Saturday, September 24, 2016

#HoldOnToTheLight, OR Why I NEED a Semi-colon Tattoo


Yes, I have a blog. Yes, I'm awful about keeping it updated. My author page on Facebook is even more neglected if you can believe it. But, that's not why you're here. My good friend and fellow (and far more talented) author Gail Z. Martin asked me to take part in #HoldOnToTheLight without knowing how much the cause meant to me. 

My birth father died a suicide on Labor Day in 1983. I never knew him, because he had sense enough to give up custody of me in the divorce when I was 2. However, everyone who sees his senior picture or any other photos say I look just like him, which I regard as high praise. He was a severe schizophrenic who did manage to get a degree in English and Russian Literature in between hospitalizations. He grew up like I did, on a mill hill in the upcountry of South Carolina; just a bit smarter than most of his classmates, bitten by a notion that being a liberal would be more fun than just falling in line. He went to Wofford, like I did and unlike me, had a breakdown. He married my mom, had me, and after another year, they divorced and he went to a mental hospital for the first of many stays. 

In 1988, I met my father's twin brother. I was in a bad place, like most teenagers. And I was primed to unintentionally follow in his footsteps. I was a bit of an outcast in high school, too smart for my own good, hyperactive, oversensitive, a Democrat in the heart of the Bible Belt, and bipolar, though I didn't know it at the time. I wanted attention, or something. I decided to cut my wrist and took 3 of every pill in the medicine cabinet and waited for my folks to get home from work. Thankfully, my dose was low, my blade was dull, and my folks got home on time for once. I was fine but my folks decided I needed professional help. I got diagnosed as severely bipolar, with more depressive tendencies and was medicated. Now I want to get a semi-colon tattoo on my scar. Right there on my left wrist. To remind me that the pause was only temporary and that my story has continued.

Now I'm a storyteller, published author, husband, son, uncle and godfather (in no real order). I work at a job I'm good at for too little pay and too much stress. I still have issues with  my manic depression and stress management. BUT I use my writing, my friends and family, and time in the woods to cope. Because I've seen the dark side up close and I don't like it. I have many many reasons to live, even in bad times. AND SO DO YOU.

Never be afraid to talk about how you feel. If you see me at a con, grab me if you need to be talked off the proverbial ledge. Find me on Facebook and message me. You are loved by someone, even if you don't think so in the heat of the moment. Never forget that. You not being here could lead others to not have the fullness of life they deserve. Suicide is the purest form of selfishness there is.

About the campaign:
#HoldOnToTheLight is a blog campaign encompassing blog posts by fantasy and science fiction authors around the world in an effort to raise awareness around treatment for depression, suicide prevention, domestic violence intervention, PTSD initiatives, bullying prevention and other mental health-related issues. We believe fandom should be supportive, welcoming and inclusive, in the long tradition of fandom taking care of its own. We encourage readers and fans to seek the help they or their loved ones need without shame or embarrassment.
 
Please consider donating to or volunteering for organizations dedicated to treatment and prevention such as: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Hope for the Warriors (PTSD), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Canadian Mental Health Association, MIND (UK), SANE (UK), BeyondBlue (Australia), To Write Love On Her Arms and the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.
 
To find out more about #HoldOnToTheLight, find a list of participating authors and blog posts, or reach a media contact, go to

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Been A Minute, Ain't It?

Well, I've been a bit busy... hitting MystiCon up in Roanoke VA, One of the best Cons on the East Coast and one of my favorite spots to visit (can't WAIT for next year). Anywho, y'all are here for the music... go visit me on Facebook for more on the Con.

Good news, iTunes now has free music back on the main page of the Store which is nice.

At any rate, on Friday night after a fun-filled night of catching up with old friends and showing off, I came across the last concert for George Strait.  This brought to mind some favorites of his and I dug them up off YouTube for y'all. Because as I've said on Facebook, the older I get the more my inner redneck comes out. Watch out for 50, folks. I'll be doing chaw, driving a old two-tome Silverado and drinking Jack from a mason jar. Yes, you will have to copy and paste.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=220SJGEoH5c- George Strait and Alan Jackson sing the Possum off in style at the CMAs... go find Alan solo doing He Stopped Loving Her Today at Possum's funeral if you don't cry, your soul is deader than disco.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4E9a3q9_jc- George Strait and friends knocking All My Exes Live in Texas slap out of the park.

And to rinse the blues all the way gone and for the hottie I'm hitched to, Red Solo Cup by Toby Keith (his only real good song). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKZqGJONH68

Who loves y'all this much? Nobody...be responsible.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

The Best of FREE Music from iTunes (The U2 Album Wasn't the Only Time)

Welcome back folks... Y'all know I do love some free stuff... especially when it comes to music... iTunes used to feed that need every Tuesday, but NOT for the last several (which sucks)...

Here's my Top Fifteen iTunes FREEBIES (but I expect now they will run you a buck 29 each):


1- Born to Die by Lana Del Rey- the missus LOVES some LDR and I have most of her catalog... very old school vibe. I dig it.

2- The A Team by Ed Sheeran- I like Don't better but this is well worth what it cost.

3-Angel of Darkness by Hot Tuna- The song playing in your head as you read the last chapter of the weird western, you just haven't heard it yet.

4- Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars- Pity they broke up but what a song.

5-Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes- The closest thing going to Simon and Garfunkel. Which is VERY high praise. Another freebie that made me find the rest

6-A Bunch of Girls by Frankie Ballard- Not a huge fan of modern pop country, but he enjoys the HELL out of this... excellent with a cold beer.

