Aug. 8: Baby I'm a star
I used to want to be famous. Now I don't care if I'm famous. If I
become a famous writer, so be it. I'd like it only because it means
there's a better chance I'd get to devote myself full time to my craft.
All I'm saying is I don't long for fame anymore. When I was very young, I
felt insignificant and unpopular. I believed fame would have given me
the respect I so achingly craved (and which could have been mine had I
just been courteous and genuine.)
Yes, and I am reminded of the words of the 1980s new wave group Wall of Voodoo's song Far Side of Crazy:
I once hid my lust for stardom like a filthy magazine
I stroke the shaft of my guitar to watch you on the screen
I become now what I wanted to be all along
a psychopathic poet, the devil's bastard son
I am waiting for someone to print an anthology of poetry and call it A Psychopathic Poet
-
I am a shitty poet.
There was a time, in college, when I thought of myself as the next Leonard Cohen and I began producing bad poetry to prove that. I am happy I never forced my bad poetry on anyone but my college English teacher. I was more of a prose guy and my favourite day was the last Saturday of every month when a group of Calgary writers met at Words' Books and Cappuccino Bar at the corner of 17th and 17th for open mike night.
I was a star there. That's because I was funny.
The room was filled with second hand smoke (there was one plump grandma type who read her original sexually charged poems about vegetables - she claimed to smoke four packs of cigarettes a day.) Eventually, the proprietor announced that there would be no smoking during the readings and that people would have to go out back during break to get their nicotine fix. I think this really annoyed the plump grandma type but I can't be sure.)
-
Today, I don't have much patience for people who just want to be famous. If fame's all you want, try committing murder.
The wise reader will intuit that I am not advocating violence - merely the age-old axiom that I wish I'd heard when I was 10: "Love the craft in yourself, not yourself in the craft."
-
A little over a month ago, I went to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa for An Evening with Al Pacino. There was the great man himself, resplendent in black, sitting on stage and regaling a sold out house with tales of his life in the theatre. The audience adored him and several declared him the greatest actor of our time.
I wish I could have asked him if fame means anything. I have some actor friends who have worked with some of Hollywood's biggest names (not Pacino) and they tell me that these guys' dramatic ability is on par with what you'd find at any professional theatre.
Dame Helen Mirren once opined to the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright that "acting is easy."
Well, maybe for her.
It's so easy...
-
I'm not a fan of celebrity gossip and I find it disheartening that People and Us Magazines are consistently at the top of the periodical bestseller list. I'm actually more concerned about what's going on in my own neighbourhood than I am with what Cloris Leachman wore to the Emmys.
Also, Ronald McDonald should start doing commercials naked. That will scare everyone off of McDonalds.
Sometimes, I just like to keep my readers on their toes.
-
The song "Baby I'm a star" is about a young musician who has just started to become famous. He "ain't got no money but honey I'm rich on personality." Yeah, but when your records start going platinum you'll have plenty of money. Let's just hope the personality stays too.
-
Gene Simmons once said that guys only want to be rock stars because of the women. I guess that means that if creating great music is more important than getting laid, you'll join an orchestra, not KISS.
-
What do I know? I don't have a musical bone in my body.
-
I am a magician and I don't know why I got into it. I developed an interest when I was 10 and I never let it go. Maybe it was girls. Maybe it was attention. Maybe I just wanted to stand out.
Today, I supplement my income by doing magic shows. I'm no magic star and I don't think I want to be one now. As long as I'm making people happy, I really don't care if I'm a star or not.
-
My son is crying for a bottle. I will go make him one. He will look at me and I will see this message in his eyes: "Thanks dad, you're a star."
Baby, I'm a star.
-
Old cliche time: To the world, you're just one person. But to one person, you're the world.
Be happy.
Yes, and I am reminded of the words of the 1980s new wave group Wall of Voodoo's song Far Side of Crazy:
I once hid my lust for stardom like a filthy magazine
I stroke the shaft of my guitar to watch you on the screen
I become now what I wanted to be all along
a psychopathic poet, the devil's bastard son
I am waiting for someone to print an anthology of poetry and call it A Psychopathic Poet
-
I am a shitty poet.
There was a time, in college, when I thought of myself as the next Leonard Cohen and I began producing bad poetry to prove that. I am happy I never forced my bad poetry on anyone but my college English teacher. I was more of a prose guy and my favourite day was the last Saturday of every month when a group of Calgary writers met at Words' Books and Cappuccino Bar at the corner of 17th and 17th for open mike night.
I was a star there. That's because I was funny.
The room was filled with second hand smoke (there was one plump grandma type who read her original sexually charged poems about vegetables - she claimed to smoke four packs of cigarettes a day.) Eventually, the proprietor announced that there would be no smoking during the readings and that people would have to go out back during break to get their nicotine fix. I think this really annoyed the plump grandma type but I can't be sure.)
-
Today, I don't have much patience for people who just want to be famous. If fame's all you want, try committing murder.
The wise reader will intuit that I am not advocating violence - merely the age-old axiom that I wish I'd heard when I was 10: "Love the craft in yourself, not yourself in the craft."
-
A little over a month ago, I went to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa for An Evening with Al Pacino. There was the great man himself, resplendent in black, sitting on stage and regaling a sold out house with tales of his life in the theatre. The audience adored him and several declared him the greatest actor of our time.
I wish I could have asked him if fame means anything. I have some actor friends who have worked with some of Hollywood's biggest names (not Pacino) and they tell me that these guys' dramatic ability is on par with what you'd find at any professional theatre.
Dame Helen Mirren once opined to the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright that "acting is easy."
Well, maybe for her.
It's so easy...-
I'm not a fan of celebrity gossip and I find it disheartening that People and Us Magazines are consistently at the top of the periodical bestseller list. I'm actually more concerned about what's going on in my own neighbourhood than I am with what Cloris Leachman wore to the Emmys.
Also, Ronald McDonald should start doing commercials naked. That will scare everyone off of McDonalds.
Sometimes, I just like to keep my readers on their toes.-
The song "Baby I'm a star" is about a young musician who has just started to become famous. He "ain't got no money but honey I'm rich on personality." Yeah, but when your records start going platinum you'll have plenty of money. Let's just hope the personality stays too.
-
Gene Simmons once said that guys only want to be rock stars because of the women. I guess that means that if creating great music is more important than getting laid, you'll join an orchestra, not KISS.
-
What do I know? I don't have a musical bone in my body.
-
I am a magician and I don't know why I got into it. I developed an interest when I was 10 and I never let it go. Maybe it was girls. Maybe it was attention. Maybe I just wanted to stand out.
Today, I supplement my income by doing magic shows. I'm no magic star and I don't think I want to be one now. As long as I'm making people happy, I really don't care if I'm a star or not.
-
My son is crying for a bottle. I will go make him one. He will look at me and I will see this message in his eyes: "Thanks dad, you're a star."
Baby, I'm a star.
-
Old cliche time: To the world, you're just one person. But to one person, you're the world.
Be happy.
Comments
Post a Comment