We got 20 inches or so of snow that we're digging out from under.

My shoulder spent half a week hurting so bad I thought I might like to die - which turned out to be a reaction to my tetanus (TDAP vaccine) shot. It's still swollen at the injection site - next time I need to read the allergy warnings BEFORE agreeing to the shot, as one of them is for people with latex allergies, which I have. If you are allergic to latex, please talk to your doctor before having this shot because you don't want this to happen to you. It was quite painful and it's still in the rather annoying state of things. I reported my reaction to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System government site. Don't know if it does any good, but what the hey.

I'm currently reading Truman Capote's Other Voices, Other Rooms, which they did not have on the Kindle so I am reading it in actual book form.

In the interest of trying to write in my journal more again, I am going to start posting some random lists. Perhaps I will also start doing those Writer's Block things. So I present to you - one random list of...


My Ten Favorite Lines from Joe Jackson Songs

This is to say, my ten favorite lyrical phrasings - not deliveries. Deliveries would be things like the 'Call me God' in Song of Daedalus, the Spanish lines in Happyland, and the lines spoken over the transistor radio in Tuzla, which would be getting into another category entirely. A well-delivered line does not necessarily have to be lyrically sharp (see 'call me God' which is on the surface a very simple phrase, if incredibly bold and and egotistical as befits the song). This is also not necessarily an indication of which are my favorite songs musically - the fugues and the nocturnes would certainly be included in such a list, rich layered pieces that they are. One more note: if you only know Joe Jackson as 'that guy who wrote 'Is She Really Going Out With Him' and 'Steppin' Out' way back when, you should correct this fact immediately because you are cheating yourself out of all the fine pieces of music he's written since then and about thirty years of growth he's done as a musician. Not that I don't enjoy the old songs, but there's been a lot of great ones since then.


In no particular order. Links link to the song so you can listen.


1. American girls, they put their tongue in your ear when they talk on the telephone...
Don't Wanna Be Like That (I'm The Man / 1979)


2. Maybe you'd like to know what I would say if I was still around.
Invisible Man (Rain / 2008)


3. Call me weird and laugh at me - I tell you it's true. I found a cure for Gravity.
Song of Daedalus (Heaven and Hell / )


4. It's the crack of noon and I sit here watching you sleeping. I only wish that I could remember your name.
Love at First Light ( Volume 4 / 2003 )


5. It's not the time to kill - not that he forgets. As he takes a crumpled bill and thinks this is better yet.
Tuzla ( Heaven and Hell / 1997)


6. I watch my pen as though my fingers could shatter like icicles and before my eyes lie glittering and useless on a field of snow.
Lullaby ( Night Music / 1994 )


7. Everything we said is there on a tape for the future to play. Let's put it in the ground- that's where it ought to stay.
Ever After ( Night Music / 1994)


8.He gave me a wink and he said it was funny how mortals would pour all their blood, sweat and tears onto tape, onto paper, or into the air to be lost and forgotten outside of his kind employ.
The Man Who Wrote Danny Boy ( Night Music / 1994 )


9. We're never married, never faithful - not to any town. But we never leave the past behind - we just accumulate.
Hometown ( Big World / 1986)


10. In all the universe I’m just a speck of dust, but all I can do is keep trying . . . .to give you the human touch.
The Human Touch (Blaze of Glory / 1989 )

My day started off with having to avoid a gaggle of old people who wanted me to accompany them to lunch. The phrase 'Uncle Leon is driving' should never be uttered by anyone. He's 88 and doesn't look when he pulls out into traffic anymore. Then my mom had this 'brilliant' idea and asked to borrow the GPS (or as she calls it, the GSP) so they could find the restaurant they wanted to go to without involving me. Like I'm going to send out my 200+ dollar electronic equipment with three seniors who have no idea how to use it. Yeahhhh... let me get right on that.

After escaping from that, my day removed remarkably. I'm still trying to beat this sinus infection (I have antibiotics on the way, that should help) so I'm mostly just lounging about. Nathan sent me a link to this NPR story about Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie, the Postal Service) and Jay Farrar (Son Volt) coming together and making an album based on Jack Kerouac's Big Sur. You can listen to the whole album there - it came out today supposedly. So I've been listening to it - it's quite good. The album is titled One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Music From Kerouac's Big Sur.

