Richard H Fay - Artist/Illustrator/Poet/Polymath
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Richard H Fay - Artist/Illustrator/Poet/Polymath
@azurelionprod.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.1K following 9.7K posts
multi-genre artist, illustrator, poet
print-on-demand artist & photographer
My PoD shops:
https://tee.pub/lic/sp_YC96pfhI
https://www.redbubble.com/people/RHFay/shop?asc=u
https://www.zazzle.com/store/richardfay
My poetry collection:
https://a.co/d/7iEjfrM
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Richard H Fay - Artist/Illustrator/Poet/Polymath @azurelionprod.bsky.social · Nov 4
AzureLionProductions TeePublic Store
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Azure Lion Productions Redbubble Shop
redbubble.com/people/RHFay...
Azure Lion Productions Zazzle Store
zazzle.com/store/richar...
AZP_Photos Zazzle Store
www.zazzle.com/store/azp_ph...
#zazzle #teepublic #redbubble #art #photos
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azurelionprod.bsky.social
<"if someone tells you 'you're weird', what would you reply with?"<

Thanks!
<"if someone tells you 'you're weird', what would you reply with?"<
February 12, 2026 at 11:52 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
I've been cast in the role of outsider for so long now that I'm rather comfortable with it.
February 12, 2026 at 11:50 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
You save 20%!
Enter code FEBZAZSAVING at checkout.

My AZP_Photos Zazzle Store:
www.zazzle.com/store/azp_ph... via @zazzle

#zazzle #zazzlestore #zazzlesale #sitewidesale #photos #photography
images of six items featuring photos taken by Richard H. Fay with text... You save 20%! Enter code FEBZAZSAVING at checkout. AZP_Photos https://www.zazzle.com/store/azp_photos
February 12, 2026 at 11:45 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
THIS!
Thee Aries @GiftedAsia · 5h Consuming diverse art, literature and culture is how you become well rounded. Being anti-diversity basically promotes mental, emotional and intellectual regression. Exposure to different ways of living and being can literally only help you.
February 12, 2026 at 11:29 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
Tolkien was so conservative and such a traditionalist in some of his views (especially regarding languages) that, after the Catholic Church switched to saying Mass in the local language, he continued to respond loudly in Latin.
M.C.A Hogarth @mcahogarth · 9h It's crazy the things people accept without introspection. Do you honestly think someone like Tolkien had "high openness?" Maybe consider that the reason you think so many artists have 'high openness' is that modern curators have created that situation. Dylan Orosz @finalboyo · 7h Unless I am misunderstanding the term, anyone capable of inventing culture probably has high openness. M.C.A Hogarth @mcahogarth People tend to use 'high openness' as a synonym for progressive politics, however. Which is one of the problems with the entire debate. 10:49 AM · Feb 12, 2026 · 47 Views
February 12, 2026 at 11:28 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
Over at Zazzle...
Save up to 20% on customizable favorites made just for you!
Enter code FEBZAZSAVING at checkout.

My Azure Lion Productions Zazzle Store:
www.zazzle.com/store/richar... via @zazzle

#zazzle #zazzlestore #zazzlesale #sitewidesale
images of six products featuring art by Richard H. Fay with text... Save up to 20% on customizable favorites made just for you! Enter code FEBZAZSAVING at checkout. Azure Lion Productions Zazzle Store https://www.zazzle.com/store/richardfay
February 12, 2026 at 10:35 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
If it's true that, when it comes to my reading preferences, I have "middlebrow tastes", then I'd rather have middlebrow tastes than be a pompous pretentious prick with highbrow literary tastes.

I loathe snobs, especially literary ones!
February 12, 2026 at 10:31 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
There's very little truly constructive criticism to be found on the crazy-net.
February 12, 2026 at 10:01 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
@authorstuartmiller.bsky.social
@corutaniconnolly.bsky.social
@evelovestar.bsky.social
if you haven't already done so, check out my new poem above, "After You Left". It's a sombre piece.
February 12, 2026 at 9:44 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
Artists, QP something silly!
Cover art for Doug Hilton's How We Play Football in Alabama and Other Short Stories from Doug's World Backed by a crimson tide design, an jai alai basket-wielding elephant in a football helmet chases two football players down the field.
February 12, 2026 at 9:43 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
Noticed a trend on social media. People older than me assume I'm younger than I actually am (57), while people younger than me assume I'm older than I actually am (some say I look like I'm in my 70s!).

