Thoughts – Dan Steven Erickson

Update on the Move Back to Maine

I’m still in transition and my sites and channels and socials are all in flux. So, I thought I’d give you an update on the move back to Maine.

Status of the Move

First, the place in Tennessee is almost all packed and ready to go. I still have some furniture to sell and a few things to give away, but other than that I feel good about the progress. But there is a huge logistics problem.

I’m moving back to Maine. My daughter, however, is not. Three quarters of what needs to be moved is hers and she still doesn’t know where or how she wants to move it. Things might need to be moved in two different directions. Or everything might just go to Maine for now. Hopefully, this will be resolved by early to mid August as the lease ends on August 31.

I’ve been making monthly trips to Maine to work on the condo and will be heading out on another one soon. While I’m there I’m painting, getting electrical work completed, and selling extra furniture.

My Websites, Channels, and Socials

For now I’m just trying to stay moderately active with my Internet presence. I’m posting less often here. I’m probably going to have to take a break from my 1995/96 song series and Songs from Big Yellow on Youtube, but I will continue to post a couple times a week on the channel.

My BandCamp channel is also on hold for now, although I have a project in the works that I might complete on my next stay in Maine. Glitcsh.com is staying active with a couple posts per week.

Thoughts about my Internet Future

I know I’ve threatened to kill my Facebook and other socials over the years, but I’m looking at things in a new light. The light of retirement.

I spend $400-$500 a year to keep my two websites active. And although I used to make money from book sales, they have dropped off to almost nothing. I’ve started to question the point of keeping the websites. Besides expense, a second issue with websites is that they are hard to deal with when you’re dead. Sure, you can pay years forward, but who’s going to manage them?

So, I’ve decided that my websites will likely go away in the future. However, I’m not just going to toss them immediately. I will give myself another year or two once I move back to Maine and then make a final decision. And when I do, I may look for a free option to keep the sites online in another format.

YouTube and BandCamp will stay. The nice thing about these two platforms is that they don’t cost me anything and I can post as much audio and video as I want. They are basically self-contained and my catalogs will stay alive until those sites close down, which does not look to be soon.

As for social media, the only one I use is Facebook. I do have an Instagram account but rarely post there. I think I’ve deleted all my other accounts. Part of me wants to kill Facebook in the coming year or two. Meta has become glitchy and the political division is exhausting. There are also way too many advertisements. However, it has worked well for two purposes. First, to stay in touch with family and friends at a distance. Second, to make new connections with like minded people in different locations.

As much as part of me wants to, I won’t delete Facebook… yet. I may, however, move back to posting privately to a specific group of followers. Or I might start a new account just for close friends and followers and dump the one I have. As with the websites, I’ll give myself a year or so to consider after the move to Maine. – dse

Rewrite

In 2023, I took a sabbatical from my teaching duties. The goal was to start the process of rewriting my cult-survival story. After taking a course on memoir writing and making the initial changes, I shied away from the project.

The rewrite I envisioned then wasn’t the right fit for my story. My goal was to get rid of any fictionalized parts, change fictional names to real names, people, places, etc. In a meeting with a memoir expert I decided it was all too much for too little return. She recommended in-depth research, interviews with former cult members, and a total rewrite, years of work.

Now I understand something. That is not what this story needs. It doesn’t need to be added to. It needs to be stripped back, reduced from a short novel to a mid-length novella. From over 40,000 words to under 30,000. Bare bones. And so the rewrite has begun.

The original book, A Train Called Forgiveness, was my first attempt at writing and publishing a book. I self-published and sold a modest amount of copies. It gets good reviews at Amazon. But as time passed, something has gnawed at me. Two things. First, the writing could be tighter. Second, there needs to be a thematic change. I’m not telling yet.

I’ve always loved minimalist writers and gritty writers. Cormac McCarthy and Denis Johnson come to mind. I love writers who make the process as much about editing as writing. Writers who painstakingly get rid of every unnecessary word, and then craft what remains into pure art. That’s the goal for the rewrite.

The new book will remain creative non-fiction, but many real names will be used. The title will change to Cult Boy. If you’d like to see the first chapter in progress, you can check it out on my new website, glitcsh.com. Beware, because it’s a work in progress, it might change from week to week as I hone in on the minimalist vibe I’m seeking. – dse

Big Life Update

Life is unpredictable. My move back to Maine is postponed.

I’m not happy about that but it is what it is. The lease is running out where we’re currently living and we’ll have to move locally sometime in April. My daughter will rent a place in Nashville and now that I’m not working, if I must stay in Tennessee, that will be much better.

I’ll be closer to Vanderbilt for my blood cancer specialist. I’ll also be nearer to music venues for performing, (if I choose), and attending shows. Maybe, I’ll even look for part-time work.

That’s the gist on the “life” side of things but I also want to address some changes in my posting schedule here.

I am going to post less often.

Recently, I reduced how often I post on my YouTube Channel. I’ve discovered that I really like that freedom. I’m also developing a new poetry website that will be much more of a static site than a “blog.” And that’s the direction I want to move here as well.