Apparently Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died today. Both were pretty much iconic figures - I remember having Charlie's Angels dolls as a kid, and in the 80s when the Thriller music video was a sensational hit having a Michael Jackson style jacket. Farrah had cancer and died after a long struggle - she made a documentary about it that was supposedly very moving (I haven't seen it). Michael Jackson... well. What can you say about the freakish turn of his life that hasn't already been said? I still don't understand why everyone gets so emotional about the death of celebrities. Three radio stations on the way home were playing Michael Jackson songs, and earlier the Beatles break on another local station was dedicated in part to Farrah. What did Farrah have to do with the Beatles? Nothing, but she died today and they had a show so good enough. What a circus.

I have spent the past couple of days helping my brother, who needed to go to the hospital with bad shoulder and neck pain. They were worried he might be having a heart attack and ran all sorts of tests. Turns out he has bursitis, and he's doing okay today thanks to the magic healing powers of steroids and percoset. The hospital formerly known as Kessler (now Atlanti Care) is at least cleaner then Kessler was and has some new furnishings. They've taken away the depressing beg for money while you are forced to see repetitive stories of children dying horribly while you wait St. Jude commercial tv, which is definitely a bonus. The wait time however, is atrocious. It was bad enough at Kessler, but Atlanti Care suffered from a distinct lack of beds and staff. There was one doctor on duty, and maybe six beds in the emergency room that I could see? People were waiting for upwards of three hours just to get in. The doctor on call was very competent and nice when we did finally get in there though. But the sheer amount of suffering going on, with people moaning and children screaming, was horrific. I felt like I was at a field hospital, surrounded by the broken and bleeding and dying. It was really not a happy night.

With me I had Joe Jackson's book, a A Cure For Gravity. If you do not know who Joe Jackson is (hint: not Michael's father), remedy this fact immediately and have a listen to his newest album Rain. The book is his autobiography (the first twenty-five years or so anyhow) and a witty discourse on the nature of music and our relationship with it. Great book, great musician. Gave me something to think about when I definitely needed that.

Yesterday was a very good day - we went to Atlantic City to see The 88 and B52's in concert at House of Blues. We decided to make a day of it, and went to do other things in the city before the show.



First was the Atlantic City aquarium, where I got to feed manta rays and pet all kinds of cute little sea creatures. They are a small aquarium, but have some really nice fishes, amphibians, and reptiles in the space they have. There are two floors of critters and then an observation deck overlooking the ocean on the third floor. Very fun. See more pictures on Facebook - album 1, two, three.


Next we went to Ripley's Believe it or not on the boardwalk. Admission is kind of expensive (15 dollars), but there were a lot of things to see and it was very fun. I got a little book and some sort of Ripley card game that I have to actually take a look at today - didn't have much time yesterday, too busy doing things. They had all kinds of neat things there - even the famous Fiji mermaid! See more pictures on Facebook album 1, album 2, three.

I got a psychic reading - palm reading - on the boardwalk for the hell of it. Man, that thing was actually scary accurate - don't really feel like getting into the details but a combination of good-and-bad things. Then we had some pizza, and took one of those rolling wicker chair taxis over to the House of Blues (which is in Showboat). The guy who took us over was also going to the show, and he sung some B52s songs on the way, and gave us a tour of all the boardwalk musicians we passed - was fun. We saw him later during the show and he came over and said hi - he was a little drunk by then but still funny.
Boardwalk pictures



A little worry at the show as the guest list wasn't down when we arrived, but it came down and then we got our tickets - they gave us balcony seats right over center stage. Really nice seats! First act they had on was actually... a Rockband. Really. They won some Rockband competition to get to open for the B52s. They played a video about the competition before the band took the stage - it was basically a huge commercial for Rockband. Amusing, though, in a way. Then The 88 came on - and wow, they are good live. So much energy! A lot more upbeat than some of the concerts we see too, which was really nice. Good vibes. After The 88's set, we went down to the merch table to hang with Adam while the B52s where on. He gave me a cd and some assorted such, and a poster that he had the rest of his band come sign too. Also got a picture with with him, then with everyone after the show. They're all nice folks. Concert pictures