7-Carnivale Time by Galactic- A 3 minute 18 second party... like a can of old school Jolt Cola. You WILL chair dance.

8- Crickets by Drop City Yacht Club- Not a huge rap/ hip-hop fan but this has enough R&B to suit and the lyrics are HI-LARIOUS!

9-Emmylou by First Aid Kit- Gives props to some great love stories... and does a good job describing mine.

10- Friends of Friends by Hospitality- Good song, good lyrics. Sing along.

11- Ghost on the Canvas by Glen Campbell- From his last record after the Alzheimer's diagnosis... great song, but heart-rending. Hits the GHOST sweet spot.

12- Go Tell Everybody by The Horrible Crowes- They sneak some ghosts in, great drivin' tune... excellent for bellowing at red lights...

13- King of Diamonds by Motopony- Good lyrics, great hook.

14- Lady Luck by Jamie Woon- Sounds enough like Justin Timberlake to pass but has more soul. Helluva jam.

15-Leaving on the 5th by Voxhaul Broadcast- Good dance cut... I hear some 80s in it.

I have about 200 more of these... Go find them and get them... HECK buy a CD or 2.









7=

Friday, January 23, 2015

News on writing for a change

Basic to the tunes shortly... but first some "bidness" of a sort...

Y'all may have noticed that I write a bit (see my bio and one of the links hereabouts for more on how to order said critters). I've been in a bit of a dry spell but today I was accepted for an anthology with a publisher I've tried to crack before. The story is about ghosts and general weirdness up in the mountains of western North Carolina and features on of my all time favorite spots and tales in one... Brown Mountain.

In honor of that, here's Lula Belle and Scotty Wiseman doing the Brown Mountain Lights... recorded in Charlotte NC by Arthur Smith (SALUTE!)  in 1962... One of 4 different versions I have of the song. Still trying to get Daddy Spanky to put his version on wax with me telling the tale. One of these days...

Monday, January 19, 2015

The Fine Art of Buying Decent CDs for Less Than What a Song Costs on iTunes

Welcome back folks! Most of y'all know that I am not just poor, but cheap too. BUT I still enjoy some of the better things in life. How, pray tell? In large part thanks to the fine folks at Goodwill, though Manifest (one of the best stores going and Charlotte and Columbia are both BLESSED to have one, sorry Greenville, but Earshot stinks) is a mother load too. Before their "most recent move stuff around at random", the Manifest in Charlotte had a whole wall of used CDs that were 2 for a dollar. Now, I KNOW what you're thinking... all that crap ain't worth a dollar, much less worth wading through. And you'd be wrong! BUT you must have a strategy. Mine is simple: most songs on iTunes are now $1.29, so if you get 1 decent song from a CD for a buck, you win. So here are my "triggers" for a good deal on cheap CDs. Ghosts, JFK, trains, camping/ hiking, the South/ South Carolina, any band I've heard of, and cool cover art or album title. Now, I ain't gonna lie and say all I ever buy is wonderment, BUT it's not like I'm dropping ten bucks for garbage,  So, here are 15 tracks off bargain CDs for you to track down... legally natch. Genres will be blurred.

1- Absence of Photographs by Norfolk & Western (trains)
2-Aching Bones by Catalpa Boys (my knees were barking that day)
3-Ain't It a Shame by the B-52s (heard of them)
4-The Odd Couple Theme by JFK and the Conspirators (JFK... and it's ska yo!)
5- Life is Large by The Kennedys (JFK)
6-All in the Mind by Mother and the Addicts (cool cover)
7-The Backward Step by Hammock (the only way to camp)
8-Camping Next to Water by Badly Drawn Boy (based on where my hammock gets hung more often than not)
9-Darling Nikki by Asylum Street Spankers (heard of both and thought it might be weird enough to work and it do)
10-Elementary, My Dear Watson by William Indelli and his Orchestra (I like Jeremy Brett as Holmes and the wife LOVES Cumberbatch... I like the song and she don't...lol)
11-Face the Fear by Ghostfog (ghosts)
12- Get Your Priest on by Hot One (cool cover)
13- Hadrians Wall by Maxim (ghost)
14- Killer in Texas by Ghoultown (South, ghosts, cool cover)
15- The Death of Me by Dex Romweber Trio (cool title and cover)

Sunday, January 18, 2015

10 new (to me at least) tunes...


These are the last 10 songs I've added to my iTunes Library.  Videos to follow later (I hope), but most are from soundowl.com and other online sites.

Lake Song by The Decemberists
Our Town by Iris Dement
May the Bird of Paradise by Little Jimmy Dickens (RIP)
This Guy's In Love With You by Herb Alpert (CD)
The Wild Hunt by The Tallest Man on Earth
Your Own Religion by TV Girl
Walk On By by Leroy Van Dyke (CD)
On Peak Hill by Stars
To the Stars With All We've Got by Pee Wee Gaskins (NOT the mass murder from SC)
El Paso by Marty Robbins (CD)

Dig them up and enjoy!


Intro...

Welcome to what I hope will be a worthy experiment in cross promotion. Due to my travels in con circles, life as a storyteller and author and basic fan of good things, I have become friends with dozens of some amazingly talented folks in all walks of the arts. I am also a king-Hell music fan on a TIGHT budget with over 11 thousand songs on my iTunes list. Hopefully, this will be a place for to find good music, excellent art and literature and some basic tips on living the good life. Hit me up on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tally.johnson.3, on twitter at tallyjohnson535, at google + at https://plus.google.com/116799181230819943101/posts?hl=en and online at http://tallyjohnson.wix.com/sc-ghost-talker. Remember, buy my books and leave kind-hearted reviews at amazon.com.  More to come...