Soul Train = People All Over The World

Project Lite-Brite Choo-Choos On

When I posted “Turning My Light Back On” a few days ago, I didn’t think anyone would read or respond. Frankly, I expected I’d lose a number of subscribers.

A post about my personal battle with agoraphobia, anxiety, depression, and grief isn’t exactly “celebrating ‘The Male Gayze.” The post wasn’t something I wanted to write. It was something I needed to write about.

Other than using an art name, I try to always tell the truth in my work. Sometimes, I tell the triple truth. And, yes, my mother's middle name really was Ruth.

Why? Because I am changing. We all are—some faster, some slower.

I started Collide Press simply as a way to get myself out of bed and stay off the couch. It’s evolved—in fits and starts—into a motley mix of a lot of things.

Maybe too many. But like Bob Dylan, I contain multitudes. Also, like Bob Dylan, I’m a way better writer than a singer. But I try anyway. So here’s new-to-me singer Emma Swift doing justice to his classic song.

When I hit “publish” to the post a few days ago, I hoped for, at best, a few kind words and maybe a handful of people who could relate. At worst, I expected to hear crickets. But the outpouring of love I’ve received from both real-world and virtual nears, dears, and/or queers has been a welcome surprise.

For me, it’s been an emotional, occasionally overwhelming rollercoaster ride so far. Exactly the motley mix of emotions I needed to turn my little "I Think I Can" engine into a freight train of picking up the pieces and putting my life back together.

As a kid, I loved watching Soul Train, singing and dancing along to every song. How my parents let me live is anyone’s guess, but they seem to understand the show was helping introduce me to a new beauty and beauty, new joys and jams.

Every week I saw how music—and tv cameras—could bring so many people together to share joy. Over the years, I’ve evolved into believing we’re all interconnected. With or without the dance floor, music, tv cameras…or internet.

I’m inspired by the magical and mysterious ways our offline and online lives intersect.

Honestly, I don’t know exactly where my choo-choo train is heading next, but I know that the trip is off to a great start.

To everyone who’s reached out, who’s read, who’s shared, who’s simply held space for me, Thank YOU!

Let’s keep keep moving, grooving, and colliding on the dance floor of life…
Clint 🌈✌️

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

• Flee! What Is Fascism & Why We're Leaving… (Graham Kolbeins) 📺

• How the richest woman in the world helped bail out New York City… (Fortune)

• Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax @ The Prince's Trust 2004 (Trevor Horn courtesy of Douglas Thompson…thanks Doug!)

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ON THIS DAY = FEBRUARY 12

BIRTHDAYS

• 1791 = Peter Cooper = American businessman and Cooper Union founder

• 1809 = Abraham Lincoln = American lawyer and politician 🌈

• 1809 = Charles Darwin = English geologist and theorist

• 1847 = Philip, Prince of Eulenburg = German politician and diplomat 🌈

• 1857 = Eugène Atget = French photographer

• 1877 = Louis Renault = French engineer and Renault co-founder

• 1885 = James Scott = American composer

• 1898 = Wallace Ford = English-American actor and singer

• 1902 = William Collier, Jr. = American actor, producer, and screenwriter

• 1904 = Ted Mack = American radio and television host

• 1907 = Joseph Kearns = American actor

• 1910 = Lee Byung-chul = South Korean businessman and Samsung founder

• 1915 = Lorne Greene = Canadian-American actor

• 1923 = Franco Zeffirelli = Italian filmmaker and politician

• 1925 = Joan Mitchell = American-French painter

• 1938 = Judy Blume = American author and educator

• 1939 = Ray Manzarek = American singer-songwriter

• 1941 = Patricia Field = American costume designer and stylist 🌈

• 1948 = Ray Kurzweil = American computer scientist and engineer

• 1952 = Michael McDonald = American singer-songwriter

• 1953 = Joanna Kerns = American actor and director

• 1955 = Bill Laswell = American musician and producer

• 1956 = Arsenio Hall = American actor and talk show host

• 1960 = George Elliott Clarke = Canadian poet, playwright and critic

• 1963 = John Michael Higgins = American actor and comedian

• 1964 = George Smitherman = Canadian politician 🌈

• 1968 = Josh Brolin = American actor

• 1969 = Darren Aronofsky = American filmmaker

• 1972 = Latrice Royale = American drag queen 🌈

• 1980 = Christina Ricci = American actor

• 1988 = Mike Posner = American singer-songwriter

EVENTS

• 1924 = George Gershwin's composition Rhapsody in Blue premiered at Aeolian Hall in New York.

• 1988 = Spike Lee’s second feature film, School Daze, is released in theaters.

• 1994 = Edvard Munch's painting The Scream is was stolen from the National Gallery of Norway.

• 2004 = The city of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• Black History Month

• LGBT History Month (UK)

PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I want people to realize that it's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to fall down. Get up, look sickening and make them eat it!”
Latrice Royale (aka Timothy K. Wilcots)

NEW + FEATURED

• Substack = NSFW + Pioneers + Pride + SFW

• YouTube = Playlists + Streams + Videos

MORE FROM COLLIDE PRESS
Bluesky + Ko-Fi + Linktree + Shop
+ Storefront + Threadless + YouTube