Monday, February 14, 2011

Cupid and His Paintball Gun, or, Black Tears and Happy Apocalyptic Ballads


I don't do Valentine's posts (she says as she posts on Valentine's Day. For more information on bloggable hypocrisy see the original rules of The Trouble With Poet, specifically: "The Trouble With Poet reserves the right to be totally full of it at any time"). But I do have amazing little nuggets gifted from other artists recently that make me feel someone similar to Cupid is fluttering about, carrying a paintball gun instead of arrows. And I prefer paint splatters to chalky conversation hearts any day.


The first is the picture above, given to me by street artist M.F. Rey. Titled "Single Black Tear," the duo-tone stencil piece was inspired by my favorite Walk of Shame element: the single charcoal path of mascara that runs like a slug's slime-trail down one cheek during the cold trek home after a long, long night or a long, long fight. He's mounted a small version for me to keep in my room and that would be enough, but there are plans for it to be blasted before the sun rises on the side of LES buildings sometime in the near future, along with M.F.'s numerous other installations. For that I'm honored and touched. (I'm also on call to bail him out of jail when he inevitably gets arrested, as street artists sometimes do.)

The second is the song below. I mentioned to a dear friend from Desperate Times Call for Tangible Lies on a sad day that I wished I had a happy song for bad afternoons, a little uptempo ditty I could play like underscoring in a twee indie film to buoy me when I'm sinking. Within an hour this rough lovable popped up in my inbox. "The Ballad of the End of the World" may not sound all that romantic or optimistic, but in my twee indie film it plays while I wipe away a single black tear, buy a handful of colorful balloons, tie them to the back of a rusty old bicycle and ride down Broadway with warm breeze at my back. (I run over Zooey Deschanel as I go, leaving her mangled body and stained baby doll dress crumpled at the crosswalk behind me.)

Do listen. It's lovely. He's lovely:



Last is an epic gift given to me last night. It is so epic that I have to wait to take pictures, then post, which I will do soonly.

Thanks are in order to my various Cupid paintballers. I hope the rest of you have been similarly splattered.

28 comments:

  1. I wish I could buy this...and then buy it for...everyone.

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  2. And by this...I mean the song...should have clarified that, sorry! :)

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  3. Haha oh, I just stumbled over your blog. I must say that you're the funniest person I've found i a very long time :)

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  4. LOL I can't help but smile...I love the way you mind works...so delectably different. Ahhh well wishing you not so much a Happy V-day, but more like 'I'm blessed to have met you day,' and looking forward to more and more interaction. :-)

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  5. haha, amusingly entertaining. I enjoy your dry, straightforward, yet slightly offset sense of humor. I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on this...http://b2quared.blogspot.com/2011/02/valentines-day.html

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  6. "I run over Zooey Deschanel as I go, leaving her mangled body and stained baby doll dress crumpled at the crosswalk behind me."

    Perfect Valentine's day visual.

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  7. ha! so funny. i had absolutely nothing to say for valentines this tym cz i lost my 'love' for my love.infact, i dont thnk its ever been for me. and too bad, i like Zooey

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  8. I'm with you. I don't do Valentine's posts either, although (and I must admit that I did, in a sense also do a Valentine's post) it's near impossible to escape it. Thanks for no hearts and flowers and kisses. I quite like the single black tear.
    And love the song. Will share!
    Hope all went well yesterday - cupid's on your side. ;)

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  9. The universal truth of Divine Love is something you should get aquainted with Kimberly! I offer you a snippet of my upcoming blog on the universal Truth of Divine Love

    ...As soon as one has embarked on the spiritual path of Divine Love; entering through the gateway of our hearts and bathing in self-love and appreciation our eyes are cleansed of our perceived inadequacies and we are able to see the many other wonderful features love has to offer. What other ways does our heart speak loudly to us?

    The wind begins to whirl and whip around me and as I close my eyes I hear the words “Through passion” whispered in my ears. What is passion and how does one know when one has discovered their passion? Passion is one of the fruits of Divine Love and is the hearts familiar vernacular. Passion is what drives people to do amazing things and is an emotion to be nurtured and develop a healthy relationship with.

    “Those who live passionately teach us how to love. Those who love passionately teach us how to live.” Sarah Ban Breathnach

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  10. Glad to have found you! I'll definitely be following!

    http://tarot-girl.blogspot.com

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  12. Congrats on getting "Blogs of Note". I really enjoy your blog. Thanks for the great content <3
    I'm following.

    http://lllmusic.blogspot.com

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  13. really enjoyed reading this, as i'm anti valentines day aswell.
    look forward to readign more of your posts.

    www.amyjaynespalaver.blogspot.com

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  15. We love your blog, it's wonderful :)
    Would you like to visit ours? It will be a pleasure!
    Kisses
    Jo and Giuls

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  16. That was great. I am more of the paintball type too. Going to share this with my anti V-Day friends. Also an anti V Day person.

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  17. @EVERYONE -- Thank you for the anti-Vday blog lovin.

    For anyone who wants that song, or wants more songness from that song writer, go to the following link and yell in the comments section at its author to record more, post more, etc. Also, tell him how talented he is, he forgets sometimes:

    http://desperatetimescomewithtangiblelies.blogspot.com/

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  18. Love that stencil and the idea behind it.

    Mascara is an emotional tracer-bullet. Or smoke from an abandoned campfire.

    It was the Egyptians, in their Emo-Centric zaniness, that started lining their eyes. Dress up the windows of the soul, dress down your body (it's hot there, and there REALLY was no internet then), and get ready for some drama.

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  19. I am new to Blogger but I must say, your blog being the first random one I stumbled upon was nice. You have a very unique line of thought and I decided that I am definitely going to follow you. Keep coming up with this artistic and linguistic posts!

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  20. Perhaps my views on Valentines Day are different than all y'all's (I did a V-Day post) but still I enjoyed the art and the song.
    You are one of my favorites, no matter if we don't always see the same.
    xoxoxo, cd

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  21. I like the way the gerbils in you head get the wheel turning!
    socialreciprocity.blogspot.com

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  22. Glad I found this blog. Followed

    seankenny08.blogspot.com

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  23. It is a sad state of affairs that I have to do some school work today and cannot further delve into your blog.

    a) That song was fabulous.
    b) I just read your 'about me' section. Still giggling, still giggling.
    c) Love the picture. It's very thought provoking and the explanation behind it is likewise.

    Dragging myself away now...if I must.

    P.S. A picture of your 40's retro top and jeggings would not be amiss. ;-)

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  24. I couldn't hear the words but I liked it, could be foolish of me I know. I liked the angular portrait and don't know if tears can be any darker than humour but at least there's hope if either dry up with a little sunshine to be replaced by some tlc, T for timely. They say it's better to love than be loved anyway but if you can get both going then there could be just a chance we'd all see some hope whilst the think black tear runs to a standstill.

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