Today woke up pretty sore from all the running about yesterday, and all three kids gave me squat for mother's day. Brenda at least has a healthy sense of self-preservation and offered to take me out to dinner later in the week. Jeanette, in her usual lack of decorum, spent most of the day screaming about how we should give her things. Steve didn't even show up or call. I got my mom a set of Laurel and Hardy statues and a roomba vacuum (which is still on the way).

Tomorrow the shed should arrive, and then we can start hauling inventory out into it, then starting the book business up again. Go books.

Okay friends here it is....

sound_tracking

Please join! This is where we will be posting the albums from Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of all time - I think we'll be able to set them up as streaming from Imeem, possibly DL available (but you know how that goes - only for evaluation purposes kids!). There'll be a poll for each album so you can vote whether or not it is worthy of the position Rolling Stone gave it - and there will be discussion in the comments so you can give your opinions of it.

For those of you who have been living under a rock and/or haven't heard, we also have a character development prompt community that is up to about 1,200 members so it is going strong. Daily writing prompts are given, and it's a lot of fun - so if you haven't joined that one yet, find it over at....

charloft

Expensive week here at the Cushing house - have to pay the balance of the shed on Monday, and just bought a Roomba for mom for mother's day. Also my grill died - so I wound up getting a super George Forman grill thingy with timer and removable plates and adjustable broiler etc. because we use it so often (grilled meat for the win!) that it's really worth paying a bit extra for the features. Still, spending over 2000 dollah in the space of about seven days is a little intimidating, even when you do actually have the money saved for it and it is (with the exception of the grill which died suddenly) all planned for.

Oddly enough, my old laptop sort of resurrected itself (idk either - zombie electronics ftw?) and my new laptop is having some Vista-related dysfunction. So we've gone from one completely functional laptop to two semi-functional ones. So it goes.

I have not yet started reading Geek Love, as I was intending to finish up Widow of the South first - then got re-distracted by some of my German books (which are non-fiction accounts of various WWII topics that I can only read a bit at a time because they're heavy subject matter). So... eventually I will start reading that.

The circus is coming to town - there's Ringling Brothers in Philly at the spectrum and Cole brothers right in Vineland as far as smaller shows go. Both are show dates within the next couple of weeks, so if I want to go to one or both I would have to figure it out soon. Major problems with the one in philly - driving and parking. Major problems with the one in Vineland - probably bad bleacher seating that'll pretty much kill my back. So... worth it, not worth it? I love the circus, and have a character driven interest to see a show up close and personal to boot - but it may be too much trouble logistically speaking.

Speaking of shows, have not heard back from Adam regarding guest listing for B52's / The 88 on Saturday. I may have waited too long to drop him the reminder email - or maybe he'll still get back to me. We shall see. I just hate not knowing until the last minute what to plan for.

The illustrious mister Nathan sent me Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of all time (book) so I am going to make it my new project to listen to all five hundred albums and give my opinions of them. Am considering doing this as a separate blog, vs just putting them here, vs making a community for them. Might also find the albums and host them somewhere for DLs, or link to them streaming from imeem so other people can listen and give their opinions too. Thoughts? Anyone interested in playing along if I make it a separate community?

I have a new laptop - well, a refurbished laptop - but it's a nice one - to replace the one I had that was on its last legs. This laptop is pretty nice- and surprisingly, I'm enjoying Vista. No complaints so far at any rate.

My niece is still staying with us, with no signs of when she might go back to VA. I wouldn't mind this so much if I didn't hear her up half the night in the room right next to ours - which is very difficult when we have to get up for the morning. Also, the room is our daughter Brenda's room and she's getting upset - especially since Jolene has moved all her things into Brenda's drawers where Brenda's things used to be. Visitors are nice... for a day or two. Maybe three? This is entering week two.

