NaBloPoMo

Bigmouth Strikes Again

Johnny Marr – Bigmouth Strikes Again

I watched Johnny Marr’s stream “Live from the Crazy Face Factory” tonight. Lots of musicians did live streams from their living rooms during the early part of the pandemic but back then I really didn’t have the mental energy for it. So I was kind of on the fence about spending time (and a little) money to watch this live when I figured it will eventually wind up on YouTube. But then I saw if you got a ticket you were entered to win a signed Johnny Marr Fender Jaguar guitar and while I’m probably no more likely to win that than the lottery, $20 isn’t a lot to support musicians I love.

I’m glad I did because some of the songs that he released recently sound better live. Johnny Marr will be opening up for the Killers in the spring but I really hope he does a swing through some smaller venues because I am only going to a stadium show in the rarest of circumstances. If he plays a couple of club shows before, after, or in between, I will be there. Multiple nights if possible. The new material is fine, but when he plays an old Electronic or Smiths song, it’s all worth it.

Something Soon

Car Seat Headrest – Something Soon

I know there’s a later version of this song and a different video but this was the one I saw/heard first and it says awkward and vulnerable teenager so much more effectively than the “official” version.

It has been a tiring weekend, it’s getting late, and I still have one clock I need to fix before going to bed. Note to self, get a lottery ticket when you stop for gas in the morning.

The Spirit Blossoms All Over the Land

Onra – The Spirit Blossoms All Over the Land

I planted bulbs today. I don’t think the soil is very conducive to growing things but the neighbors on the other side of the street cut down a couple of trees a month or two ago so now that side of the house gets a ton of sun. I’m hoping they will surprise me in March, or maybe late February if the winter isn’t too bad.

My mother used to plant bulbs every fall, then browse through garden catalogs all winter long, planning what she would buy and looking forward to getting things in the ground. I have not inherited her green thumb and usually even house plants tend to wither under my care. Bulbs appear easy enough but the proof will be in a couple of months when I will either have some lovely flowers to brighten up things, or discover that the squirrels made off with the goods.

We set the clocks back tonight and enter the undeniable slide into winter. Here’s hoping that the prospect of new flowers popping up in the spring will be something to offset the cold and dark of the next few months.

You Don’t Want This

Pip Blom – You Don’t Want This

I met up with a friend after work today. I was nervous about going out to eat but we went to an Indian restaurant that was completely empty when we arrived (it was on the early side of dinner) so it seemed ok.

We hadn’t seen each other since the summer and there was a lot to catch up on. For many years her life was really difficult and I used to feel like I really had no business griping about any of my challenges to her but these days we are more evenly matched. It’s not like we’re trying to outdo each other for title of pity queen or anything but it is nice to be able to commiserate with someone who will just agree that yeah, that sucks! It’s nice to not feel like you should censor yourself.

And with that I’m going to get under the covers and hope to sleep in.

How Can I Make It Ok?

Wolf Alice – How Can I Make It Ok?

I was listening to the newest Wolf Alice album on my way to work and got stuck on this song. This video wasn’t what I was expecting but I think it expands on the song’s message from a deeply personal one to something universal.

While I was driving I was thinking about my kids and how the past two years have been so difficult for everyone, but of course my focus is on trying to make their lives better. How can I make it ok? Honestly the world sucks so bad and what is there for them to look forward to in a country teetering on the brink of fascism. Climate change, racism, crippling debt, homophobia; how do I sell them the world? I’m also keenly aware of how their lives right now, in the present, are so far removed from what any of us imagined their high school and college years would be like. It’s a pointless exercise to consider what could have been had things not been upended by a pandemic but I think most parents do have hopes for what their kids will do as they grow up and it’s hard to watch the things you envisioned for them disintegrate. I just want them to be happy. Nothing else is as important as that to me. It’s why I drove 300 miles on Monday to take my daughter to her show.

In looking for a video* I watched a number of live performances and thought about how great their show was that I went to a couple of years ago. They’re touring now and it seemed like there were still tickets for the Boston show next week. I had them in my cart but then remembered a potential conflict I need to check into, plus I am still catching up on sleep from the trip up to Boston earlier this week (which already feels longer than just three days ago!). This is going to be one of those ones I leave up to the fates. If there are still tickets next week, who knows, I may decide it’s worth it.

*I was looking for a video with the lyrics because they’re kind of critical to what I’m talking about here, but the only ones I found were either crappy quality or actually got the lyrics wrong. You had one job!

Begin Again

Adam Melchor – Begin Again

Even though yesterday was Halloween and you would think that would tip me off that today is November 1st, it still snuck up on me. This morning when I was driving to work, yes driving to the office again, my year and a half of working remotely is unfortunately over, I was kind of zoning out looking at the landscape, the trees were not vibrant colors anymore, and I thought well, it is November. Then I thought, fuck! It’s November!?!

Back in the summer my daughter bought concert tickets for a couple of shows. She had a friend who wanted to go with her and they figured plenty of time to figure it out later but in the months in between, her friend got busy and decided they weren’t able to go to the show tonight in Boston. I don’t mind going to Boston for a show, it’s not that far, but of course I had to first drive an hour up to work and then drive an hour from work to my daughter’s college and then drive an hour from her college to Boston and then repeat the reverse Boston to her college to home.

So I did not have time to think about some kind of appropriate post for kicking off yet another NaBloPoMo. To be honest I don’t think I gave much thought at all to whether or not I was even going to do it. I feel like at this point, simply because I’ve got a streak going, it feels wrong to not even try. Does anybody else still do it? I have no idea.

I’m grabbing the video to the song that was the encore tonight and doing the speech to text while I’m driving home. I’ll clean up the post when I get home and call it good enough.

Same Old Scene

Roxy Music – Same Old Scene

Much like the rest of 2020, this month has defied any sense of normal time for me. The election was this month? The interminable wait for the results of the election was this month? My daughter’s only been home for just over a week? NaBloPoMo is often a struggle to get through because it’s day after day of the same thing, at least the way I do it. But in this pandemic life in the dwindling days of the Cheeto administration, hasn’t every day been like that for months now? I can’t tell the days apart at all anymore. If I didn’t have a calendar on my phone, I’d be lost.

Thanks for following along these past 30 days of Marchtober. Here’s hoping next year’s NaBloPoMo is more like Novembers of year’s past.