… They’re punched in the face. – Mike Tyson
Well, I got leveled a few months ago and I’m ready to talk about it.
Here’s the truth. Since I was a kid I had a Lauren Bacall gap between my two front teeth. In 7th grade my single mom gave me “my two front teeth for Christmas.” Veneers in 1978 are not what they are today. I was happy with my smile.
Over the last 20 years, however, as fallout from that early cosmetic dentistry adventure, I have repaired and replaced several versions of teeth, veneers, and other solutions to my front teeth issue. The Monday after Super Bowl Sunday this year, 2025, while chewing a mouthful of granola, the final cosmetic solution failed for the last time. I was essentially smacked in the face, losing my front teeth and my ability to speak or sing in my usual manner.
Silenced
Many things were going great in my life at that moment. I was in the process of rebooting my live music project, BUZZIE, to release our 5th album. My YouTube channel and podcasts were all doing well. And suddenly, in seconds, I was silenced. At least on camera and on recording. The message was clear:
STFU!
In that time, I’ve been rebuilding both my confidence, my teeth, and my creative momentum, and while I’m not fully-recovered, I am well on my way to having a presentable smile and vocal presence again. Whew!
I’ve paused the “band” idea indefinitely. The album is ready and privately available on SoundCloud, but I need to recalculate my plans for any musical projects. Here is BUZZIE on Spotify.
I’ve been using an AI clone of my voice to do an audiobook of my next novel. Here you can listen to a chapter from *fear*god* with a pretty spooky version of my voice, lilt and southern drawl and all. It was created using Eleven Labs AI platform.
I’ve also been producing several podcasts with the help of Google’s NotebookLM. You can listen to explorations of my sci-fi novel Hyper-Soul; and a new content motion called The Happy Cashier.
Recovery and Rebooting Everything
So many other things have changed in my life over the last few months, but nothing else quite as dramatic as this FULL STOP struck me.
What is important?
I learned my creative output is important to me. When most of my creative expression was silenced, I had to reprioritize what I’m working on. For example, my music will be available eventually, I’m just not ready to put in the effort to front a rock band at the moment, even if I could.
I have played with AI in so many channels, and this pushed me into the voice cloning experience on a platform that cost me $20 a month! And a several thousand word chapter can be produced in 5 minutes, rather than the several hours it took me the old-fashioned way.
I learned to protect my personal time and put my efforts into the projects that give me pleasure. I am probably not going to be famous or celebrated as a poet, screenwriter, musician, or novelist in my lifetime. I’m pushing for recognition, but my FAME is no longer my goal. Maybe when I was 20 and 30 I imagined I could be a movie star or a celebrated musician. While I’m not a known talent, I have continued to produce music, poetry, books and other content for most of my life. I started playing bass guitar in 7th grade, around the time my mom gave me my new front teeth.
Still, what is important to me, at this moment, is to speak, sing, write, and play in all the creative time I have left. Not morbid, just intentional. I was publishing books at a frenzied pace last year, 2024, even asking myself, “What’s the rush?”
No rush. But any book or song that is not published will clearly be lost int the caverns of my laptop’s harddrive. So, if I can get it published, get it available on Amazon, it will at least have the opportunity to discovery. That’s all. My kids may not be into my music, but perhaps, their kids will find my stuff more interesting. I’m not holding my breath. I’m running toward the horizon and won’t stop until I’m punched out for the last time.
>> Explore more writing ideas here: The Writer’s Notebook >>
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