Hello and welcome to "A Day in the Life of..."©, a featured guest post exclusive to my blog that's published on Mondays and sometimes, on Thursdays. On these two days, a spotlight guest will share a normal day in their lives, giving us insight on their thoughts, projects, interests, obsessions and more. Occasionally, and if we're lucky, they'll even throw in a giveaway.
And now on with the show...
About Todd Crawford
Todd Crawford (1994) was born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, where he wrote his first three books, a Clockwork in the Stars, The Final Gospels, and his anthology The Black Season. His writing style is recognized as descriptive, cynically honest yet whimsical. His works obsess over the geography of the human mind, existentialism juxtaposed with the politically religious, and nature hearkening back to the Romantic era of literature. He first published a Clockwork in the Stars through Lulu publishing, but released his latter works under the CreateSpace banner before reissuing Clockwork with his new label. Although his only currently released works have been of the literary outlet, he has indulged in other orientations of Art such as music (having composed a companion piece for his novel, The Final Gospels), film (having adapted his novella, Brighter, into a short film), and comic books. Crawford is currently working on his third (traditionally structured) novel, The Pilgrimage, an abstract commentary of politics as he is browsing agents to market the release.
Connect with Todd Crawford
“A Day In The Life Of…” Todd Crawford, pt. 2
I wake up every morning to the sound of my alarm clock, the most sobering noise this world has to offer. I force myself out of bed, already well aware that I’m to be cutting it close to being late to my first class as I get in the shower. It’s amazing how many insults can slip out of one’s mind at any given nuisance when this tired. The shower at my apartments has no bath tub, but rather a small cell with a shower curtain, which means my towel, spread across the floor, will inevitably be soaked by the time I step out. Not only that, but the thin shelves are hardly wide enough to put a thin bottle of shampoo or a bar of soap on, let alone my roommate’s large bottle of hair jazz that he somehow manages to balance just long enough for me to get in the shower, before tumbling down onto my toe, at which point my arm-flailing reaction knocks my own bottle of shampoo on the other side of me (Oh, right, this shampoo cell has just about the spaciousness of a coffin, you might need to know.) onto the same toe on my other foot! I spent the first two weeks living here paranoid that I had broken one or both of them, especially when they began to stick out funny.
Anyways, I’m sure that you didn’t come here to read all about my toes. My day varies greatly depending on which day of the week it is, as Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays I have my English 198 and Psychology classes; on Tuesdays and Thursdays I attend History and Music. Now, one would think as an English major and author I would be in favour of the former set of days, but I also don’t think one would be inclined to think I would be failing my English class. I won’t necessarily go in-depth about it, but I never would have thought college professors would try to suffocate creativity and individuality in such a way as this woman does. She really is every reason that I didn’t want to go to college in the first place. She will tell students that they write “too scholarly” for her or that they are “too smart,” and then dock points for being too sophisticated for her low class. It’s sickening at how well America tends to the lowest common denominator, especially in the classroom of all places, where knowledge and personal development should be encouraged, not depressed. My History course makes up for it in spades, though, as we usually take at least four pages of notes a class period and all of it is both fascinating and inspiring. As I am currently writing a novel based on how little Art has advanced since the Greek and Roman ages, it’s stunning to find out how little society has advanced as well. (Democracy and Republics originated from these time periods, as well as just about any religious or artistic theme which one can find!) My Music class is also interesting; I can now read music…well, sorta, and we even learned about Symphonie Fantastique, the musical piece from which my upcoming novel originated.
After class I head back to my apartment and may stay there until the following morning, with occasional breaks to go on walks. I get hopelessly lonely and have noticed that I eat a lot more than I need to out of both lethargy and a need of something to do, which is never something I noticed about myself before. I’m really struggling to live up to that healthier lifestyle I had planned for myself a few months ago. This past month (of October) I have been uploading videos to YouTube about my artistic endeavors and giving more personal statements about them than I am able to through written word, which has surprisingly gone over much better than I had ever anticipated it to. I’m still very camera-shy (technophobe here), but I see it as a challenge to overcome, and something that will better prepare me to be the public figure which I see myself as inevitable to become. I’ve also been working on a lot of promotional essays and articles (such as this one!) for a “pre-marketing” campaign for my upcoming book titled The Pilgrimage. My theory is that if I do enough to promote the book on my own before I finish writing it, and develop a proper readership for the book, then when I go to sell it to agents and publishing houses, then they can recognize me as someone capable of handling publicity and marketing, as well as a true Artist (or at least someone attempting to live up to such a title). I also plan on someday compiling and publishing a book containing just these articles, interviews, and other promotional releases in one volume organized by date. The Artist’s representation of his- or herself is something truly lacking in a lot of modern contributors today, and something I hope to reform. I’m sick of seeing quotes by Blood on the Dance Floor, Black Veil Brides, or whatever farce act is trendy today on Facebook proclaiming their message to kids as some phrase synonymous with “Just be yourself!” If you don’t have something worth hearing, there’s no sense in clouding the public conscious with your chatter. Hopefully when people read my writings they can see that I aspire to much more than that.
Speaking of which, a lot of younger girls from my high school who are into such bands seem to look up to me or idolize me as they do such characters. I’m both flattered by their adoration and insulted that they would lump me in with such “Posers,” as Matthew Lillard might have it. Seeing myself as a “survivor” of high school and being suppressed artistically by my peers, classmates, and school in many ways, I see it as a sort of duty to help support them in whatever they may want to do, so long as it is true to their selves. I even offered to pay one girl for her Artwork when her parents told her she’d never get anywhere or make any money off of it. I just hope to remind them that life isn’t about financial gain, or what that may bring you, but the journey of life itself, and the satisfaction one may get from it: The Pilgrimage. It’s a journey I have yet to complete as well as one that I hope to help others along. It’s The Shadow of the Valley of Death, the journey from Kether to Malkuth, Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb.”
By the end of the day it’s fascinating how different of a place I am now than when I first wrote in to Nely Cab’s “A Day In The Life Of…”, (A hundred thousand thanks for having me!) yet I am in no different a situation as I was before. I still suffer from claustrophobic loneliness, and overpowering lethargy, but here I am nearly two hours away from my home town. I suppose what I’ve really learned is that life isn’t about what you have, but what you do. I’ve come to terms with a lot of the struggles I’ve had in the past, but I’ve still got many landmarks to pass and many ways to go. It seems like new readers are always telling me “I can’t believe that I’ve waited this late into your writing career to jump on the bandwagon!” but in actuality, this is only the beginning. I’m young at 18, I’ve only written three books, and there is so much yet to come that I don’t think anybody can fathom where it will end. If nothing else, there are two things I wish to accomplish every day in the life of Todd Crawford: 1.) To let people know that I am something to watch out for and that I have some truly fantastical things in the making (starting with five upcoming books) and 2.) To become not only the Artist, but the person I have always aspired to become. By the end of 2013, my Potential and Real selves will be merged into the best of my capabilities.
Thank you, Todd, for sharing your day with us and thank you, readers for taking the time to stop by. I hope that you've enjoyed today's
"A Day in the Life of..."
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