I am considering reading poetry again. It's like life is shoving me in that direction - first, my friend Bryan messaged and told me about this open mic night at Bogart's - then the very next day, Joey was telling me about the same exact thing and urging me to try that and some of the other mics he goes to. Granted, he's a singer/songwriter/guitarist - but he knows a lot of poets and some of the mics are for both so... it could work. It seems like he's also willing to give me rides with him from time to time to get to them, which would be nice at least at first so I can learn where they are at. I can't believe I'm even considering opening up this whole can of worms again, but there you go. It was nice to get to catch up with Joey though- to explain a little about who he is for those who havent' been keeping track, I've known him all my life. My brother's best friend since like - third grade or something like that? Basically, he's like family to me. I loves Joey, but I haven't really sat down and talk-talked to him for quite a while. And he played some of his music for me, and wow, is he good these days! So it'll be nice to get to see him perform too. Maybe I'll bring my video camera and do some taping - I need to get back to working on my columns on a regular basis anyhow. I am still wary about the whole business.

Got my 'payment' for the comic scripts today. Let's just leave that at that.

We walked around Batsto a few days ago, when the weather was warm - always been one of my favorite places to think about things. I have put some of my thoughts into order, at least, if nothing else. There is much to be done, if I choose to do it. We shall see.

Okay, so Creepy Jesus is my savior (praise his disturbing visage) - but noise canceling headphones are my new god.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, considering how noise-sensitive I am and how much about 3/4 of my household likes to scream pointlessly at random intervals. I picked up a pair for thirty bucks at Aldis today, and I haven't heard a damn bit of stupidity all night. Nothing but sweet sweet music.


Also! You should go to The Decemberists website and download their new song The Rake for free because it is made of awesome and win.

Tonight
we don't have a lot to go on
but that's not how it lives in my head
no, not at all
blind times
thought we were matching weight
we pulled
sometimes it was you and sometimes it was me
but where are we
you say "don't take it all so hard for now
there's so much space
and there will always be later for that"


Matching Weight - Trespassers William


I like this - those little bit of lyrics above, followed by about eight minutes of ambient noise and instrumental. That's what my life feels like right now - little speaking, a lot of tangentially related sounds. Apologies to everyone I am currently uncommunicative with right now - yes, I am avoiding quite a lot of people at the moment but it's nothing personal I am just in one of those periods where talking to almost everyone is overwhelming. There's too much pressure and screaming and all the bad things around here and I can't stand for there to be more online. Sorry. We bend so much and then we drop out of sight before we break - it's just the way of things. I've also pretty much had enough of the petty things - all the jealousies and the flouncing and the drama. Enough of so many things. I'm rambling so just suffice it to say that if I am not talking to you it may-or-may-not-be you, but it probably isn't you it's more-than-likely-me. Dig?

It'll all wander back again eventually. Always does.

In no particular order, just making a list of releases that came out in 2008 that I like for a soon-to-be column


(self titled) Airborne Toxic Event

(self titled) Conor Oberst

(Narrow Stairs) Death Cab for Cutie

(Viva La Vida/Prospekt's March) Coldplay

(The Red Album/Weezer) Weezer

(Animal / Not Animal) Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos

(Distortion) The Magnetic Fields

(At Mount Zoomer) Wolf Parade

(Seeing Things) Jakob Dylan

(o) Tilly and the Wall

(Ghosts I-IV, The Slip) Nine Inch Nails

(Way to Normal) Ben Folds

(The Way That It Was) Pierre De Reeder

(Lovers and Dollars) Frank Hoier

(A Broke Machine) Terami Hirsch

(You May Already Be Dreaming) Neva Dinova

(A Hundred Million Suns) Snow Patrol

Put your MP3 player on shuffle, and write down the first line of the first twenty songs. Post the poem that results. The first line of the twenty-first is the title.


Where have all the flowers gone

How fucking romantic.
Oh, my shrinking violet--
once upon a once in a while,

stand at attention.

Should I fall out of love, my fire in the light?
We are two mariners;
I guess they think it's what we want.

Sweet Annabelle--
here she comes.
Take a boat, take a plane.