At times the situation reverses, but in general, the trend seems to hold.
Rick Feb 12 2026
February 12, 2026 at 9:37 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
The pretentious pricks of the literary/reading world number among the most pretentious of pretentious pricks out there. They really are absolutely obnoxious snobs.
February 12, 2026 at 8:48 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
For today's Black History Month look at the works of black poets, I'm looking at "Length of the Moon" by the Harlem Renaissance poet Arna Bontemps.
www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/...
Nice imagery in this one!
#poem #poetry #blackhistorymonth #blackpoets #blackpoetry
Length of Moon by Arna Bontemps
Then the golden hour Will tick its last And the flame will go down in the flower.A briefer length of moon Will mark the... Poem summary, analysis, and meaning
www.poetrysoup.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:37 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
I'm NOT putting up with some pretentious misogynistic racist Baby Boomer prick looking down his nose at me over my personal tastes in literature. At least I'm willing to read literary works by women and people of color (I've currently been reading a lot of poetry by black poets).
February 12, 2026 at 8:32 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
Apparently, name-dropping Shirley Jackson instead of Austen, Eliot, Gaitskell, Woolf or Edith Wharton suggests that my taste is somewhat middlebrow.

Here we go again with the idea that genre literature is somehow "lesser" literature!

FUCK THAT!
Richard Craven @RichardC97070 · 8m Replying to @AzureLionProd Shirley Jackson is a perfectly decent writer in her own way. But the fact that you name-checked her rather than, say, Austen, Eliot, Gaitskell, Woolf or Edith Wharton suggests that your taste is somewhat middlebrow.
February 12, 2026 at 8:27 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
Here on BlueSky, I recently participated in a 30 day books-by-women challenge. I posted a different book on all 30 days, and had books to spare. Granted, I posted a mix of fiction and nonfiction books.
azurelionprod.bsky.social Richard H Fay - Artist/Illustrator/Poet/Polymath @azurelionprod.bsky.social · 3h
What do you know about what I've read and how much I've read? You're making assumptions.

It might be the case that you have read more classic female literary fiction than I have, but you don't know that for sure. Open the category wider to genre, and it's probably not the case.
Richard Craven @RichardC97070 I'm in my 60's. Before I began abiding by my White male author principle 5 or 6 years ago, I almost certainly read a great deal more classical female literary fiction than you have. 2:51 PM · Feb 12, 2026 · 8 Views
February 12, 2026 at 8:05 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
What do you know about what I've read and how much I've read? You're making assumptions.

It might be the case that you have read more classic female literary fiction than I have, but you don't know that for sure. Open the category wider to genre, and it's probably not the case.
Richard Craven @RichardC97070 I'm in my 60's. Before I began abiding by my White male author principle 5 or 6 years ago, I almost certainly read a great deal more classical female literary fiction than you have. 2:51 PM · Feb 12, 2026 · 8 Views
February 12, 2026 at 8:04 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
BTW, just for curiosity's sake, how old do you think I am?
Richard H Fay - Artist/Illustrator/Poet/Polymath @AzureLionProd · 15m All I said was you're missing out on reading some superb works by superb writers that happen to be outside your restrictive category. Perhaps try expanding your horizons once in a while, you may be surprised by the results. It may expand your mind. Quote Richard Craven @RichardC97070 · 22m Replying to @AzureLionProd I never said that there weren't lots of superb non-White male authors so I don't really understand why you're trying to persuade me of their existence. In fact if you look through my bibliography, you'll see that I've written a full length parody of Felix Holt the Radical. Richard Craven @RichardC97070 I'm in my 60's. Before I began abiding by my White male author principle 5 or 6 years ago, I almost certainly read a great deal more classical female literary fiction than you have. 2:51 PM · Feb 12, 2026 · 5 Views
February 12, 2026 at 8:02 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
I hate the industry myself (I have stories to tell regarding the failure of three different small-press publishers to follow through with publishing two different accepted poetry collections of mine), but I still read plenty of works by plenty of authors, male and female.
Richard Craven @RichardC97070 Because the legacy publishing industry hates White male authors like me, and the feeling is mutual. 2:48 PM · Feb 12, 2026 · 3 Views
February 12, 2026 at 7:54 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
Keep in mind, Elon bros are the types who called me a "parasite" merely for being an artist. Their argument (or so it was explained to me) is that Musk, as a billionaire CEO, makes great contributions to society while I, as a monetarily poor artist, do not.
azurelionprod.bsky.social Richard H Fay - Artist/Illustrator/Poet/Polymath @azurelionprod.bsky.social · 4h
Why does Musk have such a rabid fan base of Elon bros?

