I had to re-write "Philosophy" a lot. It was more obscure than what's in the book now, even! Some things I had to go back to and excise my former self, who was even more dense. I think you should teach whatever you want, Brian! That's the point of books like White Girls, to help free our thoughts!
Hilton AlsThe artistโs memory is a dangerous, necessary thing. Never disavow what you see and remember-itโs your brilliant stock-in-trade: remembering, and making something out of it. Artists remember the world as it is, first, because you have to know what it is youโre reinventing; thatโs a rule, perhaps the only one: being cognizant of your source material.
Hilton AlsGreat sadness can be off putting, hard to comprehend, especially if it hasn't been your experience. It's amazing for me to know now that AIDS, for instance, is something a lot of people don't "get," whereas it entirely shaped my social life since the time I was twenty until I was almost forty.
Hilton AlsI used to always love taking photos, but I would always give a camera away to someone else. Now I don't give the camera away anymore. It also takes a long time to develop a visual style, and I think that the things that I was imitating were people I love, like Judy Linn or Gerald Turner, and then it slowly started to become more myself.
Hilton AlsChallenging is good, like good conversation, yes? Who wants to have dinner with the same old easy listening music sounding friends all the time?
Hilton Als