Shorthand for Nothing

Usually I make these into a post for Dreamers Often Lie or something, but this one is just a little too unsettling for that.

Last night I had a dream that I was going to be hanged. I don’t remember why. I remember feeling like it was an inevitability, and it was, naturally, something I worried about. Then at some point I decided that, no, I wasn’t going to go along with it. It wasn’t a realization that I could escape, but merely a decision to do so. I just fled. This was basically the start of the story. For the rest of the time I was just living this strange fugitive life. The thing is I never felt like I was in danger of being caught and dragged back to the gallows. It’s just that, when I chose to walk away from the gallows, I chose to live in some sort of grimy sub-existence, scraping by rather than thriving. I wasn’t so much a fugitive as a member of an underclass.

Of course, dreams never quite make sense. So one of the things that did it for me, that made the decision, was the actual experience of being hanged. There was no pain to speak of, but as I imagined it in the dream I experienced it. A short drop and a sudden stop, as they say. It’s been the sort of dream that’s been sticking with me all day.

Cheerful, I know.

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For those of you who follow Dreamers Often Lie, and I guess maybe those who don’t, I have decided to license the blog under cc-by-nc 3.0. This is largely due to the fact that I want to encourage people to make morose and brooding short films without asking for my permission, but not for commercial uses. I still want people to talk to me about commercial uses, because I, like many people, also like money.

This is part of a broader theme I have been mulling over for a while now. I want collaborative projects to happen more often. I want to work with other people to make something cooler than the sum of its parts. I’ve really enjoyed working with the estimable Chris Boyer on all of our myriad projects. I’d love to work with other people and make something really awesome. I don’t know what that awesome thing is yet, but I really want it to happen. If you are interested you presumably know how to get in touch. Let’s make something pretty happen.

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Or, you know, whatever.

I’ve got about three years of material up on Dreamers Often Lie, some of which is less than stellar, but much of which is good stuff. I’ve always wanted to do something with it–compile the best of into a book, clean it up, maybe add some new content. I mean, this has always been an ultimate goal, but I’m starting to wonder if there isn’t something to the idea.

The problem: I have no idea where to begin. I’d prefer something more interesting than simply words on page–something to make it prettier than it is–but I have no talent in that particular field. I don’t know of any visual artists or photographers that seem like they’d be interested in working with me. And I have no idea who would even be interested in purchasing such a thing from me.

If I did make it, I’d have to publicize it, which I haven’t really made any effort to do before–and I’m not exactly sure where to begin there. I’d love to be able to tap into some of the brilliant PR that went into making YawnLog the hit that it was on such short notice, but don’t really want to ask, especially since none of them would have a personal interest in the finished product. And of course there’s the problem of ordering in bulk. I don’t want a bookshelf full of lonely copies of the Dreamers Often Lie book, but honestly, I’d consider it a smashing success if it sold ten copies.

I’m not sure what my options are, if there are any. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions or would be interested in helping me out in some way, let me know. Maybe I’m just not looking in the right places.

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