All right folks, and welcome! I'm G.A. also known in some circles as Monterrey Goldscrap (that's my porno/rapper name LOL). We're here today to talk about the benefits of failure, particularly when it comes to art. Buuuuuuuut, I'm hoping this can be a resource for anyone: business guys and girls, scientists, bloggers or anyone who's ever said they wanted to be "someone" tried and failed. I want this to be a resource on not how to fail, but on how to succeed. But, I simply think we can learn a lot for others' mistakes and then succeed in our own lives. The reason for the blog is simple: many, many self-help books, blogs, books, seminars, speak with people who are "successful", which is great. But if you've ever read "What I Learned from Losing A Million Dollars" or "Outliers: The Story of Success" or even... damm, I forgot the third, I hope it comes to me, you'll understand that there can be tremendous benefit from learning about things from people who have made mistakes. This way you don't have to go down their path. Or maybe they did everything right, but just had bad luck. I mean, really who knows? Anyway, my point is that people who are "failures" actually have a lot of knowledge, resources and lessons to offer and we should, particularly when it comes to art, pay attention to these folks. Maybe it was timing. Maybe it was the people that surrounded them. But I promise (ok I don't promise anything) that we can learn just as much if not more from listening to people who've dedicated their lives to something: be it space exploration, art, whatever, and who've failed. Some of the people coming to mind: Eric J. Lerner, The guy who invented the timepiece, me, Franz Kafka, etc. Why write this blog? Well, there's many reasons, but here are the main two. !). I was chatting with a friend (Ok he wasn't a friend, it was a booty call and we'd just finished having sex) and he turned to me and said, "I heard you attended a writers conference." At the time I was a playwright/actor who could simply not make a living so I was dipping into fiction. I said, "Yes. But I could have been an presenter there. I mean. What they taught was so basic! I seriously could have taught those people." He scoffed. "Good luck with that." But I was serious. I already knew everything they were teaching. True. Alex Chee had some interesting ideas. But, c'mon. He's Korean. The Koreans always have interesting ideas - at least to us Irish boys! Remember the episode on Seinfeld (Oy! did I just reference Seinfeld? I hope no artists are judging me) when they all wanted a person who was truly Chinese? Anyway I digress. 2). Another friend (OK, she wasn't a friend. I was working for an off-Broadway show called Hedwig and the Angry Inch and she was a co-worker) who was working for the public school system in New York City said, "We're starting a new program in our schools. The idea is to bring artists to talk to the kids!" At this point my eyes lit up, I guess, because she quickly said, "Oh I mean famous and successful ones." I thought, well, these kids could learn a lot more from me, a struggling artist, than they could from them! Thus, an idea was planted. Focus on people who know a lot, but may not be so prominent in the public eye. And now here I am, fifteen years later, finally starting a blog. As a side note, I dedicated a proposal many years ago about Proust's obsession with the art critic John Ruskin. The proposal was accepted, but they wanted to see more. So here I am. Giving them more. Or should I say, here we are. Whatever. So I am trying to find people who've failed. This isn't easy as their not in the public spotlight. Apart from the obvious ones: Kafka, Van Gough, etc. But I'm interested in ones that are living today. People who know a lot, but aren't known. If you know any artistic geniuses out there, who haven't gotten their just rewards, please leave a comment. We've all met brilliant people who should be famous and in the public spotlight, but for some reason just aren't. These are the people I'm interested in hearing from. So please help me. As I wrote, I want this blog to help you, sugar, to be successful. In art. In life. In whatever. To get us started, my next post will be on Kafka, a writer who I love. I think it was Jean Cocteau who said (shite I hope this is right) something like "When we like art it's because it's something which we wish we would have made." That's not a direct quote, but I'm not about to dig through all of his journals looking for the exact quote. Anyway, Kafka's books are something I wish I had made. So, as I wrote, we'll be discussing that next. I should wrap it for now. I hope all is well. Peace Oui! XXO