This is the inaugural post for my new site, Slouching Nazarene. The reference is of course to the oft-quoted W.B. Yeats poem, “The Second Coming,” specifically the final stanza:
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Yeats conjures up all sorts of wonderful imagery here, and I may even flesh my thoughts on the poem out further in a later post, but for now this is just an introduction.
I’m a writer, or rather, I am when I’m actually writing, so the main purpose here at Slouching Nazarene is to give my thoughts free rein and possibly encourage actual writing. And, no, I’m not wasting writing time by posting here; rather, I’m posting here during off-hours throughout the day, while my writing time is in the evenings after my work and daily chores are through.
I’ll post my writing credits in due course and talk about the circumstances behind them, plus I might, for the first time anywhere, discuss future projects such as novels and short stories. (I am for the most part a fiction writer, though my biggest publishing credit so far is non-fictional.)
I’ll also post reviews on whatever books, movies, art or music catch my fancy. These reviews won’t be relegated to current works; I may review an old black and white film or a compilation of music from the 80s, as well as the latest book or film. As a lover of horror, dark fantasy and all things under-the-mainstream, I’m going to be looking at the sublime as well as the gleefully low-brow… anything that stirs my soul, come to think of it.
For the most part, I don’t think I’ll be hosting mp3s or anything of that sort, although I may post pictures that someone, somewhere has copyrighted. Anything so posted is of course the right of the original creator; if posted I post it in appreciation and in the view of supporting the work of art in question.
I like to write in a somewhat formal style, rather like what I imagine a modern, gentlemanly Lovecraft-type might favor, but in person I am anything but formal. In reviewing a classic author like Arthur Machen or someone like that, I will probably stay formal, but if reviewing a movie like Street Trash (1987) I might let my hair down, grab a Mountain Dew, and spit knowledge. Or not.
I like all sorts of things: horror movies, Edwardian/Victorian ghost fiction, Marx Brothers movies, the East Side Kids, Little Nemo in Slumberland, King Kong, horror criticism, animated shows like South Park or Superjail, thrash metal, 60s psychedelic/garage, 80s new wave, alternative music, kids’ shows from a youth spent watching far too much TV, Japanese monster movies, etc., etc. This site will also be a record of the things I’m currently buying, reviewed even as I enjoy them.
Basically, this is me just trying to organize my thoughts on anything and everything. I don’t know if this will ever be read, but as a journal it should be fun and a record of where I’m at. Cool?
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Yeats conjures up all sorts of wonderful imagery here, and I may even flesh my thoughts on the poem out further in a later post, but for now this is just an introduction.
I’m a writer, or rather, I am when I’m actually writing, so the main purpose here at Slouching Nazarene is to give my thoughts free rein and possibly encourage actual writing. And, no, I’m not wasting writing time by posting here; rather, I’m posting here during off-hours throughout the day, while my writing time is in the evenings after my work and daily chores are through.
I’ll post my writing credits in due course and talk about the circumstances behind them, plus I might, for the first time anywhere, discuss future projects such as novels and short stories. (I am for the most part a fiction writer, though my biggest publishing credit so far is non-fictional.)
I’ll also post reviews on whatever books, movies, art or music catch my fancy. These reviews won’t be relegated to current works; I may review an old black and white film or a compilation of music from the 80s, as well as the latest book or film. As a lover of horror, dark fantasy and all things under-the-mainstream, I’m going to be looking at the sublime as well as the gleefully low-brow… anything that stirs my soul, come to think of it.
For the most part, I don’t think I’ll be hosting mp3s or anything of that sort, although I may post pictures that someone, somewhere has copyrighted. Anything so posted is of course the right of the original creator; if posted I post it in appreciation and in the view of supporting the work of art in question.
I like to write in a somewhat formal style, rather like what I imagine a modern, gentlemanly Lovecraft-type might favor, but in person I am anything but formal. In reviewing a classic author like Arthur Machen or someone like that, I will probably stay formal, but if reviewing a movie like Street Trash (1987) I might let my hair down, grab a Mountain Dew, and spit knowledge. Or not.
I like all sorts of things: horror movies, Edwardian/Victorian ghost fiction, Marx Brothers movies, the East Side Kids, Little Nemo in Slumberland, King Kong, horror criticism, animated shows like South Park or Superjail, thrash metal, 60s psychedelic/garage, 80s new wave, alternative music, kids’ shows from a youth spent watching far too much TV, Japanese monster movies, etc., etc. This site will also be a record of the things I’m currently buying, reviewed even as I enjoy them.
Basically, this is me just trying to organize my thoughts on anything and everything. I don’t know if this will ever be read, but as a journal it should be fun and a record of where I’m at. Cool?