I’ll primarily continue to post news, new releases, and occasional poetry. I’m going to move away from feeling the need to post something just because more than a few days have passed. This new schedule starts now, so don’t be surprised if it’s a couple weeks until the next post. – dse

Glitch Poetry

A couple of days ago, I wrote a weird poem. It had some of the following elements:

Repetition
Coding Symbolism
Purposeful Misspelling
Dictionary Pronunciations
Words broken into Smaller Bits
Use of numbers

The poem was very short. That first poem led me to write an entire series of similar poems. I did some research to discover that I was writing “glitch poetry.” It also might fall into categories like anti-poetry and cyber punk.

Topics include technology, government, news, social media, sex, addiction; the individual struggle to not get lost in today’s overstimulated world.

Here’s short description of the 28-poem cycle I’ve completed:

I believe that error is the only honest data left in a manicured cis-stem. My lyrics are not typos; they are the intentional ruptures of a soul that refuses to be domestic-8ed by the algorithm. I invite the brave soles to stop scrolling, ignore the deaf socials, and enjoy the hum of a reality that is truly {RE}moved.

The project is still in the works. While I have completed the sequence, there is still editing and formatting that needs to be done.

The project started when I was studying how one might actually make a profit writing poetry. I hope you’re not laughing too loud. What I discovered is that the way one might make money as a poet is to create a brand and a specific identity behind that brand. That is what I did. Actually marketing and selling that brand is the trick. I’ve never cracked that code.

In the process, I’ve secured the website: glitcsh.com. The purposeful misspelling is part of the concept. My identity as the creator is not Dan Steven Erickson, but simply: POET. Because I could be anybody trying to survive in a world in which systems are stacked against us. The POET is the superhero, so to speak. The resolve is not to fight evil, but to simply walk away from it all, and in the end, to reduce the ego.

I have not decided when/if I will start the “Glitcsh” site and brand. Currently, my website hosting plan only allows for a single site. I either have to upgrade or return to a cheaper option.

I could start the series on this site, and I might. For now, simply stay tuned as I continue to work on the poems and make decisions on how to present them. – dse

Why Is the World So Messed Up?

I know this site is supposed to be about songwriting and poetry and music. But we can’t ignore the elephant in the room. The world is in a state of chaos. I suppose it’s always had an element of that, but right now it seems particularly more fucked up than I’ve ever seen it. So why is the world so messed up?

If I had the answer, I might be able to fix it. I don’t, but I can take a pretty good guess in a single word.

Greed.

I suppose hate is a close tie.

But rather than give you a definitive answer, I’d like to give you my personal solution on how to deal with the daily stress of it all.

It’s true. The world seems to be in a state of constant turmoil in which I’ve never seen in my lifetime. Every day we get hit in the face with more bad news. It’s constant. It’s almost like Chinese water torture, a long, slow, and constant drip. There’s really not much we can do about the big issues, but get involved and we can vote. We can also do things to help save our own sanity.

Write, Write, Write

There it is. My solution. Write.

There are other things you can do. You can meditate, walk, run, hike, read, bike, fish, or just about anything else that helps you to cope positively. For me, writing is the best therapy during the most stressful times. Why is that?

Unlike exercise, meditation, and reading, writing allows us to process our thoughts and feelings in an active and present way. It also allows us to vent. Some of my most angry and raw lyrics have been written during our most treacherous times.

So, if you’re struggling with stress and anxiety during what seems to be some of the most fucked up times in the last 60 years, write about it. Express yourself.

I might not have the answer to the big question, why is this world so messed up? But I do have a personal solution to help you stay as sane as possible during these times.

Write. – dse

Writing Through the Chaos

I’m not going to go into any detail but my life has been a bit trying lately. Between some personal issues and some complications my daughter is facing, the last few weeks have been stressful and chaotic. I guess it’s a good thing I retired because it’s nearly a full-time job.

Hopefully, this chaotic season will pass. Our move to Maine is currently uncertain after months of planning. It might be delayed. So, how do I deal with all the stress? I write. I write about things that are happening in real time. Later, I will choose a portion of those lyrics to edit, fine tune, and put to music.

In the past month, I have written 40-50 new potential lyrics. I’ve also written several personal and professional letters. (That’s a different story.) I want to focus on the lyrics for this short essay.

Writing songs is great catharsis. It can help you to vent immediate anger, despair, and sorrow. It can also help you to understand there is always hope, joy, and possibility. I’ve come to realize that even when the shit is heavy, writing releases some of the weight and provides me with a map moving forward.

I’m not going to post lyrics here but I’ll include a list of recent titles.

A Word is a Word
Spun Up
I Just Want a Little Peace
Seeking the Teeth that Bit
Who Slighted Whom
Blow the Whistle
Stuck in Tennessee
Three-Day Drunk
Waking the Tiger

Many of the lyrics I’ve written in the last month are done in a free-flowing, almost rap-like form. But there are some pure country lyrics and thoughtful folk/pop pieces in the mix.

I don’t know if or when some of these will be put to music. I currently have 235 lyrics in my 2025/26 folder. Some have been put to music, but the majority are waiting. I do know that there will be a day when musical ideas and arrangements will flow as quickly as the lyrics came these last few weeks. That’s how I work.

So, no promises, but stay tuned for something new. – dse