Justify My Love = Simplify My Substack

(It's Not That Complicated, Clint!)

Dec 21, 2024

TONY WARD IN “JUSTIFY MY LOVE” MUSIC VIDEO

Like most humans, I have a knack—a true talent, you might say—for turning the simplest of things into tangled webs of complexity. And mess.

My most recent “bless this mess” moment came when I realized how much time I’ve been spending trying to justify my love of homoerotic art.

Yes, erotica. That wonderfully intimate, unapologetically raw art form that makes some people blush and other people—like me—swoon.

So like the gay Gen X content creator I am, I have been humming and singing along to Madonna’s "Justify My Love" while reworking how my Substack looks and works.

First, kudos to Team Substack. They’ve made it refreshingly easy to create and share my work. The platform’s simplicity is a blessing for compulsive types like me. There’s only so much you can tweak. For someone like me who is prone to analysis paralysis and perfectionism, it’s both a game-changer and a lifesaver.

CollidePress.com is now divided into three sections:

Blog + Newsletter + = This is where you’ll find posts like this—thoughts, musings, and the occasional over-analysis of whatever creative or cultural rabbit hole I’ve fallen into.
NSFW = For the connoisseurs of the bold, the sensual, and the unapologetically queer. These posts lean into my love of erotica and celebrate the artistry and humanity behind it. They’re available to paid subscribers because, let’s be honest, art like this requires a paywall. Especially these days.
SFW = As the name suggests, these posts are open to everyone. Think of them as an invitation to sample my work…without the pressure of commitment.

If you prefer to explore, the Archive has everything I’ve posted, in chronological order. It’s an easy way to dive deep into the catalog, no matter when you joined the party. And for quick access, there are links to tagged posts on the homepage.

Why the reorganization? Part of it is practical. Substack’s structure is straightforward, but as my content has grown, I realized it needed a little tidying up. The other part is emotional. Like a lot of creatives, I tend to overthink…well, everything. What if this isn’t clear enough? What if folk can’t find what they’re looking for? What if…what if…what if?

It can be exhausting. But I know I complicate things because I care.

I care deeply about my little corner of the World Wide Web. For me, it’s about creating and curating a home for culture, creativity, and community…built on love and respect.

Simplifying my Substack isn’t just about organization.
It’s about making it easier for you to explore and connect.

If you haven’t visited recently, please drop by and see what’s new.
If you’re not already subscribed, please become a paid subscriber.
Patrons—past, present, and future—support me and the work I do.

In the meantime, I’ll try to keep the overthinking and redesigning to a minimum. 🤓😎

Thanks for reading and subscribing!
Clint

ON THIS DAY = DECEMBER 21

BIRTHDAYS

1795 = Jack Russell = English priest, hunter, and dog breeder
1804 = Benjamin Disraeli = English lawyer and politician
1815 = Thomas Couture = French painter and educator
1859 = Gustave Kahn = French poet and critic
1922 = Paul Winchell = American actor, voice artist, and ventriloquist
1930 = Phil Roman = American animator
1935 = John G. Avildsen = American filmmaker
1935 = Phil Donahue = American talk show host and producer
1937 = Jane Fonda = American actor and activist
1940 = Frank Zappa = American singer-songwriter
1948 = Samuel L. Jackson = American actor
1950 = Jeffrey Katzenberg = American producer and DreamWorks co-founder
1944 = Michael Tilson Thomas = American conductor and composer 🌈
1954 = Chris Evert = American tennis player and coach
1955 = Jane Kaczmarek = American actor
1957 = Ray Romano = American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1966 = Kiefer Sutherland = British-Canadian actor, director, and producer
1969 = Julie Delpy = French model, actress, director, and screenwriter
1977 = Emmanuel Macron = French politician and 25th President of France
1978 = Charles Dera = American adult actor, dancer, model, and MMA fighter
1978 = Rutina Wesley = American actor

EVENTS

1620 = William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1879 = World premiere of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1891 = James Naismith, a Canadian-American gym teacher at Springfield College, publishes the first rules for the game now known as basketball and brings it to his class, which then plays the first game of basketball.
1913 = Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
1934 = Lieutenant Kijé, one of Sergei Prokofiev's best-known works, premiered.
1937 = Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.
1967 = The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman, is released in theaters.
1968 = Apollo 8 launches from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.
1991 = Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The leaders of 11 now effectively autonomous Soviet republics sign the Alma-Ata Protocol establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States in place of the collapsing Soviet Union.
1993 = The Department of Defense issues a directive prohibiting the US Military from barring applicants from service based on their sexual orientation. Known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the policy prohibits military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from the military.

PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY

Donald Sutherland: Photos of the Actor and His Family, 1970 — KEIFER + DONALD SUTHERLAND (1970)

“I've had some amazing people in my life. Look at my father - he came from a small fishing village of five hundred people and at six foot four with giant ears and a kind of very odd expression, thought he could be a movie star. So go figure, you know?”
Kiefer Sutherland