When I feel the morning grass;
you and me forever. We belong together;
there's a world you're living in.

Sometimes when I'm falling,
all the leaves are brown.

When the winter rains,
stuck in a moment,
I take the train across town.

I met a man with a lumberyard tan.
I heard the laughter at the depot.

What wakes you up?




( For those who want to know what songs the lines are from... )

Here are some 'gems' from the music my daughters listen to - four songs I heard while driving them around today. Because I am nice, I let them listen to their music on the radio while we drive - but.. it's really starting to get to me. Am I just getting old to that point where I hate my kids music just on principal, or is this just completely crap? It's physically painful for me to listen to it- headache inducing. It's just that bad to me.



1. I don't remember enough of the lyrics from this one to look it up, but the line that sticks out clearly is "my nig name is wig wig"

2. I'm talkin' big boy rides
And big boy ice
Let me put this big boy in yo life
The thang get so wet, it hit so right
Let me put this big boy in yo life
That's right
Yeah I want'cho body, I need yo body
Long as you got me you won't need nobody
You want it I got it, go get it I buy it
Tell'em other broke jokers be quiet

3.If I were a boy
I could turn off my phone
Tell evveryone it’s broken
So they’d think that I was sleepin’ alone
I’d put myself first
And make the rules as I go

4.Womanizer
Woman-Womanizer
You're a womanizer
Oh Womanizer
Oh You're a Womanizer Baby
You, You You Are
You, You You Are
Womanizer, Womanizer, Womanizer

Boy don't try to front I (I) know just (just) what you are (are are)

I challenge you to watch Pierre's new video without smiling. Go ahead, try. It's physically impossible.

Then check out http://www.myspace.com/pierredereeder for more sweet music.

I wake up, sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes near morning - with all kinds of ideas in my head. Things I want to write, things I want to say, things I want to do for the day. When I get up, however, those things start to fade. The stresses of the day steal my creativity away from me, sometimes word by word. I really wish there was a way to keep all the ideas I have in semi-conscious states anchored to my waking life.

One thing I have been considering lately is writing an essay about why I am so attached to music. Almost everything I write involves music in some way - all my major stories, even those that aren't about musicians - have a musical theme (consider the chapters The Only Living Boy and The Only Living Boy (reprise) in Tequila Sunset, for example). My NaNo project will involve music this year, as a backdrop and a mirror for some of the events in the story. Summer's Last Stand involves a lot of music that has been important to me over the years, starting with the Monkees 20th anniversary reunion tour.When I meet someone who says to me 'I'm not really that into music' or 'I don't really listen to music' - it's a little like meeting an alien. I don't understand entirely how you can be human and not moved by music. I really don't. Maybe it's a shortcoming on my part, not to understand this, but it's really that important to me. I can define whole periods of my life by what I was listening to at that time. I think I need to get the essay out of my system before I can work comfortably on NaNo, so maybe I will do that this weekend.

San Diego musician and working class superhero Eben Brooks wrote this song inspired by Michael's Story - California People.

Michael and I think it's amazing! We even get a shout out in the beginning of the video. Thanks Eben!

I bought a lot of canvas shoes last year when they were on sale for three bucks, in assorted colors. I have the urge to dig a pair out (possibly the black ones) and decorate them (possibly with a silver or gold sharpee).

I need to start wearing real shoes again anyhow- it's getting to be too chilly for flip flops already. Anyhow, I think I want to write the names of all the cool places I go on the shoes . It's better than designs, because I can't really draw that well, and it'd be an interesting memento of where those shoes have been. It's either that, or have random people sign them- which granted, would have been a lot more interesting when I was still going to concerts and/or lurking with musicians, poets, and the like.

Maybe I'll cover another pair with strange bits of ribbon, lace, and buttons just for the hell of it. When I was a kid I used to sew lace and ribbons onto the bottoms and pockets of my jeans.

My mind wanders randomly.

To me, independence day is a celebration of the spirit of independence - which means thinking for yourself and standing up against the injustices of your government. Is it possible to love your country and hate the policies of your government at the same time? I think so.

