy.

"Who would be a poor man, a beggarman, a thief?"