Category: memories

Saturday’s Theme Music

Well, I woke up this morning, and I got myself a beer
The future’s uncertain, and the end is always near

And with that, today’s song goes into its final minute.

I always liked singing “Roundhouse Blues” at work. A rousing, rowdy song, it was a great defiant response when bosses would say, “Let it roll.” Well, alright, let it roll.

I’d also sometimes sing, “The future’s uncertain, and the end is always clear.” I was divided about what Morrison was singing. Wasn’t till the net came about and I could look it up that I was satisfied. But my misheard word fits as well. The future for us all ends the same way, so it’s always clear. It’s all those damn little steps in between now and then that cause us problems.

Here are the Doors, from way back in 1970. That was a pretty good year to be a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, until they ran into the Big Red Machine, and the year turned sour.

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Friday’s Theme Music

“Time,” by Pink Floyd, was one of those songs that I liked to listen to while laying flat on my back in the dark with headphones on. I did that with of the entire album, Dark Side of the Moon.

The discordant beginning of alarm clocks and bells ringing that starts “Time” is a satisfying, *ahem* wake up call. Then the heartbeats begin….

Later in life, I often streamed it in my mind as I awaited events, made plans, or traveled.

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say

Of course, I always continue listening (or streaming) on through the next two songs.

 

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The Best & Worst

Several good results emerge from being able (and maybe allowing myself) to stream music in my brain.

  1. A power supply is always available. Don’t need to worry about AC/DC, plugging in anywhere, or recharging anything.
  2. No headphones, speakers, or ear buds required.
  3. They’re already paid for, so financial expenditures are limited to acquiring new materials, if and when I’m required to pay for them.
  4. A lot of my favorites are played.

Some negatives do exist.

  1. It’s hard to turn some songs off.
  2. The mental streaming algorithms seem to favor repetition.
  3. It’s a limited library of songs.

And of course, free will is often derailed. For instance, right now I’m streaming this.

The highway’s jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive
Everybody’s out on the run tonight
but there’s no place left to hide
Together Wendy we can live with the sadness
I’ll love you with all the madness in my soul
Oh-oh, someday girl I don’t know when
we’re gonna get to that place
Where we really wanna go
and we’ll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us
baby we were born to run

h/t AZLyrics.com

It’s not by choice, and it’s been running about thirty minutes. Stream along with me, if you know the tune.

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Ever see a bird soaring, kiting, or flying over the planet on some destination and think, I’d like to to fly like that? I’d like to fly away, sail, soar and wheel. Maybe you just wish for it in a more metaphysical way, dreaming of rising above your days of toil, strife, and trouble, longing for a better life.

I know I’ve had those days. Steve Miller captured the sentiment in musical expression in “Fly Like An Eagle” from 1976.

Feed the babies
Who don’t have enough to eat
Shoe the children
With no shoes on their feet
House the people
Livin’ in the street
Oh, oh, there’s a solution

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

New Year. Don’t know about you, but on a personal quantum level, I feel good about it. Feel like I’m in tune.

Which is a nice segue for today’s music. Here’s Daltry and the Who with the Pete Townsend composition, “Getting In Tune,” from 1971, as fine a year as there is. The song starts soft and then rises and quickens, a perfect metaphor for 2018.

 

 

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New Year’s Theme Song

A reminder from the past.

Forget about the past and all your sorrows,
The future won’t last,
It will soon be over tomorrow.

“It Don’t Come Easy,” by Ringo Starr.

 

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Sue and Me

I haven’t personally known many published, established, successful writers.

There was Maya Angelou, met at a conference in San Francisco one year. Larry Niven, met at a computer conference in Europe while I was in the military. And there’s Ellen Sussman, met at a writing conference in Fort Ord, California, one year.

Then there are Lawrence Block, Orson Scott Card, and Sue Grafton. I met each of them in different years at writing workshops in Yellow Springs, Ohio. I enjoyed conversations with each, but especially Sue Grafton. “F is For Fugitive,” and “G is for Gumshoe,” were out and doing well, along with the earlier books in her series.

Doing well. Hah, what a cliche to portray that the books were on the New York Times bestseller list.

I was living in the dorms for that writing conference. I’d brought a bottle of white wine with me from Germany. Sue and I ended up at the same table in the dining room, and I shared my bottle with her. She’d just signed a big publishing deal. Her happiness and excitement were delightful to behold.

It was like that with Ellen Sussman, years later. She and Sue were fresh from the effort of trying for years to break through when I met them. As each put it at that time, “I’m living the writer’s dream.”

You know how encouraging that is to a writer striving for that dream? Yes, if you’re in any of the arts, you probably know full well the effort of struggling alone on your personal trek, wrestling with your demons and chasing your muse. There’s little encouragement. People often know you as that oddball who comes in with their computer or notebook and sits at a table, drinking coffee and scribbling or typing. Or you toil in secret, not daring to let light shine on your dreams of figuring out what’s in your head and spitting out stories and novels. Few know; fewer encourage.

All of these writers are met understood it, and were gracious and humbled by what they’d achieved, but Sue and Ellen were closer to it. The fire of struggle and the joy of catching fire still burned bright when I met them. I was happy to follow their success as it developed in the subsequent years.

I haven’t seen Sue since meeting her that year decades ago, except in newspapers, magazines, and on television. But her enthusiasm and determination helped me push to keep going and going, to never give up. There will be setbacks and diversions, and demands that can’t be refused, but if your dream is strong, you need to feed it and keep it burning, and keep going. It’s not over until you give up. That’s what I learned from her.

I’ve seen it in other writers, ones who I haven’t met, but whose story I still know. John Scalzi. Andy Weir. Kathryn Stockett. Lisa Genova.

It can happen. Just don’t give up.

 

 

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Saturday’s Theme Music

I’m a Kinks’ fan. Saw them once in concert in Germany. Beautiful venue, which seemed more suited to ballet and opera than rock.

This song,”Come Dancing,” from State of Confusion, is a later release. I didn’t know about the song’s back story for years. Its sound is a throwback with elements of bepop to me in parts, and invites dancing.

State of Confusion was an interesting album. My favorite song on it was “Long Distance,” a wistful, but depressing song. But when I compared album thoughts with others, I discovered the song wasn’t always on every album, a fact that a Brit friend confirmed.

Anyway, “Come Dancing.”

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Friday’s Theme Music

Closing out 2017, I figure it’s a good time to listen to some old music.

Funny to think of this song, “Reeling in the Years,” as old music. This song was released in 1972, when I was just sixteen. It remains fresh sounding to me. Yet, I know how different it sounds, and I know that Steely Dan broke up long ago, then got back together, and then Walter Becker died. The band’s symmetry is a perfect illustration of how life passes for most of us, with triumphs and struggles, but ultimately, somehow becoming finalized with our deaths. That’s life, in all its glory, cruelty, and normalcy.

Ironic to listen to “Reeling in the Years,” though, knowing one of them no longer reels in the years. I always wonder, is death really that much worse than living? Maybe something else goes on with the energy that is us as the body moulders and fades.

Yes, those left behind find it painful. It’s a hard path to follow, because when others die, we’re forced onto new paths. Some of the paths have only a sight variation, depending on how close we were to the deceased. But sometimes, it’s like we’ve fallen off a cliff and have to pick ourselves up and learn to walk again.

Sorry, off-topic. Let’s get more upbeat. Here’s “Reeling in the Years.”

 

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