Category: Art

  • Earworm Wednesday: It is a Magic Number

    I wasn’t the biggest Blind Melon fan when they were around, but I didn’t have a problem with them. It was a tragedy when their lead singer Shannon Hoon died of an overdose, as I think the band still had years of good work ahead of them.

    A little treasure of a song they recorded for the “Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks!” tribute album was “Three is a Magic Number,” which has been played in my home since the day we brought our daughter home from the hospital. There are lots of ear hooks in this song, but for me, it’s the drums that get stuck in my head.

  • Earworm Wednesday: The New York Stones

    I had a friend, who fancied himself the end all be all final word which was handed down from God on everything music, and to that end, the disco/New York Rolling Stones were the worst, according to him. What were the New York Rolling Stones, you ask? He would claim three albums made up this period; Some Girls, Emotional Rescue, and Tattoo You. Sure, he’s say, there were a couple of good songs in there, but on the whole, they sucked.

    I disagreed. In fact, I loved this period for the Stones. “Miss You” is one of my favorite songs of their’s and the reason is Bill Wyman’s disco bass. His playing is iconic, and a little gem of disco bass that just grooves into your head and won’t leave.

  • ODDS and ENDS: I’m Injured, Meditation, and Making Stuff

    (Generals gather in their masses…)

    Not sure what I did, but I was walking home from Trader Joe’s on Tuesday, and all of a sudden I got this sharp pain in my left ankle. At first the ache was so bad that I thought I was going to have to sit down, but slowly it started to subside. The issue is that everyday since, I continue to have an ache down there. I’ve tried bending and turning my ankle in several different way to see if there is a specific position that causes the pain, but I haven’t figured it out yet. It’s not so bad that I can’t walk, but it has made me nervous to return to the gym and run on the treadmill. It’s just odd.

    I read this article in The Athletic, about how Kobe Bryant used to sit quietly for 15 minutes at the start of each day to center himself. I am on a bit of a self-improvement kick right now, so I thought, what the hell, let’s see if this will work. I am aware that it may take several day if not weeks for there to be any noticeable improvement in my centering, but there has been one change. I no longer doom-scroll in the morning, and I have to admit, that has put me in a much better mood.

    Today at my kid’s school is an art show, and I am very proud to say that my daughter has two pieces on display. I’m about to head out and look at her and her classmates work, which I am looking forward to. The kid has always been a creative type and she has and is still fill sketchbooks of little drawings. When I asked about the work she made for she, I was curious as to my her inspiration was. Her answer; “I don’t know. I just like making stuff.”

  • Earworm Wednesday: This One is for My Wife

    I am not a fan of Garbage, but I have always given them props for the best 90’s grunge band name.

    The hook of this song has always dug into my head as soon as I start to hear it.

    This one is for you, dear wonderful wife.

  • ODDS and ENDS: World Cup Time, Coffee Shops, and Mother’s Day

    ODDS and ENDS: World Cup Time, Coffee Shops, and Mother’s Day

    (This rock had got to roll…)

    Man typing on laptop in a busy NYC coffee shop with pedestrians outside
    It’s uncanny how much this AI image looks just like me.

    Just about a month until my favorite world sporting event which is run by one of the most corrupt organizations in the world. I speak of FIFA, and I am not the first person to say this, but the funniest at it would be John Oliver back in 2014. I won’t beat that dead horse again, but I will say that outside of the ridiculous train tickets to get to MetLife Stadium, or the lack of hotel reservations, or how everyone thinks the tickets are too expensive, everything seems great for the tournament! I hate the fact that everything going into the World Cup is nothing but greed and bullshit, and at the same time, the whole thing starts in a month, and I am stuipdly excited about it! I download the FIFA app, and yesterday I started looking at the schedule to figure out which matches I will be watching. I have a good feeling for a month, I won’t get shit done. No writing, reviews, or parenting in fact. Nothing will be happening other than me parked in front of my tv watching football.

    I wrote in a coffee shop yesterday and it was pretty cool. I hadn’t done that in a long time, and I was a tad self conscious about it for a minute. But I needed to make a change in my writing habits as I had run into a wall and wasn’t getting the productivity at home like I used to. The main reason was that there are too many distractions at home, which is also one of the big reasons I never liked working from home. I will watch tv and nap before I will get any work done. But if I go to an office, or some place that I am paying to be at, then I have skin in the game and that makes me focus. Which is what I received yesterday in the local coffee place, that was out of my neighborhood, but still was a cool place to be.

    Call your mama.