Matinees in Paradise

Even though I complain about snobs a lot, I must confess a certain admiration for the ones who can substantiate their superior posture. It must be nice to have the money. It's the snobs who don't have the money who I mostly have a problem with. I wouldn't use my talent to make any arrogant claims. It wouldn't help. When it comes to my talent, I just want to work. But if people notice or like my work, it's fair for me to say that I'm not wasting my time with it. I've had some contact with the upper class because of my music. I can sense their horror of my working class background. These people grew up with masterpieces hanging on their walls. We had Dad's Lion's Club vest, loaded with brass pins, on one wall and a license plate stamped IT'S EXCITING TO BE POLISH above our TV. I understand how that could frighten upper class women, who I find very sexy, by the way. It's a turn-on to know that they are clean and they smell good and know how to act and all that. The only reason I have to talk about my stardom is to explain why my songs and blogs were stolen. I'm forced to discuss it to defend my honour. I recalled pleasant memories this morning, the two times they showed me I was big on YouTube. Have you ever seen those videos that tell you how to get featured on YouTube's front page? They give you all these elaborate instructions. Actually, the simplest way to get featured is if someone popular clicks on your video. At least, that's how it looked to me. Around the time I shared Size on YouTube in 2007, I went looking for the kind of video that I would be all alone with. I found this dusty old 1950's TV series with two views on the page. It was an episode divided into three parts. When I clicked on part two it showed twenty-four thousand views and it was listed as a featured video. I thought, 'what a coincidence!' I finished watching that and then I went looking for Grizzly Adams or something obscure like that which wouldn't be the first choice for most of the younger web crowd. Sure enough, I found it with less than ten views, split into three parts. Part two had over fifty thousand views and was a featured video. I scratched my head in wonder after that and went back to check my songs and their views were unchanged but they were always in rotation with other songs that had millions of views. And that's when those stars grabbed all my music and writing. And I ended up getting called a thief for every bit of it as I reclaimed it piece by piece over the last nine years. Normally, from here, my songs are not even shown in rotation with any other other songs on YouTube but strictly by the text of their titles and in rotation with unimpressive videos. It's almost insulting. But you can't really put anything solid together without the money. This was why my father said I should keep my art and music a hobby and get a real job. In an upper class family my father would arrange a stadium gig for me. He'd look at those web results in 2007 and see the dollar signs. But it was out of working class modesty that I abandoned my music and blogs later that year and went looking for a real job like I'd been raised to do. I'd dismissed this peculiar web experience and forgot about it as much as everyone else as my music and writing took over the TV and radio. The years went by and then in the summer of 2010 I rewrote Size and posted it on YouTube. About a week later, I located a vintage British black and white sci-fi classic and selected it. It showed about fifty-five views. As I watched it, I felt like I was on a movie date with thousands of girls. It was so vivid and pleasant. I used to like sharing new movies with my girlfriends. It's stimulating. When I signed out, I saw that the video had been featured and showed over a hundred thousand views. And then I remembered 2007. Since that year, I've ended up putting my effort into my music and poetry rather than at a full-time job. I think they show my effort. And my volume speaks for itself. And when I say that I've put a lot of time and effort into it, I'm reducing consideration for my talent. I'm offering my struggle to explain my success rather than arrogantly saying it was my birthright by virtue of my talent. But that crowd that stole my music and comedy always dismisses my effort. They can't imagine effort. They think I had my hits handed to me the way they so easily received them. They want to say I'm bragging when I'm forced to discuss my popularity to help people understand how so many of my songs and blogs ended up on the radio and TV. I don't browse on YouTube anymore anyway, so I'm never signed in where people around the world can check my channel and watch videos with me. That was a very pleasant trip though, one of the nicer things I got for my music in my life. And it has kept me well motivated to practice my music.
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