[ Saturday, April 03, 2004 ]
Saturday update
After three hours of writing last night, and 90 minutes of writing just now, I have 41 pages. More will come later today (especially since, when Tyson told me "barbecue Saturday night," apparently he actually meant "barbecue TWO Saturdays from now). I'm liking what I'm coming up with, and think this is moving along very nicely.
I'll keep y'all posted. For anybody who's interested, I've got some pages that some of y'all at least would probably be interested in reading. Available upon request.
On the box right now: Bobby Patterson, SOUL IS MY MUSIC. (This is actually a little break from the music of the subject of my topic, which I've been listening to almost non-stop with few signs of stopping.)
Peace...
Dove With Claws [11:28 AM]
[ Friday, April 02, 2004 ]
Everyday I write the book
Tonight, I start a major writing project. Actually, I shouldn't be so presumptuous. It could turn out to be a major writing project, even though - at the moment - it's only a somewhat nebulous concept that could turn into nothing. Chances are, though, it's gonna be something more than nothing. Whether or not it's "major" in anything other than quantity of pages is another story.
Anyway, it's involving me getting my head back into a writing space, a space I haven't really been in for quite some time. Sure, I've got these little epistles to send out every now and again, and I do appreciate the responses, but this is a very different beast. I have a feeling it might be rough going at first, but that - if I keep my eyes on the prize - it'll get easier. It also doesn't hurt that my chosen topic is something that I've thought about a LOT, and it also doesn't hurt that I've got the first few pages or so basically mapped out in my head.
Anyway, by the time of tomorrow night's planned barbecue at Tyson's house, I should be well along the path towards being further along the path, if you know what I mean. Wish me luck...
Oh yeah, if you're wondering what I'm writing about, too bad...I ain't telling. Not that it's some big secret or anything, but I'm actually pretty superstitious about these things, and I don't wanna jinx nothing. I've told a few folks about my plans, and others are welcome to ask me one-on-one, but the last thing I need is a public pronouncement. I've noticed that such pronouncements tend to make things crazy for me.
By the way, I think everybody pretty much knew last night that Audrey Seiler hadn't actually been abducted. This story, now that we know it was a well-planned (although not necessarily well-executed) hoax, is really sad. I hope that whatever bizarre psychological place she's in has an exit door somewhere. And now we can get back to the real news, like the Tyco CEO getting off or the mutilation of American civilians in supposedly "friendly" Iraq.
On the box right now: Bruce Springsteen, A NIGHT FOR THE VIETNAM VETERAN, Disc 2. One of the best bootlegs I've ever heard. Any fan of the Boss should check it out.
Peace...
Dove With Claws [12:10 PM]
[ Tuesday, March 30, 2004 ]
Come the rapture...can I use your car?
Earlier today, I saw one of the funniest street-person signs I've ever encountered.
"Christ is coming July 15th. Guaranteed. I don't want to talk about it."
On the box right now: Nas, ILLMATIC
Peace...
Dove With Claws [3:11 PM]
[ Sunday, March 28, 2004 ]
The hits keep on coming...
Sunday morning coming down...
Last night was a particularly fun night, complete with playing a gig. Went well, even though the audience was only half-interested. (Not really a criticism, since the reason for the celebration was History Department Recruitment Weekend. Yep, those damned historians again. I was surprised that historians, a notoriously rowdy bunch, didn't start a bunch of fistfights.) But, it was a good night, even though - and there are too many reasons for this, reasons I shan't go into here - I had a lot of shit to think through this morning, shit that I've not yet begun to totally process.
Suffice to say I woke up in a songwriting mood. Over the past eight years (oh my God, eight years...where has the time gone), I've amassed over 150 original songs, songs that have served a variety of purposes and have also served to chart, to a certain degree, my life and times in those years. I'm a streaky writer, in that I'll go through long stretches of nothing, and then write five or six in two days. I think this might be one of those periods, since I began writing three different ones this morning. It's nice to be able to harness emotions, thoughts and conflicts in a creative form; not that I'm brilliant, but I think I've reached the point where I can be proud of just about every song I come up with. The ones this morning all look promising, with two of them - an angry rocker and a sort of bleeding-heart ballad - being particularly enticing. We'll see what they turn into, though. Often times, my early favorites don't pan out, whereas the ones I almost literally toss off in a half-hour sometimes prove to be the most rewarding. Can't choose which seeds are gonna blossom, I guess.
Bunch of civil-rights stuff in the next couple days. Talking to an elementary school class tomorrow morning, two different meetings tonight (one about activism, one about fundraising for the
National Voting Rights Museum). Ain't gonna let nobody turn me 'round...
On the box right now: Graham Parker, YOUR COUNTRY finishing up, with N.E.R.D., FLY OR DIE next up
Peace...
Dove With Claws [12:37 PM]
