"Mystery of the Emptiness" by RFY (Holy Fool)

For folks who are into NEW WORDS, instead of ARTZ, scroll down to the "14 Feb. 2024" section for fancy stuff!

Meanwhile, here's some fancy pictures!

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11 Feb. 2024

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"Shakin' and Stirred" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

[Felt pen, liner pen, and paint pen on reclaimed cardboard with digital embellishments and color tweaking.] Creatures in the smoke... ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

https://zeroone.art/artwork/shakin-and-stirred-by-richard-f-yates-holy-fool-3237

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12 Feb. 2024

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"Hey..." by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

[Digital drawing created in Paint on my wacky, old laptop!] He's usually a grouchy little creature, but today, Sid says, "Hey..." (Progress!) ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

https://objkt.com/tokens/KT1T3ZVm8fTSSPi2joKDLaU1scVNFQcnGCA6/71

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We all need more nonsense, and few are as weird and un-normal as Bil Murray!

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13 Feb. 2024

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Today, so far.

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Received these awesome stickers in the post, yesterday, from Chris "CATHEAD" Reynolds!!! (I have cool friends, even if I never see them in the "REAL WORLD"!

Thanks, Mr. Head! I will attempt to use them wisely!

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"You and Me and Rainbows" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

[Photograph taken with my phone. There may have been some minor color tweaking done digitally...] I definitely did not take this photograph while driving down Highway 4 in Washington State. That would be illegal, so I didn't do it. ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

https://objkt.com/tokens/KT1T3ZVm8fTSSPi2joKDLaU1scVNFQcnGCA6/72

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"Naked Demon" by Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

[Felt pen on paper notecard with digital embellishments and color.] I'm guessing that this skinny demon was trying to become a cover model for some evil magazine (maybe Cosmo?), but I never heard if he was able to quite his job at Fenton's Bar & Grill (where he's worked as a bus boy for almost a decade...) ---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

https://objkt.com/tokens/KT1T3ZVm8fTSSPi2joKDLaU1scVNFQcnGCA6/73

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14 Feb. 2024

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My current thoughts on being an ANTI-SOCIAL SOCIAL MEDIA User...

The world is speeding up again. Getting faster but also fragmenting and disintegrating and expanding all at the same time. It's like a giant, multi-dimensional Tilt-a-Whirl moving at nearly the speed of light, zooming around and around, while somehow ALSO traveling on a corkscrew rollercoaster that is duct-taped to a canoe that is currently plunging over a waterfall... But I try to hang on (and not throw up.)

Speaking of "throwing up," I've been experimenting with various "SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS" lately. Below, you will discover a LOWDOWN BREAKDOWN of my thoughts on a few of these sites and apps...

---FaceBook: It's evil, and I see a lot of ads and content "suggestions" instead of the materials posted by the folks I follow, which bugs me, but this site is also where most of my family and "real life" friends interact with the online universe, so I still use it. (In fact, the MESSENGER app is my primary means of contact with my wife and kids, which helps me know that they are still alive!)

---Patreon: I've been using this site for a few months now, and I have ONE Patron, but he's funny and comments all the time, so it's worth keeping the platform going to see if I can EVENTUALLY build a larger audience. (Maybe as many as FIVE people...someday!) Honestly, I doubt that Patreon will ever be a "money maker" for me, but the site DOES let me post all kinds of stuff, so it's cool to have a CREATIVE HUB from which to project my ARTZ to the universe!

---Twitter / X: This WUZ my primary BUSINESS connection, but when Elon took over and started his fascist, right-wing bullshit, I HAD TO GO. (That decision was exactly like intentionally shooting a cannonball into the side of the leaky, barnacle encrusted, wooden ship that was my "ART CAREER," as 80 to 90 percent of my art sales came from advertising on Twitter.) Integrity oveer economics, right!? (Yes... I take the "FOOL" part of "HOLY FOOL" very seriously!)

---Ello / Typed.art / StumbleUpon / GeoCities / MP3.com...: Loved them. Used them... Now they are all apparently defunct. Good to know that all the time and energy that I put into these platforms wasn't a total waste... (Actually, there is a "new" GeoCities clone site, called "NEOCITIES" that I'm thinking about experimenting with... What could go wrong???)

---Instagram / Threads / Mastadon / Tumblr...: I use these a bit, but engagement is limited, and I'm not REALLY that thrilled by these places/platforms... I want to ENJOY my online "job," not be bored and/or find it tedious.

---Reddit: I tried it. I got kicked off of most of the topics I tried to post in. I don't get it, and I hate it...

---WordPress / Blogger: I have TONS (literally THOUSANDS) of posts up on these sites spread over maybe two dozen different blogs (starting with my first in around 2004 on Blogger.) However, the free memory allotment is smaller than it used to be, meaning that the blogs FILL UP too fast, and engagement with newer stuff that post on them is minimal. STILL< they are a great ARCHIVE of my and my friends' creative efforts. I'm honestly proud of a LOT of what's up on several of these blogs. (Outsider Art Scholars: TIS is material worth investigating! A comprehensive list of the blogs and topics will be forthcoming...)

---Hive / Peakd: I've been a regular user on HIVE since 2018 (when it was still part of STEEM.) I write a post maybe two or three times per week, usually a compilation of all the "little" things I've done over the previous few days, and I have a regular group of folks who look at and interact with my stuff. It's a nice, little set-up, and I'm happy with it. Not sure if it will ever "go to the moon," but that's fine. (I'm afraid of heights, anyway...)

---Bluesky: It's kind'a like Twitter, and I've been using it for a few months now. I'm getting a LITTLE BIT of engagement (not as much as I had on Twitter in the Glory Daze, but enough to keep me going.) Using the platform isn't a THRILL RIDE, but it's an okay platform. Maybe it will grow and expand as it matures...

---Farcaster / Warpcast: I just found out about this one a few days ago (maybe a week??) MANY of the peeps who I interacted with on Tweeter are on this site, BUT it's frantic, chaotic, noisy, weird, confusing, complicated, and already a little cliquish... (I'm not sure that I can handle MORE in-group / out-group politics, emotionally speaking...) We'll see if I can figure out how it all works (without smashing my phone or laptop to pieces!) At the very least, there is some serious EXCITEMENT on this platform, even if I'm too old to keep up!!!

My overall thoughts on the state of social media:

It's stupid... I would much rather spend my days drawing or writing or reading, but to succeed as an ARTIST in this particular segment of SPACETIME, one must hustle and connect! (LAME! Anti-social folks are at a severe disadvantage...) I'll keep plugging away (for now) and see what happens!

Yep...

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---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)
https://www.patreon.com/richardfyates
https://linktr.ee/richardfyates