The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

No matter the medium, there's something genuinely precious about experiencing art which connects with you on an indescribable level. Whether it be a poem, a painting, a book, a song, or even a joke, the potential power of art on one's being is truly remarkable. In the modern age, however, art has seemed to lose a bit of its luster with the younger generations. Picture yourself coming home from a long workweek. You come home; grab a glass of wine; and all you want to do is sit in your recliner; and listen to your favorite album. After a few sips of wine, you lay your head back; close your eyes; and allow the music to seep into your pores. A relaxation you haven't felt in what seems like weeks dawns on you, and you feel at peace. It's almost as if the song is being sung directly to you. ...and who's to say it's not? Who's to say this song, this album hasn't placed you at ease after attending twenty meetings over the course of the past five days, and taken ...

Interesting story. Yesterday, I stumbled upon a recent Upworthy article, which shared actor Wil Wheaton's response to a question about whether we can separate artists from their art. As long-time readers should know, I've consistently spoken in favor of separating artists from their art. If a work of art positively affects a person, why should said person feel shame if the artist is a criminal or just simply an a$$hole? Given this, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Wheaton's take.  He said: "I have been precisely where you are, right now. In fact, we were just talking about this a few days ago, as it relates to a guy who wrote a ton of music that was PROFOUND to me when I was a teenager. He wrote about being lonely and feeling unloved, and all the things I was feeling as a teenager. He grew up to be a reprehensible bigot, and for years I couldn't listen to one of the most important bands in my life anymore. But this week, someone pointed out that he was one membe...

When I saw the name Scarlett Johansson trending on Twitter the other day, I knew it couldn't be good. She was being taken down by the cyber-mob due to something she said in a recent interview with artist David Salle of As If  magazine. Here's the back-and-forth which got her into trouble. Salle: "Are we seeing an acting trend today?" Johansson: "Hmm... We live in such a weird time that is sort of identity-less in a lot of ways. I don't know if there's a trend in performance, but there's certainly trends in casting right now. Today there's a lot of emphasis and conversation about what acting is and who we want to see represent ourselves on screen. The question now is, what is acting any way?" Salle: "Right. Who gets to play what roles..." Johansson: "You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job." Salle: "Yes. Mus...

Art. Such a simple word at face-value, yet those three conjoined letters don't begin to scratch the surface of its true meaning. If you were to ask ten random people what their definition of art was, chances are you'd receive ten different responses. Whether it be a film, a song, a book, or a portrait, art is built upon emotion and nuance. Regardless if a painter or an author envisioned a similar message when concocting their work as was received by a consumer, that doesn't dismiss said consumer's thoughts and feelings when indulging in the piece. Art touches on our humanity in a way nothing else can. It seems to magically bring together our wretched past, our rocky present, our hopeful future, and our perhaps unattainable yet lingering dreams. Whether a song brings back sad memories of our father's passing or brings back happy memories of our college graduation, art possesses a significant power over us, ironically touching us personally when the composer likely ...

I may be weird, but I've never been a huge fan of Christmas music. It's the same songs every year, repeated time and time again for a couple months, mostly centering around a make-believe story most parents use as a lie in order to manipulate their kids into being "good" for 365 days, whatever that word really means. Having said that, though, after hearing about Cleveland's WDOK radio station banning the classic Christmas song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" due to its potentially sexist/ableist messages, even I said, "Isn't this going a little far?" After announcing its decision, host Glenn Anderson wrote this on the station's website: "I do realize that when the song was written in 1944, it was a different time, but now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and wrong. The world we live in is extra sensitive now, and people get easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, th...

I just read an article entitled, "If You Don't Like Criticism, Don't Put Your Stuff Online" by Jody Thompson, and felt the need to respond. No, I'm not really going to go the ironic route and criticize her column about being prepared to take criticism when posting stuff online, but felt the need to elaborate a bit on what she wrote. First off, nobody likes criticism. When asking a group of people what they enjoy (more than anything), you're never going to hear these people say this: Chuck Denardo: "I enjoy rafting in baby-pools." Lucy Pickens: "I like disco dancing on the interstate by myself." Frank Buckets: "Every now and again, I can't help but like to skinny-dip in puddles after a big storm." Sophia Ruiz: "There's nothing I like more than being criticized." Sorry, not going to happen... Granted, criticism kind of comes with the territory of, well, being alive. If one is working, one leaves thems...

