My Who quote begins as my Walkman opens fire with "Magic Bus!" Nice...considering my plans today and this week.
I am at the Office, and since about 10 this morning, I have viewed all manner of humanity, and it makes me wonder. It's not all bad, but it's enough.
Zen Master is here with the Bald One, two of the Wardroom regulars who have found their way back to the Office, now that it opens at 9 instead of 10. Coffeehouse Preacher is here, and held forth on C.S. Lewis and other things to ZM.
A child-worshipping Mom was here with her nerdy homeschooled daughter. They look exactly alike....
"Total Eclipse of the Moon," by Graham Parker...great fucking song, from the Don't Tell Columbus CD.
...George Carlin did a wonderful routine and discussion of the child worshipping parents. My guess is that since school is in session, and because that poor kid looks just like her Mom, that she is homeschooled. I have to tell you: I am really strongly opposed to homeschooling as the only means of education. Now, I do have a very good friend who is homeschooled, but I know enough about her situation to know why she is being educated that way.
Unfortunately, most homeschooled kids never learn how to interact with people who are different. They have little understanding of the world about then, only what is drummed into their heads by overprotective parents who are breeding drones that are just like them.
I realize that is not always the case, but most homeschooled adults I've met by and large are: ignorant, religiously/socially/politically intolerant, and some of them are downright racist.
Sorry to say it, but I can cite cases if you wanna know.
Okay, that rant is over and done with.
"So Many Roads," by Joe Bonamassa is next...ahhh...live album form Royal Albert Hall...a great performance, but overblown by certain showy tracks and a horn section that really wasn't needed. But still great.
I sometimes like to look at the people around me in the Office, because I find them interesting. ZM, Bald One, CP...they are the regulars in the Wardroom. There's a bunch of folks of what I call the Laptop Generation, and I am one of them; we're all hooked up, wired in and in cyberspace, doing business, surfing, or...writing blogs. Haha.
The comic relief today was provided by the two extras from "Jersey Shore" that walked in. Father and Son...buzz cuts, beach tans, wifebeaters, knickers, and loud voices. Like Father, Like Son...actually, they seemed like pretty nice guys from overhearing their brief exchange with the CP.
A member of OutKast is sitting nearby, working on his laptop. Man, he really does look like one of those guys, the dreads, the glasses, everything. Musical stuff, cool; I only saw from here that he was going over sheet music...wonder what he plays, I should ask.
I am gratified that my relationship with Alice has gone along well; we understand one another in a way that no one else has, in terms of me, at least. It is scary, and this has been noted, that we are an awful lot alike, and do fit really well. I cannot complain.
She also has a great sense of humor, and we understand much more than most people are willing to allow themselves too. All very nice.
That said, I'm gonna miss her for the next two days. I'm off to Annapolis for a "Writer's Retreat."
Several months ago, I read an article in "The Writer" magazine about what one author does every now and then: just takes off and goes on a solo retreat to write, to get inspired, or to just make a change in routine.
"Grown Up to be a Man," by Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. RIP, Pinetop, 97 or 98, still smoking right up to the end. What a great one; glad these guys got the Grammy, they deserved it.
Now...the idea that the author (whose name I can't remember) had was to just find a spot, go there, and be there. It can be anywhere that is isolated, comfortable, whatever; I chose Annapolis, because I have only been there once, and that was nearly ten years ago. It's not far away, I have a cheap place to stay, and it's within civilization, if I need it.
My aim is to finish "Silk Road Days," at the very least. After that, an editing and addition process is going to be needed. This book has blown up into something I can barely comprehend and handle. I've wondered if it should just be a manga, because it might work that way, but I decided to go all out and just write the story.
The story is now more than 500 pages...I've never written anything this long before. My feeling is that I have a trilogy, or a three-part story, but I need to finish it. It just keeps going and going and going, like the Energizer Bunny...
...I've been trying to put too much into one story again.
"Love Ain't for Keeping," Pete Townshend demo from Lifehouse Chronicles. Not much different from the band version, really. Townshend recently wrote that the one thing he'd have done different was not join a band, and work like Brian Eno has all these years. Honestly, Townshend's demos are amazingly sharp and complete. This demos is also only 90 seconds long.
"Aja," by Steely Dan. Nice segue.
Okay...I think also I need to leave town. I just worked two straight weeks (almost), and while I can't really afford this, my rent is paid and my bills are about to be in a few days. I think I can deal.
I do find myself in need of a change; this is a cost-effective way of doing it. I'm not sure what I'll do besides write, but I'm guessing I'll act like a fucking tourist. Haha...me, a tourist? Right...
My traveling is limited this year, partly due to an odd work schedule. WITF will have only occasional work as the backup host for "Morning Edition," though I may get some other stuff to do, with the recent shakeup there.
Radio PA is keeping me busy on the weekends, and Clear Channel has a few ball games for me to do. Not a lot of work, but I can't complain. It lets me do what I have to, bookwise.
Oh yeah...back to "SRD." I have been plumbing the depths of my college experiences, but I don't suppose I've really touched bottom yet. "Silk Road Days" is another of my Japanese anime/manga tales, but sorry folks, no time travel or mystic weirdness. A human story, once again, or at least my best effort at such.
There are recurring themes of course, but I am examining things from different angles, and I'm hopeful that they remind people of what it was like, and how we may change over the years.
I hope to have a good, compelling story that makes you turn the pages, but it's gonna be a lot of work. Wouldn't have it any other way; besides this is not work, this is fun.
Still waiting on a certain publisher over SDS-1; we remain hopeful, but I will not hold my breath.
Springtime is here...hot as hell yesterday, and the weather has brought us less encumbering of the clothing...something I always enjoy.
Alice and I have discussed this, and we both look. Yes, we do! And it's okay, because we know what is okay and what is not. We joke about it all the time.
Some people can't handle that; too bad for you.
This is what you get, folks...every day a new venture in the world of the blogosphere...heehee.
Nawang Khechong's flute on "Wisdom and Compassion" ends this blog...very centering, lovely stuff...reports from the road, later...
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