the only difference

"The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad..."
- Salvador Dali

There is a conscious choice in denuding oneself from the arbitrary and banal constraints of social expectations and deciding to live life as it should be as opposed to how it actually is...

There is deep, powerful magic in finding the poetry in life and claiming it. Our fantastic friends A.S., A., and N. made that all too clear. Our other, newest friends (and tardiest guests--three-ways have a way of making you lose track of time, I suppose) J. & J., made it clear too. Life is a great adventure to be defined, made, and molded on the fly. Every wall is built to be tumbled, every door set up for knocking down, every body a landscape to journey...

So we had a party this weekend, and I mean a party...

It started at 7pm and ended at 7am.

A night to remember.

Amid the frivolity, drunkennesss and lusty rompings, I learned a great secret about what it means to be an artist...

I finally got the meaning of Dali­'s famous quote.

Crazy people are crazy because they live in a reality of their own creation.

Artists create their own realities as well, and it's more profound, more potent, because the disconnect is discerned.

This weekend, Montenegro and I accomplished that!

I've spent thirty-five years getting out from under my oppressive Southern Baptist upbringing. Such a struggle against an onslaught of internal messages saying the self is inherently corrupt, flawed, damaged, unworthy...

But my birthday opened a new door. I am ready to claim my place in the world as a thinker, a dreamer, an artist, and a sex fiend.

The passage through this brief life requires artifacts, nostalgia, rememberances:

Art is the means by which ordinary mortals make their lives mythic...

Life is an adventure. A banquet, to quote Auntie M...

How much time I've spent worrying, saying "no", imagining dark consequences...

The end result--a dusty, suffocating existence.

I realize after this weekend, that life is for the taking. Anything is possible. You are limited only by your fears.

Death is the final destination for us all. No one gets out alive. Whatever you do, however righteous or despicable you may be, you will irrefutably die.

And when a person really gets this fact, really understands that every day is ultimately a stalling tactic, then that person can truly start to live--unafraid of consequences, repercussions. Our time on earth is a blank canvas or an empty room waiting for bold strokes and a daring installation...

I plan to make the next year a grand experiment in hedonistic exploration. I want to shape the world to suit my perverse predilections...

Hopefully you'll enjoy it!

Passion, beauty, and love, folks--life is short...