We All Have Our Tangles

Sam lives with a black and white chihuahua named Titus, several stone sparrows, five wooden owls, and a nest of electronics. The lattermost came in handy when I forgot a power cord and he unplugged a computer and fit it in to save the day.

I’m having a tough time lately separating the day work I’ve been doing from portrait photography. I guess it eventually all combines into editorial. Shooting for the page rather than for the photograph itself. I do a clean, white background look book and I always sneak in a few between-look closer shots, or I do a darker, themed shoot and find myself framing the clothes.

It’s also getting harder to write about things. I feel more scrutinized than in years past. If I get angry here, it ends up in the Wall Street Journal. So I get boring. I write about my vitamin intake, but then it becomes the topic of a blog entry where I’m being role-played, so then another site has to validate that my Twitter feed is actually me. I write something odd and post a picture and ONTD calls me ugly. Plus, I’m not even a celebrity. I am near them, sometimes, and I do my own creative things but I really don’t think of myself as famous. I think the world is just obsessed more and more with the peripherals of celebrity. I whine about things like this because they are so foreign to me, and I’m just venting and using this outlet as a way of getting it out (my friends don’t want to hear it). But I know it seems pointlessly superficial to others, which leads to more of it all. Certain things are flattering, but it’s really just… very, very surreal to me. I’m not even trying to complain right now, actually. I’m just saying.

18 Comments to We All Have Our Tangles

by Josh Madden

On March 9, 2009 at 9:18 am

Brad, Brad, Brad… anyone who actually has the blessing of meeting you and entertaining a real conversation, about anything at all, loves you. Anyone who writes anything negative does it out of fear, fear that they will never get what they want, and what they want is to be happy. That’s what we all want isn’t it, just to be happy… The truth is, we can all fall victim to this idea that everyone’s life is happier than ours and thus become jealous when we spend to much time in the imaginary world of the internet and television.
Viewing your work and reading what you have to say is is valuable to a lot of people. Knowing we can all come from “outside” and find our place, wherever it may be, and live a fun/boring/odd/fulfilling/night/day/traveling/work-filled life of experience and creativity is inspiring.
if you are going to give any weight to what anyone has to say, let it be someone you respect or at least someone who knows you well. If you are going to let someone who lives on the internet and writes things fueled by misery, effect you and cause you to edit yourself, we will all miss out on your true, un-tamed, creative voice.
I know you are a Champion. Your life made you the way you are. What you do has been cultivated by your view of the world. You are fueled by vision. if I am the only person on the planet who wants to hear about and the see world the way you see it, please take in to consideration doing things the way you have always done them, the Brad Walsh way. I am a fan of you, I am a fan of people who do what they do best, and i think we can all be exactly who we are 100% and no one else.
Last but not least FTH.
-JM
by melissa

On March 9, 2009 at 9:24 am

it will become so much harder to write. it is sad actually. you will master a certain vagueness soon enough though. you’ll also mindfuck everything to death to the point where you just don’t press publish. blah blah blah. this is normal.
by Ellen

On March 9, 2009 at 10:35 am

Josh is not the only one who wants to “hear about and see the world the way you see it.” And I second all that, especially FTH.
by carmen

On March 9, 2009 at 2:32 pm

it’s cool that you clearly think the celebrity obsessed world is crazy, but you also don’t seem to think you’re some big celebrity yourself. you don’t suffer from phoebe price syndrome. you always seem very humble to me anyways.
by allie

On March 9, 2009 at 3:57 pm

but you are a celeb to lots of people!
by Stacy

On March 9, 2009 at 4:06 pm

I could say to just ignore all the shit, and write about what you need to write about, but I am not you. I don’t know what it is like for people to scrutinize everything I do and say.

I for one, love your blog, music, pictures, and twitter feed, and would miss it if you stopped doing any of those things!
by ARobb

On March 9, 2009 at 4:09 pm

If it’s any consolation, ONTD thinks everyone is ugly. But I love your blog and you are definitely not ugly. :3
by Mark

On March 9, 2009 at 5:29 pm

I for one find you really creative and talented man, love your music and spent hours reading your old blog junk-mag when I first stumbled upon it.

Your hilarious and sarcastic outlook on everything is seriosuly entertaining, but not only that I enjoy reading your blogs, twitters and frequent your site often to scope out what new photoshoots you have done. Don’t know if that means anything considering you don’t know me, but as a fan of all things Brad Walsh don’t stop anytime soon.
by bee

On March 9, 2009 at 6:23 pm

i’m kind of in love with your writing, so (for me) it would be real loss if you stopped. but no one should feel like their freedom to say anything is being compromised.
by anna banana

On March 9, 2009 at 8:40 pm

i just think you’re a squishy aidsbaby and have lots of aidsbabies OMG BABIES HAVIN BABIES
ps i am drawing you lots of yowls
by deb

On March 9, 2009 at 8:45 pm

People who feel the need to get nasty or cruel about someone’s writings or pictures (looks) on the net are the ones with the problems. The old saw ‘if you don’t like it don’t look at it’ is so valid. And yet they persist. I guess it makes them feel better about themselves to criticize someone who has something they don’t. There’s alot of self esteem lacking out there. I know it’s sometimes hard to ignore fools, but try to consider the source and feel pity. Besides if I can’t see more Topper pix I’ll be sad!
by niki

On March 10, 2009 at 2:43 am

oh my god!brad,in my opinion you are already a celebrity!I don’t know how many times I dream of the life in the state or in NYC such like yours!it’s always being one of my dreams!
by nvam

On March 10, 2009 at 4:05 am

i, for one, am amazed by your posts and pics and would sooooo miss it if i never saw another post like the quarters from your mouth. i had to read that one out loud to rob, which gave him one more excuse to brag about you to his macho friends. but, i also understand completely – you are a good person who does not want to hurt people’s feelings, and it’s hard to walk that line and censor yourself. although it’s not your job to entertain us, you always entertain us. your sarcasm is part of your charm, as is your humility. you would think they cancel each other out, but they don’t. not in you.
one small piece of advice for you. if someone has a camera in your face, and they mention riri – just walk away.
by iona

On March 10, 2009 at 4:44 am

Darling – one thing you will never be in your life is boring — even when you are bored – I think you are a visionary of your times
by AIRC

On March 10, 2009 at 5:54 am

I know I’m just some random internet pod person, but I really enjoy reading your entries and looking at your photographs and listen to your music. And I find so little on the internet that’s genuine and interesting, so I would miss you dearly if you stopped writing altogether.

Also…
You look so pretty when you don’t have your underwear on and you are naked (NAKEEED!)
by rumer

On March 11, 2009 at 7:58 am

i know you didn’t write that for compliments but you are definetly a celebrity of some kind. i bought your albums on itunes and listen to them all the time and i read your blog every day. i mean perez writes about you as one of your fans! also people take pictures with you and put them on their myspace. that means your a celebrity.
by Newsy

On March 12, 2009 at 5:47 pm

You’re enough of a celebrity to me, at least in the sense that I’ve been in love with your photos for a couple of years now.

I feel lame admitting it, but you’re one of the people I look forward to bumping into on the street. Sigh… I am such a bumpkin.
by mattchew04

On April 9, 2009 at 10:36 pm

people on ontd do not call you ugly. christian on the other hand gets it a lot worse lol. sorry.