Warm and cozy under a fluffy throw fuzzy socks on my feet; a chill still in the air; I type; Outside, the rain comes down the skies darkened; but not inside where I am… just me and my thoughts like a close friend; who feels what I feel knows what I know; relates to me in every way. Eggs me on to relate to others, as well. Come and share the coziness; of my world, where feelings run deep; where feelings, are freely expressed; where the atmosphere is of warmth, and trust; hot coffee, or tea,... or cocoa, on hand.. my cat, curled up on the sofa next to me; and though it rains, I hear a couple sparrows in the back, in the yard, chirping softly; just a peep, here and there. Letting me know they, like me, find joy in even the dreary; Perhaps for that reason, enjoying it even more; when the bleakness can not beat you down but inspires you instead, to sing. This was the beautiful poem of Linda @LindArtz :heart: Hoping you will
Learning about the passing of @Barosus has been a punch in the heart. Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing Ed, knew what a blessing he was. He was the sort of person who gave of himself and found happiness in bringing happiness to others. He was a shoulder to lean on, a caring hug, a friendly smile, and the bearer of encouraging words that would give you the extra push you needed to get to the goal. I am deeply sad. He was a quiet strength on the team and a devoted caretaker of the literature community. We chose to highlight a piece by Ed posthumously because it speaks to who he was and we very much want you to remember him the way we do :heart: Be kind to each other, lift each other up, and support each other creatively -- that is how we honor his memory.
Date: March 29, 2022, 1:40 PM Hey everybody in case you didn’t know my name is Barry Lee Cusick.I was born on January 27, 1979.. I didn’t learn to speak until I was four years old apparently the teachers didn’t know what to do with me my mom didn’t know what to do with me because the autism wasn’t really really popular back then or at that time. I just started going to school I think at three years old for some reason I was put in this school with other children who were sort of like me not really for some reason I had this gift of art and I always thought that I was really really dumb but it turns out I’m not!. art is the only thing that I am great at but I am at that time you know I thought I was I was being bullied and stuff because I was poor but that wasn’t the case apparently I was bullied because I was different I didn’t apparently fit in I still don’t understand it i’m still trying to figure out how smart I am because I don’t know how smart I am and the only way I know it’s because I took a wittybunny quiz and so my IQ is 253% apparently 253% is genius level I guess I really don’t know I’m still trying to figure everything out. But for some reason I have this really tremendous memory of you know of being being severely bullied horribly and this one kid Ronnie who used to use to get on the school bus used to hijack me with a knife. He would sit next to me and take the knife out and tell me how if I moved if I moved away from the seat he would kill me imagine imagine someone like threatening to kill you if you move from the seat if you move from your seat he knew I was afraid of him I think that’s what he liked. He was a really scary looking guy I was terrified of him you know after he would threaten me with a knife we would get to school and he would start kicking my desk repeatedly just to show me that he was in charge this went on this for days until until he got expelled I told I told the bus driver what he was doing and the bus driver didn’t like it either same as before before that it happened he actually actually told me to unzip my pants and and that’s when he pinched me in the crotch and then he twisted it till I screamed and that’s when he got expelled I was so relieved I thought my problems were over and then this kid with a lollipop you know comes in the building and the problems just start all over again he would shove me he would shove me to the floor in the hallway and just laugh at I was always a target because I never fought back that’s how my mom raised me and I’m proud and I’m proud to be like that because it’s like Martin Luther King said violence only furthers violence retaliation only furthers violence and I am a strong believer in that and not being violent so anyway I did not get better at art until I met my art teacher Kathy Sanford after that I trained myself to become a better artist and now I don’t know where my trophy went I had it I had a trophy I don’t call her participation in our trophy I called an art trophy because it wasn’t just me that one I want it that time there’s not another girl it was like that was a good artist she she won also she did color she did like she did like coloring and stuff no I I did a lot of types of art I don’t know how to say it I do lotta different types of art that time I was like I was like doing like a horror movie fanatic art stuff nothing guess I don’t remember what drawings I did to get me the trophy but somebody so I didn’t like the art so I was glad of it but this is my story but. Then I met Rob Hicks when I first started Facebook I only had like maybe 25 friends and then I started meeting some other people that were into horror Movie’s my artwork got noticed by by Mick Strawn who is a production designer for 2 of the nightmare movies he was a great production designer actually, I’m glad my art got published because of him I’m glad I can actually write without typing this is really awesome wanna just wanted to try this out