Flying Too Close To The Sun?

It IS Getting HOT In Here 🥵

After months of battling YouTube over “community guidelines” and trying to avoid yet another “policy violation” strike—and forced “break”—like I’m Neo in The Matrix, I have been reflecting on my creative direction—and flight path—here on Substack.

Over the weekend, I read Jason Collins‘s post about pausing his YouTube channel. It got me to doodling and noodling: Am I, like Icarus, soaring too close to the sun? Is it getting a little TOO HOT in here?

Since starting on the platform in January, Substack has become my creative home base and professional safe space—an online refuge where I can focus on creativity without fearing YouTube’s constant algorithmic restrictions and targeted bot attacks.

But, in my passion for homoerotic art and beauty, have I “colored” outside the lines too much? Have I pushed the line of “spice is nice” too much?

While I’m no stranger to crossing lines—or no fan of censorship—I know there’s a fine balance between being bold and fearless and being foolish and risking it all over a few private parts. Substack may be a-okay with erotica and nudity, but those pesky credit card companies and processors are not.

So, what’s next? A slight pivot. Slowly but surely, I’ll be turning the thermostat down a notch—not to dampen the fire, but to channel the heat more thoughtfully.

Think more art and storytelling. Fewer bits and parts. More evocative, less explicit. Slightly. Still very much me—and we—but I want to focus on creating work that stirs the imagination as much as it does the loins.

Long story short: I’m queer, dear, and I want to do everything possible to remain here.

Substack is the first platform where I’ve felt truly supported and welcomed. By both you—my community and crew of patrons and subscribers—and the Substack team. So I want to keep evolving in ways that are authentic while also ensuring this creative space remains safe and sustainable.

Thank you for sticking with me through all the experiments, pivots, and occasional turbulence. Your continued support keeps this little wax-winged artist flying high—and helps me avoid crashing into the sea or getting burned by the sun.

Let’s keep building a little mystery together.
The best is yet to come. Pun intended.

Thanks for reading!
Clint

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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

• Jimmy Carter Obituary (The Guardian) 🕯️

• Kieran Turner Dies: ‘Jobriath A.D.’ Filmmaker Was 56 🕯️

• Tony-Winning ‘Alice’ Star Linda Lavin Dies At 87 (CNN) 🕯️

• Superstar Duos Who Hate Each Other (Project Hysteria) 📺

• 9 Songs That 'Rip Off' Other Songs (David Bennett Piano) 📺

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ON THIS DAY = DECEMBER 30

BIRTHDAYS

• 39 BCE = Titus = Roman emperor 🌈

• 1901 = Beauford Delaney = American artist 🌈

• 1910 = Paul Bowles = American composer and writer 🌈

• 1914 = Bert Parks = American actor, singer, and tv host

• 1928 = Bo Diddley = American singer-songwriter

• 1931 = Skeeter Davis = American singer-songwriter

• 1934 = Del Shannon = American singer-songwriter and guitarist

• 1934 = Joseph Bologna = American actor, director, and screenwriter

• 1934 = Russ Tamblyn = American actor

• 1935 = Sandy Koufax = American baseball player and sportscaster

• 1937 = Paul Stookey = American singer-songwriter

• 1940 = James Burrows = American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

• 1942 = Fred Ward = American actor

• 1942 = Michael Nesmith = American singer-songwriter

• 1945 = Davy Jones = English singer-songwriter

• 1945 = Lloyd Kaufman = American filmmaker and Troma co-founder

• 1946 = Patti Smith = American singer-songwriter and poet

• 1953 = Meredith Vieira = American journalist and tv host

• 1956 = Sheryl Lee Ralph = American actor and singer

• 1959 = Tracey Ullman = English-American actor, singer, and screenwriter

• 1965 = Heidi Fleiss = American madam

• 1966 = Bennett Miller = American director and producer

• 1975 = Tiger Woods = American golfer

• 1977 = Laila Ali = American boxer and actor

• 1978 = Tyrese Gibson = American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

• 1984 = LeBron James = American basketball player and businessman

EVENTS

• 1816 = The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States and the united Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi Indian tribes is proclaimed.

• 1825 = The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States and the Shawnee Nation is proclaimed.

• 1922 = The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is formed.

• 1940 = The Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of the first freeways built in the US, connecting downtown Los Angeles with Pasadena, California, is dedicated.

• 1963 = Let's Make a Deal premieres on NBC.

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PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY

“How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.”
Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky