I'm overextending myself. I don't think I came to terms with that until I realized I still had to write my three posts a month in May ...and it was already the 19th. I ended up only finishing two posts, which marked the first time since 2005 that I didn't write at least three dispatches in a 30-day span. To both of my remaining readers, I apologize.
The end of May marked the second anniversary of my mother's passing. My sister and I are still holding down the fort in the west Chicago suburbs, but we don't know for how much longer. We're paying for property taxes through the teeth, and upkeep around the house has been daunting. My sister has contemplated moving out of state, and my wanderlust has never gone away. In April, we set a tentative timetable to move out and sell the property by mid-2021; its an attainable goal, but there's a lot of work to be done.
Besides subbing, I have two part-time jobs. I drive for Lyft, but one or two nights a week I do box office and tech for a small improv venue in Wicker Park. I set a financial goal for the year, and I'm just barely hitting it. I've also been battling writer's block on and off for much of the past year, though that could be due to everything else going on; my energies are often elsewhere. As for leisure and pleasure, I have a couple of mini-road trips planned, besides going to Scotland in late July.
I haven't elaborated on what *I've* been up to recently, so I just thought I'd post this to let everyone know where I am at the moment.
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Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Monday, June 10, 2019
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Random Notes, August 2015
What's on my mind:
+ If your political beliefs lean to the left (or even from somewhere in the center) last week's Republican presidential debate was low-hanging fruit. It was a special kind of train wreck, the kind that was both scary and unintentionally hilarious at the same time. At the center ring of the circus was Donald Trump, whose toxic presence dominated the proceedings. Between Mike Huckabee over-simplifying the purpose of our armed forces and Jeb Bush's awful "Veto Corleone" pun, the alleged debate was more attention grab than exchange on pressing issues. Ohio Governor John Kasich might have been the secret winner for hardly saying anything at all (random gay friend aside). Maybe these children can explain what was going on.
+ Jimmy Kimmel is "mean," Jay? Have you ever wondered if you're the shitheel?
+ Now that I'm between jobs again, I'm attempting to write a novella. I tried the snowflake method (Google it) but now I'm just writing particular passages and sequences, then piecing it together. Any advice is welcome.
+ Family Update: if it's not one thing, it's the other. My father spent two nights in the hospital in late July with what could best be described as stroke-like symptoms, but not a full-fledged stroke. Earlier this week, my mother had a severe case of nausea, the possible result of food poisoning, which ended up being a urinary tract infection.
Next Week: my 2015 NFL preview.
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+ If your political beliefs lean to the left (or even from somewhere in the center) last week's Republican presidential debate was low-hanging fruit. It was a special kind of train wreck, the kind that was both scary and unintentionally hilarious at the same time. At the center ring of the circus was Donald Trump, whose toxic presence dominated the proceedings. Between Mike Huckabee over-simplifying the purpose of our armed forces and Jeb Bush's awful "Veto Corleone" pun, the alleged debate was more attention grab than exchange on pressing issues. Ohio Governor John Kasich might have been the secret winner for hardly saying anything at all (random gay friend aside). Maybe these children can explain what was going on.
+ Jimmy Kimmel is "mean," Jay? Have you ever wondered if you're the shitheel?
+ Now that I'm between jobs again, I'm attempting to write a novella. I tried the snowflake method (Google it) but now I'm just writing particular passages and sequences, then piecing it together. Any advice is welcome.
+ Family Update: if it's not one thing, it's the other. My father spent two nights in the hospital in late July with what could best be described as stroke-like symptoms, but not a full-fledged stroke. Earlier this week, my mother had a severe case of nausea, the possible result of food poisoning, which ended up being a urinary tract infection.
Next Week: my 2015 NFL preview.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Oh Well, It's Better Than Nothing
Earlier today Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the top military commander of the Taliban, was captured in a joint CIA-Pakistani operation outside Islamabad. While this is a major breakthrough for the American presence in southwest Asia, this still poses a troubling question: how many top-ranking Taliban military commanders are there? You'd think we'd captured 30 or 40 of them by now. Who would want a job with that much turnover? It's like on "24" when Jack Bauer et al. spend eight episodes hunting down one villain, and initially there's little to no evidence that he's in cahoots with anyone else, yet this bad guy turns out to be the scapegoat for an even larger conspiracy.
Baradar's capture is a signifigant success for President Palmer --er, I mean Obama-- whose ramping up of American troops in the region was met with apathy and trepidation by the usually hawkish GOP. Former Vice President Cheney just keeps attacking and nitpicking Obama's foreign policy, when in fact he might be exposing a repressed inter-party squabble over George W. Bush's war tactics. As Peter Beinart suggests, the biggest war liberal since JFK has been even more aggressive about fighting terrorism overseas than his two predecessors ever were. Where Obama's domestic policy has lost steam, his war chest is slowly finding its footing. Even so, at times it feels like the War on Terror is one big Whack-a-Mole machine, but Baradar's capture is a sign of progress; I don't know if this will get us any closer to hunting down Osama bin Laden, though I'd like to hear whatever intel that Baradar offers.
Other notes:
+ Apparently, a Saudi prince now has a minority share in the Fox News Channel. This lady's article has been sprouting up all over the internet, whining about a growing "Arabic influence" in the mainstream news media. Can't anyone stop to savor the irony of all this?
+ I didn't realize this until late Saturday night, but apparently Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day, Mardi Gras, and Ash Wednesday all land on consecutive days this year. Has that ever happened before?
+ I end this week's missive on a positive note: I got published again! My article on one-armed St. Louis Browns outfielder Pete Gray will be in the Spring 2010 issue of Nostalgia Digest. This is my fourth article for the magazine, following essays on Fleer Trading Cards, the 1947 Chicago Cardinals, and the man that attempted to steal the Stanley Cup. To pre-order your copy, just follow this link.
Next Week: the year in music, 1995.
Baradar's capture is a signifigant success for President Palmer --er, I mean Obama-- whose ramping up of American troops in the region was met with apathy and trepidation by the usually hawkish GOP. Former Vice President Cheney just keeps attacking and nitpicking Obama's foreign policy, when in fact he might be exposing a repressed inter-party squabble over George W. Bush's war tactics. As Peter Beinart suggests, the biggest war liberal since JFK has been even more aggressive about fighting terrorism overseas than his two predecessors ever were. Where Obama's domestic policy has lost steam, his war chest is slowly finding its footing. Even so, at times it feels like the War on Terror is one big Whack-a-Mole machine, but Baradar's capture is a sign of progress; I don't know if this will get us any closer to hunting down Osama bin Laden, though I'd like to hear whatever intel that Baradar offers.
Other notes:
+ Apparently, a Saudi prince now has a minority share in the Fox News Channel. This lady's article has been sprouting up all over the internet, whining about a growing "Arabic influence" in the mainstream news media. Can't anyone stop to savor the irony of all this?
+ I didn't realize this until late Saturday night, but apparently Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day, Mardi Gras, and Ash Wednesday all land on consecutive days this year. Has that ever happened before?
+ I end this week's missive on a positive note: I got published again! My article on one-armed St. Louis Browns outfielder Pete Gray will be in the Spring 2010 issue of Nostalgia Digest. This is my fourth article for the magazine, following essays on Fleer Trading Cards, the 1947 Chicago Cardinals, and the man that attempted to steal the Stanley Cup. To pre-order your copy, just follow this link.
Next Week: the year in music, 1995.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
That Wonderful Year in Music... 1973
For this month's yearly musical tribute I chose 1973, a year where the last remnants of '60s psychedelia and the Motown sound played out while the seeds of the disco, funk, punk and new wave movements were first planted. I've made no secret of my classic rock bias --after all, I used to disc jockey in a '70s rock format-- but on this special occasion I've doubled the size of my usual best-of lists just to give you the sense of how loaded '73 was. When I think of '70s music in general, the first year that comes to mind is always 1973. Here's twenty reasons why:
1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John. A sprawling double-album that encompasses Sir Elton's transition from thoughtful, cerebral pianist to flamboyant '70s pop star. Mega-hits like "Bennie & The Jets" and the title track flow effortlessly with deep tracks like "Grey Seal" and "All The Girls Love Alice."
2. Countdown to Ecstasy, Steely Dan. Walter Becker has a zillion great guitar solos on this album. Heck, there's a zillion great guitar solos on "My Old School" alone.
3. Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd. The first CD I ever owned, but that's almost beside the point. You can criticize the Floyd all you want for being stoner heroes, but this was a well-crafted concept album that proved there's more to space-rock than repetitive droning and cryptic lyrics.
4. New York Dolls, New York Dolls
5. The Wild, The Innocent, & the E-Street Shuffle, Bruce Springsteen
6. Quadrophenia, The Who
7. Raw Power, The Stooges
8. For Your Pleasure, Roxy Music
9. A Wizard, a True Star, Todd Rundgren
10. Paris 1919, John Cale
11. Berlin, Lou Reed. Like Cale's album, this is a solo career high point from a former member of the Velvet Underground. Where Cale put together a string of pretty, plaintive short stories, Reed created an opera of debauchery, a fascinating concept album about the pitfalls of drug abuse.
12. Innervisions, Stevie Wonder
13. Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin
14. Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ, Bruce Springsteen
15. Headhunters, Herbie Hancock
16. Stranded, Roxy Music
17. There Goes Rhymin' Simon, Paul Simon
18. Brain Salad Surgery, Emerson, Lake & Palmer
19. The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, Joe Walsh. The first twelve seconds of "Meadows" pretty much sums up everything you ever wanted to know about Joe as a person. Plus, this is the album with "Rocky Mountain Way."
20. Band on the Run, Paul McCartney & Wings. This is not a perfect album by any means --"Let Me Roll It" is a blatant rewrite of "Don't Let Me Down"-- but it captures Paul McCartney's oft-vilified side project at its tightest and most focused.
I also had a difficult time whittling down my ten favorite songs from that year (not including songs from the albums listed above), so I broke it down to two lists: here's the tops in pop and rock...
"You're So Vain," Carly Simon (the song's about Warren Beatty... I think)
"Frankenstein," The Edgar Winter Group
"She's Gone," Hall & Oates
"Tubular Bells," Mike Oldfield
"Heartbreaker (Do Do Do Do Do)," The Rolling Stones
"Captain Jack," Billy Joel (yes, I like this song more than "Piano Man")
"Ecstasy," The Raspberries
"Right Place, Wrong Time," Dr. John
"Dancing in the Moonlight," King Harvest
"The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia," Vicki Lawrence
...and soul and R&B:
"Killing Me Softly (With His Song)," Roberta Flack
"Love Train," The O-Jays
"Let's Get It On," Marvin Gaye
"Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight & The Pips
"Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," Al Green
"Stir It Up," Johnny Nash
"Drift Away," Dobie Gray
"One of a Kind Love Affair," Spinners
"Keep on Truckin'," Eddie Kendricks
"Masterpiece," The Temptations
Before I go, I have two pieces of news. First off, my article "The Night They Stole the Stanley Cup!" will be published in the Spring 2009 issue of Nostalgia Digest; this is my third contribution to the magazine since 2006. Secondly, make sure to check out my eulogy for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (one of my few non-SNL reviews at TV.com) here. It should be third from the top.
1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John. A sprawling double-album that encompasses Sir Elton's transition from thoughtful, cerebral pianist to flamboyant '70s pop star. Mega-hits like "Bennie & The Jets" and the title track flow effortlessly with deep tracks like "Grey Seal" and "All The Girls Love Alice."
2. Countdown to Ecstasy, Steely Dan. Walter Becker has a zillion great guitar solos on this album. Heck, there's a zillion great guitar solos on "My Old School" alone.
3. Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd. The first CD I ever owned, but that's almost beside the point. You can criticize the Floyd all you want for being stoner heroes, but this was a well-crafted concept album that proved there's more to space-rock than repetitive droning and cryptic lyrics.
4. New York Dolls, New York Dolls
5. The Wild, The Innocent, & the E-Street Shuffle, Bruce Springsteen
6. Quadrophenia, The Who
7. Raw Power, The Stooges
8. For Your Pleasure, Roxy Music
9. A Wizard, a True Star, Todd Rundgren
10. Paris 1919, John Cale
11. Berlin, Lou Reed. Like Cale's album, this is a solo career high point from a former member of the Velvet Underground. Where Cale put together a string of pretty, plaintive short stories, Reed created an opera of debauchery, a fascinating concept album about the pitfalls of drug abuse.
12. Innervisions, Stevie Wonder
13. Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin
14. Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ, Bruce Springsteen
15. Headhunters, Herbie Hancock
16. Stranded, Roxy Music
17. There Goes Rhymin' Simon, Paul Simon
18. Brain Salad Surgery, Emerson, Lake & Palmer
19. The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, Joe Walsh. The first twelve seconds of "Meadows" pretty much sums up everything you ever wanted to know about Joe as a person. Plus, this is the album with "Rocky Mountain Way."
20. Band on the Run, Paul McCartney & Wings. This is not a perfect album by any means --"Let Me Roll It" is a blatant rewrite of "Don't Let Me Down"-- but it captures Paul McCartney's oft-vilified side project at its tightest and most focused.
I also had a difficult time whittling down my ten favorite songs from that year (not including songs from the albums listed above), so I broke it down to two lists: here's the tops in pop and rock...
"You're So Vain," Carly Simon (the song's about Warren Beatty... I think)
"Frankenstein," The Edgar Winter Group
"She's Gone," Hall & Oates
"Tubular Bells," Mike Oldfield
"Heartbreaker (Do Do Do Do Do)," The Rolling Stones
"Captain Jack," Billy Joel (yes, I like this song more than "Piano Man")
"Ecstasy," The Raspberries
"Right Place, Wrong Time," Dr. John
"Dancing in the Moonlight," King Harvest
"The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia," Vicki Lawrence
...and soul and R&B:
"Killing Me Softly (With His Song)," Roberta Flack
"Love Train," The O-Jays
"Let's Get It On," Marvin Gaye
"Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight & The Pips
"Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," Al Green
"Stir It Up," Johnny Nash
"Drift Away," Dobie Gray
"One of a Kind Love Affair," Spinners
"Keep on Truckin'," Eddie Kendricks
"Masterpiece," The Temptations
Before I go, I have two pieces of news. First off, my article "The Night They Stole the Stanley Cup!" will be published in the Spring 2009 issue of Nostalgia Digest; this is my third contribution to the magazine since 2006. Secondly, make sure to check out my eulogy for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (one of my few non-SNL reviews at TV.com) here. It should be third from the top.
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