A confession: Writing about music, rock and roll in particular comes easily. That is, by comparison finding the words to describe other topics; the more abstract the topic, the more difficult. To find the exact word, that’s the key. This tune by Led Zeppelin pierced “to the heart” as I drove to Starbucks this…
Sunday, and freezing mist has covered pavement with a quarter inch of ice. I will be satisfied with the cup of coffee from the kitchen. The short drive to the Starbucks on 3rd and State in Geneva would be a risk. I appreciate the hot rich astringent cup of Starbucks coffee, and anticipate the…
Never did I think that I’d feature music by a heavy metal band. The genre does not inspire me, and perhaps that is a generational thing. My father’s generation thought the performances of Elvis were disturbing, beyond the bounds of the conventions of popular music. Perhaps a form of music emanates from the zeitgeist,…
So you’ve run out of things to say! I imagine that a reader could react to this “throw-away” pop tune for the post of today. I am often inspired by the challenge of writing about an art form. Rock and roll is within that wide circle of made objects that we refer to as…
On fire, the world was always on fire. It just depends on where you live. Can you smell smoke? See flames? Some of us run for our lives. And there’s a time when running is impossible, there is nowhere to run to. I tire of thinking about politics, which has become a reflex, —…
Just music today. Purple Rain by Prince ranks as one of the great guitar solos. The lyrics laid over the melody are an eloquent expression of what it means to be human. What does it mean to be human? This. The story teller reflects upon the fact of his father’s madness, the effect of…
This morning I felt a unusual sense of peace upon awaking. Yesterday with help from WordPress support I solved a issue with the back-end of this blog, an issue which had haunted me for some weeks. The solution did not come easy. It was necessary to grasp the vocabulary, as well as to visually…
Not much to say this morning. It is gray, raining. We need the rain. I am speaking for the vegetation, trees, grass, shrubs and everything really. Do we not all live by virtue of water? Blood is water. At the same time, too much water and a flood soon follows. Too much of anything…
Yesterday the news came that Joan Didion died on Thursday. She was 87 years old. I did not know her personally, only through her collection of essays Slouching Toward Bethlehem. She wrote about the chaos of the 60s. Her writing electrified me, and made sense, in a primal way of the extremes that had…
I did not post anything yesterday. That’s the first day missed in three years. I am blessed, lucky, and there’s no explanation, nothing I have done to merit good health, the ability to consistently write. How much does civilization, not to mention bare existence owe to dumb luck? What are the odds that you…
