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  • welcome to the hole

    welcome to the hole

    Once upon a time, I kept a LiveJournal account, gryphons_hole, a deep, dark, comfy little hole in my brain where I kept notes on my life and queerness.

    This is the archive to that account, mostly password protected, adult, queer content, stripped of photo content after the site restructured its photo hosting feature. I hope to restore that content as well.

    If I know you, ask for the password. If I don’t, hope for a generous mood.

    08.18.24 I have realized a need to continue in this space. A kink reawaking if you will, with content that may range into inappropriate for my other blog spaces.

  • Protected: Poem-a-Day for 30 Days…

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  • Protected: Poetry Month

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  • The Singularity of Being

    I have used the title before, most likely more than once. The concept has been unfolding its secret to me ever since chemo, now almost two years past.

    Yesterday, I think I may have had the single greatest epiphany in my time as an artist. Unfortunately, it will need to wait just a it before gaining priority in my life, but I was clever enough to put down the thought while I had clarity about it.

    I will not go into full detail for I know how slow I can be to develop these things and I would not want to give a brilliant concept away before I have it in the physical. Kinda like protecting an invention while waiting for the patent process… I guess.

    So, hush on the specifics. But the general concept…

    I have a good amount of my initial concept and structure on paper. The flow and concept of the Major Arcana is well establish and a third of it sketched out on paper. It is nice and strong. The minor suits have been in various states of flux. A HUGE undertaking. This is a minimum of 78 images, not including the design of the card back or any extraneous panels for descriptions. I would like to add a card describing each suit and the flow of the Major Arcana, more for the purpose of the print series then for the actual deck itself.

    I have been itching to pursue a book. I had its concept all mapped out on paper as well. Completely unrelated to the tarot deck. The initial concept includes 30 to 40 images which a cohesive subject (keeping it secret, too) These grand epics repeat often in my life. Basically, this would be my first coffee table effort. I like that idea.

    I have been wanting to write a weird, small book about my cancer and chemo and how it impacted – good and bad – my life as a leather-queer.

    So, back to yesterdays epiphany. I can do all three of these in one set of works. Of course, the initial subject matter of the big book would be shelved, mostly, but it will always make a good book, so I could go back to it for the second book…

    I want to tweak my concept for the tarot deck slightly, and use it as an illustrated narrative to my experiences as a leather-queer, a person with HIV and a (I hate the term) cancer survivor… I think this is just brilliant! Really. And the lines all converge clearly in my head. Something I can not exactly will to happen since treatment. (A co-worker this morning call that chemo-brain. Her sister has it too.)

    Tarot is – at its root – a metaphor for the full spectrum of life-experiences. It is also a grand history of spectacular imagery. It also allows me to return to incorporating my spirituality back into the rest of my life. It has been tucked away in a box under the bed ever since chemo… actually for years before that.

    Of course, I have to thank all these hectic things piling up in my life of late. They wore down my mind enough to erode the partitions that normal would have check them all neatly tucked from away each other. I have worked to permanently remove these dividers, but they are not ingrained in my default processes – yet. This may become a great reminder to encourage just that.

    I am very happy.

  • The Great Sleep Conspiracy

    Dammit!

    I finally get to bed early enough to get some decent sleep before work, and the damned storm wakes me with its drama and tomfoolery. Of course, the big computer upstairs was still running, so I had to get up and shut it down. This one, too, after this post…

    Dammit!

    I just want a full day’s sleep. Next thing I know, a line of big, hot, hairy men will be pestering me for sex while I try to nod off…

    Erm… I said…

    Next thing I know, a line of big, hot, hairy men will be pestering me for sex while I try to nod off…

    *crickets chirping*

    Bastards!

  • Busy, Busy, Busy…

    Next week should ease up on the crazy some.

    And I will not apologize for choosing masturbation over making a lengthy post.

    Duh!

  • Protected: 0 to 60

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  • Another Light Flickers…

    Tonight, I got to see some people whom I have been missing a bit. It was good, for the most part. There was one particular individual I was hoping to see out this evening. He was to be seen. We have had some good conversation. Some great conversation. I was looking forward to spending more time with him and his pack, now that my life is loosening its vise-grip on me…

    I discovered a bit later why he wasn’t out.

    He is dying.

    I know, we are all technically dying. He was given two weeks. He has been undergoing chemo and radiation – I think – ever since I have known him. It is suppose to be an easy cancer to treat. It is suppose to already be gone…

    I fucked up. Another friend is slipping away before knowing him better, again.