My father once told me that I was born in the greatest nation in the world - he really believed that. Maybe there was a time when that was true - but now? My great nation is under siege by politicians who don't care about her lands and about her people.

Here's hoping that the election year is a new beginning for us all, a time of change that'll make us all proud to be Americans.

Happy Independence day, America.



* warning - playlist contains strong language and opinions. Rock on.

Some of the songs seem to be cutting off to thirty second samples- I hate when that happens. If you want to hear the full versions, log in to Imeem (it's free) and listen here:

http://www.imeem.com/soundtracking/playlist/8c1wOE34/independence_day_music_playlist/

(EEP... sorry to those who commented - I was trying to edit this and it DELETED the original post instead - grrrrr)

I finally got social security to give the kids their cards - it only took five visits, each time they said they wanted something different. Finally I just brought all three kids and their ids and my ids and just said look, this is the best I can do. That apparently worked.

I have to do a lot of little errands tomorrow - we sold a book, so have to drop that off at the post office. Then we have to drop off some tiny three dollar checks (hey, every little bit helps) from Pinecone and such , and then we have to go fax some resumes in the hopes that Aus might get an interview.

In work-type-news, This weekend, I have to write my column and do some assorted music type things - work on myspace, imeem, etc. for the bands and so forth. I've also come across some new music sites that I want to check out- some that'll be helpful to me with the column and some that'll be helpful to our bands. I wonder if I'll get to review any books for July? I applied to review a couple, but I'm not sure if I got 'em or not yet. I have a lot of things to read anyhow if I don't get them, but I hope I do. I really like doing book reviews.

So the new game I got for my birthday, Endless Ocean, is really sweet. You dive around and pet and photograph sea creatures. It's really pretty and very relaxing. It also lets you play music in the game, so I was trying to think of what would be some good ocean /fishie / water themed songs to put in there. Here's what I have so far:

The Beatles - Yellow Submarine
The Decemberists - Mariner's Revenge Song
The Beach Boys - Surfin' USA
Rilo Kiley - Wires and Waves
The Elected - Waves
The Drifters - Under the Boardwalk
Otis Reading - Dock of the Bay
Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
TLC - Waterfalls
Bright Eyes - June on the West Coast
Bright Eyes - Train Underwater
Everclear - Santa Monica
Doobie Brothers - Black Water
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary
The Band - Cripple Creek
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
Led Zeppelin - The Ocean
Morcheeba - The Sea
The Decemberists - A Cautionary Tale
The Beatles - Across the Universe
Death Cab For Cutie - The Ice Is Getting Thinner
Faith & the Muse- Annwyn, Beneath the Waves
Renaissance - Ocean Gypsy
Styx - Come Sail away
Duncan Shiek - Land
Raidohead - Weird Fishes / Arpeggi
Interpol - Pioneer to the Falls
The Monkees - Porpoise Song
The Monkees - Goin' Down
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
REM - Horse to Water
The Decemberists - From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea)
The Decemberists - Shanty for the Arethusa
The Decemberists - The Island
The Elected - Greetings in Braille
The Magnetic Fields - Deep Sea Diving Suit
Dr. Demento - Fish Heads


Suggestions? Anything I should add?

Being friends with people is such an exhausting emotional involvement sometimes. So are about a hundred other things - man, I just feel exhausted by life sometimes.

In better news though, I am reading/reviewing a good history book for Gather; I am going to see Indiana Jones tomorrow and Whales and Dolphins 3-D at the Imax on Wednesday - both movie-type-events presents for my birthday. The other things I received are:

Wii Fit
Indiana Jones Monopoly
Indiana Jones playing cards
Indiana Jones novelizations of the first three movies
Wordjong DS game
Croswords DS game
New Jersey Poets book
About ten used books from the library booksale and Goodwill- including Al Capone Does My Shirts, a biography of Chang and Eng Bunker (the original Siamese twins), Ten Little Indians, House of Sand and Fog

So good birthday so far - and my actual birthday isn't even until Friday.


I need some good music for a rocking summer playlist I'm putting together - any suggestions?