The Henry Rollins Factor

Last night a friend of mine asked me for my favorite quote, it changes often but for now it is from Henry Rollins. A renaissance man today who is a writer, poet, rock star, and actor.

“Somewhere someone is thinking of you. Someone is calling you an angel. This person is using celestial colors to paint your image. Someone is making you into a vision so beautiful that it can only live in the mind. Someone is thinking of the way your breath escapes your lips when you are touched. How your eyes close and your jaw tightens with concentration as you give pleasure a home. These thoughts are saving a life somewhere right now. In some airless apartment on a dark, urine stained, whore lined street, someone is calling out to you silently and you are answering without even being there. So crystalline. So pure. Such life saving power when you smile. You will never know how you have cauterized my wounds. So sad that we will never touch. How it hurts me to know that I will never be able to give you everything I have."

I admire Henry Rollins quite a bit. His discipline and work ethic are simply amazing. He has a style of communicating to everyone else that allows them to put their own thoughts into order and define them. When I've got the blues I will listen to some of his spoken word stuff or read something from him and that usually brings me down further.

Go figure.

I've enjoyed his show on IFC for quite a while. I don't know if it is still in production or not but I believe the reruns have changed over to Fuse now. He usually interviews filmmakers and indie actors, talks about their projects and such. That appeals to me and the interviews aren't your usual softball questions. Rollins wants to know. He thirsts for education and enlightenment.

What you see is simply what you get, like it or not. Parts of it I like and enjoy, parts I don't but he is honest and upfront about it and that I respect.