    Plus, it’s that thing… That thing about my cancer. The violent aggressive one. The nasty, rapid growing, vicious one that can double in size weekly, but didn’t… The one that was suppose to knock me flat on my ass and put me into a long, miserable series of attempted bone-marrow transplants. The one that is suppose to be that much worse with HIV in the mix… That cancer…

    I can barely remember it now. In fact, I have such poor recall of the impending doom of it all, that I keep forgetting to call the clinic to schedule my next PET scan.

    His name is Ken. He is here in Kansas City. And want to know him better before he leaves. I need to know him better. In fact, I was suppose to know him better…

    I am beginning to despise that word…

  • The Re-ordering of Things…

    Everything in my life has fallen to disarray over the past few years. Mostly do to my love-life or more rightly referred to as my failing love-life. It is emblematic of my ‘in for an ounce, in for a pound’ view of things…

    The objective for this round of the chaotic carousel? To remember my need for order. To remember it precedes my need for a lover, at least, a live-in lover.

    The concept? Or theory, maybe… focusing on the other crumpled aspects of my life, restructure them, and keep the knowledge of their necessity in the forefront of my mind. I tend to get caught up in ‘this moment, now’.

    My LJ has a role in this, for certain.

    I have failed at all previous attempts to keep a journal. I think mostly due to distractions and my inability to pen thoughts quickly. So, in bringing my blog to this level of functional evolution, I will attempt, once more, to re-order how I approach it. This time, with more understanding of the site and functions, and more understanding of the greater concept of a journal with which others can interact.

    Some may have noticed that my previous attempts at clever tags have faded away, replaced by ordinary key-words. I now understand exactly how little the feature works with gimmicks interfering with it.

    In learning for others’ experiences and my growing dread of work and life colliding, I have elected to remove those entries using at least one specific tag from public view. I do feel a tinge of disappointment in this act, wanting to be the balls-out, bare-it-all kinda guy. I do have to make a living though. The topic may or may not be evident to readers of my entries, but I feel the move paramount to my own safety given my residence and the current political climate. I will list the actual tag(s) in a protected post later. These entries are being edited to ‘friends-only’ posts.

    I have also previously made some entries limited in their viewing access. They are not friends-only. They have a much smaller viewing list. It is derived from those that comment most regularly in my blog. I used this screening when I am specifically seeking other opinions or breaching a subject the needs to maintain an amount of secrecy. It is an ebb-n-flow kinda list. It changes. No requests for inclusion allowed. My blog. My rules.

    The third distinct change stems from this growing distraction I have with writing to an audience. This is suppose to be my journal. In just five months (maybe only three) I started self-censoring. I started clowning, avoiding topics that might not be as funny are entertaining. Then the shit hit. It must have been whiplash for those not physically present in my life… Basically, I stopped blogging and started chatting. I enjoy the interaction, most definitely, but not at the omission of the self-exploration. I need a means to track my mental process, the flow of this damned cycle of ineffectiveness I have in my life.

    These entries are posted fully private, mostly so I do not obsess with how many comments they get instead of personal growth. I just finished the first earlier this morning. As of now, I plan to track certain specific subjects, each with its own unique tag as well as tags tying to other related public posts. As of now, I plan to open each set of posts as the subject matter gains resolution in my life. Of course, this could evolve some other direction completely. I understand that possiblity.

    Also, I understand that this entry may simply read “Blah blah blah!” to many many people. I am okay with it. It is my blog. I am okay with boring. I am okay with me.

  • Protected: The Devolution of a Leatherman – Part 1

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  • The Routine of Late…

    I am so tired lately. I get less and less sleep each day, now down to about five hours a day. I have made some bad habits since I started ten hour shifts. For example, running too many chores after work in the mornings… I have found that if I stay up too long, I will re-invigorate myself and have more difficulty falling to sleep. Even when I get to sleep early, I cannot sleep a decent amount.

    Nothing is getting done in a timely manner.

    And David is taking forever to find the title to my car. We put it in his name to save money on insurance, and new plates are due by the end of the month. He rarely gets anything paid or scheduled on time, even though his job is mostly about scheduling, go figure… One more reason for the dissolution of ‘us’. I have extra money coming in Friday’s paycheck I want to get the new plates on time.

    Dammit, I’m tired.