Because Musk is filthy rich, rich beyond easy comprehension, and some folks in our capitalistic society see the extremely wealthy as demigods (if not full-fledged gods) and worship them as idols of the capitalistic religion.
Wetterschneider @Stretchedwiener Why does he have such a rabid fanbase? They eat this garbage up. 10:33 AM · Feb 12, 2026 · 868 Views
February 12, 2026 at 7:41 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
Why does Musk have such a rabid fan base of Elon bros?

Because Musk is filthy rich, rich beyond easy comprehension, and some folks in our capitalistic society see the extremely wealthy as demigods (if not full-fledged gods) and worship them as idols of the capitalistic religion.
Wetterschneider @Stretchedwiener Why does he have such a rabid fanbase? They eat this garbage up. 10:33 AM · Feb 12, 2026 · 868 Views
February 12, 2026 at 7:38 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
>"I only read books by White men as a matter of principle."<

Gosh, you're missing out on some fantastic works by woman authors such as Shirley Jackson and Ursula K. Le Guin.
Megha @megha_lilly · 5h The biggest downside to reading the classics is that your standards for all books goes up so much that you can no longer tolerate the trash that the mainstream publishers are putting out. You become disconnected from your time period in a significant way. Richard Craven @RichardC97070 I only read books by White men as a matter of principle, which for practical purposes means that I read almost nothing published by the mainstream publishing industry.
February 12, 2026 at 7:32 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
I agree.
I usually read works written up to the 1960s (Shirley Jackson is my typical cut-off), but I'll read works by a few authors (like Douglas Adams and Michael Crichton) written in the 80s and 90s.
I only like a very few contemporary authors, Iseult Murphy being one of them.
Jared A., Esq. @JaredAllebest · 1h I think books published even as late as the 80s and 90s are better that what we have today. Even Tom Clancy or Michael Chrichton is superior to the trash that gets published now.
February 12, 2026 at 7:31 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
This is true.
Megha @megha_lilly The biggest downside to reading the classics is that your standards for all books goes up so much that you can no longer tolerate the trash that the mainstream publishers are putting out. You become disconnected from your time period in a significant way. 9:10 AM · Feb 12, 2026 · 9,441 Views
February 12, 2026 at 7:26 PM
azurelionprod.bsky.social
"I don't read books at all."
So, folks who never read books are claiming that AI produces books as good as the average book published by the typical publishing house.
Logic. Does. Not. Compute.
If they don't read books, how would they know this?
Lincoln Michel @TheLincoln Recently I talked to some AI boosters who were claiming AI can now produce entire books as good as the average book published by publishing houses today. When I asked for what AI books they had read, they each said"I haven't read any. I don't read books at all." Oh, okay. Post Conversation Skyler Higley @skyler_higley a bunch of people who never go to museums or see live performance (music, comedy, etc) thinking “AI could replace all this” 4:13 AM · Feb 12, 2026 · 29.6K Views
February 12, 2026 at 7:24 PM