Final Solutions

Alas, the panacea for the Patriot was the unfortunate demise of the Work Project site. Thus, the Patriot's lips smile again; his tired body ... is granted life anew. Here is my send-off at the Work Project, followed by several of the creative writings I posted exclusively at TWP:

"The mill is closed. There's no more work. It's scientific experiments for the lot of you...."(excerpt from Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life")

For different reasons, a decision has been made by the founding fathers of this site (TWP) that our Constitution was never intended to be taken literally ... whoops, I'm mixing apples and oranges again. In all sincerity, The Work Project is closing shop. At its inception, we the people deigned that this site would be a veritable melting pot of excited artists/pseudo-artists kicking against the proverbial pricks of life, which rebellion would, in turn, help call others to arms. Though we have been pleased with the quality of work submitted to date, the general reaction has been ostensibly lukewarm; some contributors have not been able to contribute as frequently as we would have hoped (perfectly understandable reasons or otherwise); and perhaps most significantly, some spurned applicants to join the site have levied personal assaults against one or more contributors for myriad so-called reasons.
Life is a bitch, people, or as one great writer, Thomas Hobbes once said, it is "nasty, brutish and short." If some of you haven't divined already, you will be denied jobs, you will be fired from jobs, and there will always be people who think you are shit. But the point is to stay true to yourself; true to your muse. If, for example, Matthew Good listened to everyone who tells him what an asshole he is or how he is this or that, a glorious, life-defying record like Avalanche, for example, would never have been created. Sure it is disappointing to fail; sure it is sad that one or more artists you respect don't think the calibre of what you have to offer at this time is what we were seeking. But does that mean you suck? Does that mean you are forever doomed to be mediocre? Hardly. I am 39 years old. I've learned that there are some thing in life at which I'm better than others. But I'll say this, I am a hell of a lot better (and/or worse) at some things now compared to when I was 20. We are forever evolving. Don't ever think that you won't improve; evolve. If you love something, you want something ... work really hard and reap rewards in time. Most importantly, there is no reason whatsoever to launch personal attacks against someone who doesn't first throw stones at you. It's business, whether you like it or not, just watch The Godfather. Just because you don't like it doesn't make your way that of the world; authenticity lies in challenging such mores with your every breath, word, chord....
Thanks again to those who genuinely did care about what we were doing. We will still be doing our own things -- you know where to find Matt, and I know Daniel, Jess, Scott and I all have our own respective sites/blogs in which we will continue to do what we've been doing and beyond. There is no reason why you can't do so as well. Thanks also to the excellent contributions made to this site. Happy holidays to all, and peace....
Paul