Image: Some concept art I did regarding the Grasslanders.
Good day, it’s Friday in late September. For me, that’s a time of packing gear for my yearly pilgrimages with Ezra into the white mountains. It’s a time to reset and reflect. I have a few new trinkets and things I’ll be lugging with me this year. I have a lot to say today so have a nice ale and relax a bit if you like reading.
Update: This week I made a few trips into the city to look for a new tower for rehearsals. That was a lot of fun actually, I’m pretty excited about firing up the war room again with some new lights and ideas. With the writing process just about behind me for the 1st hadder record, I feel a whole new regenerated sense of joy taking me over. I’m having beautiful dreams again about so many wonderful things hadder related. I’m seeing the next hill before me and I’m actually enjoying the training as I prepare to hike to the next plateau, so to say. With this spring and summer seasons behind me, winter will bring a new tower and in this next tower I should have a lot of fun. Life in the golden stream has stripped me of any preconceived ideas or silly expectations, instead it’s been replaced with a simple joy that comes with that glimmering spark of instant creation. A joy that comes from the precise moment of today and the act of following that little murmur of a voice… the one that says yes, do this… yes… imagine that, oh yes… all of it and more. Fuck work and expectations. Pardon my language, but seriously, if it isn’t fun my friend… find out why and redirect. Inside the golden stream there is no work… you don’t do things for reasons other than joy… you just don’t. I suppose the last 4 months away from the 408 tower had a purpose for me, in time I’ll see those months for what they were… I’ll always hear that time in those last few tracks… for now I’m looking at a new mountain to climb and I’m ready for some mudd and dirt and ash again.
Music: In the new tower which I hope to secure soon… I will do some proper mixes on the last few tracks I did these past months, close out the record for good and light the torch again… high above the city of fire. We’ll see what kind of travelers show up. I’ll release the last “Ballad of the Dead Rabbit” track then… maybe with a video… we’ll see.
Diamonds Hadder Novel news: So I’ve been doing a lot of art lately for the Diamonds Hadder story. It serves 2 purposes really, for one it’s the concept art and story board for the novel and hopefully for the film someday, but aside from that it also is a wealth of imagery for merch. By the time the tour starts I suppose I’ll have a few nice designs ready for anyone interested in purchasing some pretty hadder swag. I find so much joy in creating art, to see the characters come to life before my eyes is just a powerful thing. I’ve seen all these things in my head for a while now and I’m quite obsessed with getting them on paper and perhaps even bringing them to the big screen someday. So all this concept art work I’m doing now is bringing a lot of joy into my life. I wish the same for you. Most people don’t know this, but I actually went to school for art… I dreamed as a kid about being a fantasy artist, admiring Frazetta and Boris as I was growing up. During that time I also sang for a heavy metal band in the city in new england and was takin opera lessons… I don’t think I was really good at any of those things then, ha, but I was REALLY RALLY not that good of a painter. I sure wish I was, but after a few years of study and failed efforts, at least to my standards, I decided to put my painting days behind me in favor of a microphone and camera. And so, today, with robots and computers, my love for art has somehow been rekindled, and just in time for the hadder tale. So is life but circles of things that go round and round only to meet up again. Regarding the latest Diamonds Hadder story line:
The Grasslands: High in the hills of BOK, there is a tribe of nomads… they worship the hills and the high grasses that grow there. They also seem to worship skulls for various reasons and decorate their faces as such. They’ve adapted to life there quite well, using the land for all that it is. Bokanian nomads. They seem to enjoy using grass for all sorts of things, war, home life, food… to name a few. These lands are generally ruled by strange predators and non more fierce than the Jed spiders that live in the high grasslands. They can grow quite large, are quit menacing and are hardly bothered by cold weather and winter months which makes then quit pesky for the natives. Grass crabs basically, with hard outer shells and internal skeletons. Scattered on the hillsides are the skullz of these creatures. The grasslanders have adapted to winter quite well, using some of these larger spider skulls as little huts. Pretty little counterparts to their normal grassy huts. The dome of the spider skulls seems to keep the warmth in and the winds away they say, a nice natural design they have. A few spiders have actually been raised by these grasslanders and have been equipped with some handmade weapons, attached to their broken spiny legs. They are quite loyal for the most part, other than one or two, and seem to enjoy life with the grasslanders. One particular spider named Tysha, (meaning “long friend” in the grassland language)… a property of Lord Raddix, is actually quite lovable in a pet giant spinder kind of way. His many eyes can really move you. Not much for cuddling but a good friend to have in a fight.
And lastly, I just want to say thanks to anyone reading and caring about the journey of Diamonds Hadder. Life is a humbling experience at every turn, is it?.... or a simple workshop, where you have to decide what is important to YOU and what costs your willing to endure for those things. If you can separate your mind from the outside world, well, it isn’t hard or humbling or anything at all…. It’s just you and joy born from the reasons you wake to grace the sunshine. That may change, it often does. It’s up to you, nothing else really matters. We’ll all be scattered dust together anyway someday. Stay the course. Enjoy the final days of September.. autumn is knocking once again. Farewell.
-j
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