tuesday, october 10th, 2006

"You must know that you are abnormal. I consider you a threat to education." - Tarrant County College

An open letter to the public:
It is sad that after I gave props to TCC for not judging the suicide project and actually supporting it and placing the ad, they would pull the ad and forcibly remove me from campus six weeks later.
A lot of things have happened since I last wrote. The dean forbade me from mentioning his name or the name of the college in Tarrant County that he threw me out of so lets just say I had a difference of opinion with him and two of his police officers and it ended with a strip search and an expulsion. Oh well, who needs a public education anyways right? It's not like an oppressive education system ever helped this country that much:

*23% of the nation's adults (16+) can only read at the most rudimentary level.

*In Texas, more than 6 million adults -- half of the adult population -- are functionally illiterate.

*More than 44 million American adults are barely able to read.

However, it seems keeping the teaching system the way it is isn't the threat to education, I am. Congratulations to the institutions of this great state and this great nation on getting rid of free thinkers and doing things the way they have always been done.
The 44 million Americans who can't read thank you for your power to educate and not judge. Half of texas can't read, and according to the anonymous quote, it is my fault.

I'd like to take a moment to thank the administrators for making me see the errors of my ways. Free thought and thirst for answers has no place in texas education. Good bye tyrannical public school. You got your wish. You got rid of the "threat". Now you go back to producing half of your states illiterates without incident. Your founders would be proud.

Earlier in the week I spoke with a representative from the Travis County suicide prevention coalition. She has since not returned my calls and ignored requests for interviews. They have not made any attempt to contact me and were not available to contact for comment.
It seems that colleges, non profit organizations, and police all have one thing in common. They do not want anyone talking about suicide and certainly do not want to talk to me about it. It is unfortunate that more people die from suicide than A.I.D.S and murder, but you have no problem listening to that in the classroom at your local college but bring up something like suicide and throw the man out of school.
I probably won't run another suicide ad for a few months since all but one got pulled due to "anonymous complaints" so I'll have to find more papers that are willing to advertise free speech in this country.

There's an idea. Free speech.

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wednesday, august 30, 2006

Major props to the editing staff at Tarrant County College and the North Texas Daily
for having the balls to run an ad for a suicide documentary on their campuses. They both took the time to read the ad, go to the website and realize that it's not a promotion for suicide. Finally someone is listening instead of blindly judging!!

Major fuck you's to Texas Tech's "The Daily Torredor" and University of Texas at Arlington's "Shorthorn" school papers. Texas Tech refused the ad with a majority vote in the ad office. They took my money instantly and didn't run the ad. When i called Penny, the classified manager, she had told me my ad was too controversial and the students wouldn't want to see it. (No students saw it except for the editing staff) When i asked penny what was too controversial so i could edit it down, she said, "Oh I don't know, i haven't even seen the ad." She was pretty high and moral against it having never seen the ad or gone to the website. hmmm...is this what they teach at Texas Tech? Don't make informed decisions and don't refund peoples money? I'm still waiting for my $86.50 and the majority vote report filed against me that Penny was supposed to give me last week.

UTA just flat didn't respond to me at first. I spoke with Allison, the secretary at the "Shorthorn" and she told me to email the ad i wanted. I emailed the proof of the ad and they ignored it, then they ignored it again and then again. After 4 days i decided to call Allison back. She told me the advertising manager (Jenette) and the office manager (Bryan) decided to not run the ad. After I asked why, Allison told me she didn't know, no one told her and that the managers were supposed to have called me as soon as my first proof was turned in 4 days prior. I requested an interview and have yet to hear from anyone at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Horray for higher education!!

wednesday, august 9, 2006

Wow, I can't believe it's been this long since my last update. I apologize. I've been moderating the message board and moving. Twice. It's a pain in the ass ya know. Anyways, with the school season approaching, i am getting ready to speak to school teachers, students, etc. If you'd like me to talk a specific school, drop me an email: suicide@dyingpictures.com. I have also updated my mailing address:

P.O. Box 54792
Hurst, TX 76054

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thursday, november 24, 2005

Happy holidays everyone!! I know this is a rough time for many people. Just want everyone to know we're here for you.

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friday, november 11, 2005

More and more people are sending in art and i promise i will get them up as soon as possible. About to put ads in newspapers after the weekend. That will be a fun time considering all the crap I went through with people last year. Thanks for eveyone's patience with the slow updates. It'll be full steam soon.

wednesday, October 26, 2005

What the fuck!! Sorry it's been a long while everyone. I've been totally swamped with moving and research and not having a computer for a few months sucked ass. New developments: The University of North Texas gave me permission to post suicide flyers and then the dean of students took them down and then I got written consent from another dean and then took them down again. They said it was inappropriate to post anything like that in school, and it was next right next to an advertisement for a pro choice rally and also next to a celebrate diverstiy flyer. I hate UNT soooo much!!

tuesday, february 8, 2005

Wow! My first interview!!! I got a feature in the Daily Texan at the University of Texas. I was soooo excited that they were interested. See it here and let me know what you think.

monday, january 3, 2005

Things are going well for submissions in Texas, going to get started on nationwide search for letters starting this week. Look for suicide ads in your city. I'm really impressed with how much people are opening up.

saturday, january 1, 2005

What a way to start the year. A crazy person threatened to take me down in an email!! People are just so sensitive. :-)

tuesday, december 28, 2004

My first negative piece of mail. I was pretty surprised it took this long to get someone mad.

thursday, december 9, 2004

This ad was released in local Dallas and Austin newspapers:

     Thought about SUICIDE?
     Write down why you wanted to and send it in for
     an indie film project to PO Box 203952, Austin TX 78720

Hope to see it in more cities soon... Pass it on.

wednesday, december 8, 2004

We went live today! Check us out and let us know what you think: suicide@dyingpictures.com