Stu Jenks' Fezziwig Press

Hillary Clinton in Tunis, Tunisia

Photo: EPA from The Telegraph.

By no means do I expect anyone but serious political junkies like me to watch all 18 minutes of this video, but I post this to make a point.

Often I resist being too political on the StuBlog, out of fear it'll hurt my business, but my income from all my creations is way down anyway, so what could it hurt?

(An aside: I may have to use my LISAC and do intakes and run treatment groups for unremorseful felons again. I'm happy I can make money doing intakes and running groups but I really hate the work. Most felons have no desire to be in recovery. Hell, they don't even want to stop beating their wives and girlfriends, much less cut down on their drinking and drug use. It's why I left the treatment field in 2009, but I might need to go back, to pay the rent. I don't want to, but you often have to do things you don't want to do. Point is I'm going broke anyway, being an artist, photog, writer, musician, whatever, so I might as well let fly with my strong political opinions cause it can't hurt book, CD and print sales. Sales already suck. (Except for Dementia Blues.) I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I'm just facing reality. So why not? It'll be fun.)

So here's my main point:

We Democrats nominated the wrong person in 2008. Hillary Clinton should be The President of the United States, not Barack Obama. Barack needs to be liked way too much and due to what I believe are unresolved issues around his father, he acts passively when he should lead with passion and conviction.

Hillary Clinton would be a great President and it's probably too late. In 2016, she probably won't run.  She may want to retire from public life. She might see herself as too old as well.

But I'm having serious buyer's remorse. Have for a year or two. So much so that I'm no longer a Democrat. I'm a registered Independent now.

And just so I piss off everyone, Rick Santorum is a crazy man, a religious bigot, a nut case. He needs to go home. Newt is a con man who really doesn't want to be President. He just wants to make money out of his meanness. He needs to go home too. Ron Paul is consistent, true, but Crazy GrandPa forgets the Constitution has been amended a good number of times since 1787. (This can be said for most Republicans in Congress and around the country.) And Mitt Romney is a rich man who has little compassion for the working class and for the poor. And he appears to be missing a screw. Many rich people are compassionate and kind. Mitt ain't one of them. Plus he's as phony as a three-dollar-bill.

So watch Hillary and see real leadership in action. Minute 16:20 and on is truly great statesmanship.

So keeping fighting the good fight. Say truth to power and all of that. But say it with love. If you can. (I can only about half the time. I often say "I'm a nice man until I'm not") And know that all of you, even the violent felons, are in my prayers. OK, I pray for my friends and family first, but I eventually get around to praying for the jerks.

Love, and light,

Stu

...The first draft of the novel is done!!!...

The first draft of the novel is done!!! It came in at 149,000 words, 552 pages in my document. Yeaaaa! I can't tell you how good it feels. The ending made me cry, as I hope it does you. (Last word in the novel, which won't change in revision: Sighs.) I want to jump right back to the beginning and start revisions, but Mary Ann suggests I take more than just a couple days off. OK. I'll take off three or four days. LOL. But then it's fixing this and revising that, then off to the editors. And I have ideas for the next novel in this series, too. I have some pretty great characters, I think, and I want to see what they will do next. But first things first. Get this novel to print.

One serious note: It took about a year to write this novel, but it almost didn't get done. With Mary and Pamela dying and all, I didn't work on it for about six weeks and it was so hard to get my momentum back. But I did. But it was difficult. If you are working on a novel or a large work, I recommend you plow through, even if the field is frozen. I've been told I'm very lucky to have gotten back on track.

Speaking of track, good luck to Danica Patrick tomorrow in the Daytona 500 and in the rest of Sprint Cup and Nationwide races this season. I might just have to go up to PHX next Saturday to watch her race.

By the way, did I mention I finished the freaking first draft of the novel?

Yeaaaaaaaaa!

"Deaths & Injuries" is now on iTunes and at CDBaby.com

"Deaths & Injuries" is now available at your local iTunes store on your computer and on your mobile devices, and at my CDBaby.com page, both as a digital download and as a physical CD. You can also buy the physical CD at the Fezziwig Press Store. CDs are $12.00 through me and $13.00 through CDBaby.com (S & H extra.) And the digital downloads are your standard .99 cents per track.

Thanks, y'all.

Stu

p.s. The above image, "Ed-Lil" is on the inside cover of this CD. Just tired of putting the same cover image on my blog to promote this CD. If you want to see the cover, just scroll down.

"Asheville Spiral"

"Asheville Spiral, North Carolina" (c) 2012 Stu Jenks

"Raleigh Spiral"

"Raleigh Spiral, Governor's Mansion, North Carolina" (c) 2012 Stu Jenks

"Barrio Door"

It's a photographic cliche to shoot doors yet sometimes cliches are all right. In this case, these photographs are potential choices for images beginning chapters for a book.

And Happy Valantine's Day, y'all.

"Deaths & Injuries" Is Now Here!

Deaths & Injuries, the physical CD, is now here! (It'll soon to be on iTunes and the other platforms. When it's up in the iCloud, I'll let you know.)

One small thing: I'm having a little problem with the shipping and handling at The music section at the Fezziwig Press store. They are calculating a couple bucks too much for shipping. If you don't mind the slight extra cost, just buy the CD at the Fezziwig Press store. But also feel free to simply order the physical CD directly through my Paypal account. [email protected] is my Paypal login. Just add money to my account, tell me what you are buying and give me your name and address. (And if you want me to sign or personalize the CD, let me know that too.) Either way, I'll get the CDs to you as quickly as possible.

Deaths & Injuries is $12.00 for the CD; $5.00 USPS Priority Mail in the U.S.A.; $8.00 US, International Mail. (Except through the Fezziwig Press store right now, which I think is calculating shippng at $8.00, worldwide.)

I'm very happy with the quality of the printing and pressing of this product. (Thanks, A to Z Media.) Very little color shift in the cover images and the sound quality is just excellent, better than the mp3s you find on iTunes. iTunes is fine. I buy a lot of music through iTunes, but the physical CD has a very wide tonal range, great for the atmospheric nature of this music.

Below is an mp3 of Prayer For Gabe Zimmerman. It sounds even better on the CD.

Download Prayer For Gabe Zimmerman by Stu Jenks

There is a fine line between self-confidence and arrogance, and we do live in a narcisstic time, don't you know, but I really like this CD. It's the best music I've ever produced. I guess all that practicing and running scales has paid off. And Craig Schumacher's mastering of the CD makes my playing shine.

I hope you enjoy Deaths & Injuries as much as I do.

Cheers,

Stu

P.S. There'll be a CD release party soon at Studio BR-549 in Tucson. I'll let you know more when I know more.

P.P.S. Play it loud in your car. It's really good loud.

"Ridgeline Reflected In A Whipple Mirror"

"Ridgeline Reflected In A Whipple Mirror, Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona" (c) 2012 Stu Jenks

"Culvert on the Gabe Zimmerman Trail"

"Culvert on the Gabe Zimmerman Trail, Arizona" (c) 2012 Stu Jenks

"The Ferro Avenue Angel"

"The Ferro Avenue Angel, Tucson, Arizona" (c) 1997, 2012 Stu Jenks