So I met up with my girlfriend and some of her family at the Columbus Arts Festival yesterday afternoon. I brought with me a proof copy of my new book LOL at the GOP - Volume 3: Guns Don't Kill, Cars Don't Drive, and Ovens Don't Bake . In case my girlfriend parked close by, I wanted to show her the book when all was said and done. She didn't park anywhere near where I did, so that didn't happen. But upon returning to the car after looking at the art work, I noticed a flier which appeared to be placed on every car in that particular parking lot. On the flier read the following: "Cap City Firearms - Protect Yourself, Home and Family. 'Ohio's premier conceal carry training' Conceal & Carry Course Our concealed carry course is now only $99.00 limited time! If you pre-register at www.capcityfirearms.com Also covered: Basic firearm safety, firearm storage/types, pistol mechanisms/operation, shooting skills, pistol maintenance NRA Certified I...

It appears as if a die-hard pro-gun rights group has been placing a number of posters around the Washington State Capitol in recent days, in an attempt to speak out against gun-control legislation by comparing such legislation to discrimination against gays. One poster showcases two women holding one another, with the following words appearing alongside them - "Some people dislike gays. Others dislike guns. We should not base our laws on personal dislikes." A second poster depicts two gay men holding guns (not the ones below their waists...), whom are surrounded by these words: "We won our right to marry...now it's time to defend our right!" "And we sure as hell aren't going to take sh*t from homophobes in the process!" These are ridiculous arguments all the way around. On the first poster, it's comparing the rights of gays to the rights of guns, saying these rights shouldn't be taken away due to people's "personal dislik...

In light of my poem (and myself) being attacked mostly due to a misinterpretation of it and a friend of mine being told that her poem wasn't actually a poem, I wrote a blog and posted it on that site, which reads as follows:  It seems that some people like to believe they have the answers to all of life's questions, that the grey matter in others' eyes is black and white to them. There is no uncertainty in their minds. If another disagrees with their opinion (fact according to them), it's inevitable that the other individual is mistaken. There are certain scenarios where this is understandable, I suppose. If Person A contends that 4 + 4 = 7, Person B can speak matter-of-factly that Person A is incorrect. However, I don't understand how that black-and-white form of thinking can be directly applied to the world of art, which I (and others I know) have run into recently. In recent days, I have been witness to two people (there are many others, I'm su...

This poem can be found on pages 17-18 of my book, "Seasons Come, People Grow: A Poetic Journey". The beat and rhythm, Shades and touch, The rhymes and flow, The big red splotch, Beautiful on the eyes, Coherent or not, Beautiful to the heart, Emotionally affecting, The blind man on the piano, The deaf woman singing solo, The armless individual painting a picture, The child in a wheelchair writing a best seller, Ever expanding, Infinite possibilities, The mind, heart and soul in unison, Forming a beauteous equation, No rules can be written, There is no right or wrong, No limitations can be made, No boundaries in art.

Why do I say this? Some people are not very deep thinkers and that's being nice. They're about as deep as a cupcake holder and again, that's being nice. I say this in response to some comments I received regarding a book I wrote. The comments weren't even mean or negative, but they were the kind of comments where I was stunned into silence, with one question lingering in my mind, "What?" I wrote a book of poetry and released that a while back. At the very start of the book, the introduction, I wrote about my inspirations, my influences and my intentions. There were three major intentions with the book: 1) To provoke thought, 2) To open minds and 3) To touch on emotions. I tried to write many of them in a novel format, where there's a main character, thoughts and feelings of that main character are expressed and the message or moral of the story is known by the end. There were other poems where I took on controversial issues, tackled politics, religion an...

What I love about art (the arts) more than anything is the fact that it holds no particular rules or boundaries. I even wrote a poem about this a while back, entitled, "No Rules." If you try to change the rules in math and decide that 2 + 2 = 7, sure, in your new world of math, that may be correct, but the teacher won't mark it down that way. If you decide that your boss's layout for a project isn't quality enough, so you decide to change things here and there, you might as well go looking for a new job. If you want to see a movie, but don't want to pay for it, unless you have connections, then good luck. If you decide to go 100 in a 55, expect to get pulled over for doing 45 over the speed limit. Everywhere else in life, there are non-stop rules, boundaries and guidelines enforced on us. At work, school, at theaters, concerts, bars, in relationships, with the family, parenting, driving, but not in art. While there is a certain formula used in all ot...