I thought I'd add this as a comment to Sandi's post about the tapering off of the blog, but then figured it might be too long.
As you all know, I lost my job just before the new year. Before that, I'd been working flat out for approximately the last 7 years, in more than one country and in more than a few jobs. Along the way, I got married, and therefore, in a sense, started a family (sans kids). For most of that time, my writing activity either dropped off dramatically or even disappeared, and I convinced myself that I had a permanent case of writer's block. Creatively speaking, most of the last 7 or so years were a dead end.
I can't remember when this was, perhaps 2 summers ago when I was home, but I bought a copy of Corel Painter. Honestly, I had never drawn in my life before, and never thought I had any talent in that direction. A half-assed stick man was about all I could muster. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found I COULD produce something...not high art, by any means, but something.
Not to make this sound like a religious conversion or anything, but I tried to figure out why and how this drawing thing happened. Where did the ability come from? Why did it happen so "late"? Was Corel Painter responsible? In short, it was like a revelation to me...here is some ability I have, that I never knew existed, and it opened up a whole new door of creativity for me. That was about a year and a half ago, and I've been drawing ever since...it seems like the ideas I would before have expressed in writing now make their way into pictures. That's not to say the writing is completely dead, however; it just has a new outlet.
Nobody likes to lose their job, I know, but for me, the conjunction of this happening and the blog starting was a happy conjunction. I just turned 37, and quite frankly don't want to keep all of my creativity inside anymore, which I had done for most of the past 37 years. I'm not sure how it is for anyone else, but I HAVE to be a creative person...its physically and mentally painful for me not to be creative. "Burning desire", I suppose you could call it. Anyone could argue that work, family, etc. are important, and they are, but your "music" is just as important. I remember a quotation from one of the Sherlock Holmes stories: "When a man has a hobby, he follows it up no matter what his other interests might be."
So, I'm with Sandi on this one. We need to keep this thing going strong all the time.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Ain't We Cute
I have an over-abundance of pictures of us stored on my hard drive, so I thought I'd post a few here. I really don't have many updated ones. People who haven't seen us in a while will just have to deduce what we look like. Hopefully, they'll deduce that I am a lot thinner than I actually am.
But, in any case, here are some gems from our childhood. And don't think that you cousins will be spared. You're here with us too, in all of our bad 90s hair glory! Nanny looks great, though, as does Mitzi. RIP.
Not This Time, Dammit!!
The blog's been up for a little while now, and I think that the honeymoon's over, in a way. After an initial flurry of posts, we've sort of tapered off. My worry, because I'm programmed to worry, is that this will be like my guitar-playing, or Bob and Geoff's guitar-playing, or Lauren's foray into ballet or soccer refereeing. That is to say, that we will be gung-ho about the blog to begin with, but will slowly let it die. I couldn't think of an Allyson reference here. Maybe she's better about sticking with things than the rest of us. But, again, I do worry that we will not follow through and make this what it could be.
So, Noseworthys (and Terry and Declan), keep the posts coming. Let us know what's going on with you. Post some short stories or photos or illustrations. We have a good number of people on the Facebook group, and people do actually read this stuff from time to time, so let's keep up with it.
So, Noseworthys (and Terry and Declan), keep the posts coming. Let us know what's going on with you. Post some short stories or photos or illustrations. We have a good number of people on the Facebook group, and people do actually read this stuff from time to time, so let's keep up with it.
The day the music died
Thanks Don McLean for the lyric, but your over-played anthem is not one of my favorites, despite it coming from an era of music that will never be matched again.
When exactly was the day the music died? If I had to pick a day, while not specifically a day, it would be sometime in the 1990s. Seems like once grunge hit the scene, a lot of music started to sound the same. Since the 90s, music has gone on a huge downward spiral. And there is no hope in sight.
So with no good, new music to listen to, I've turned to a band that I already know. With the availability of free downloads (torrents and other file sharing programs) it is easy to get the entire discography of a band. So you can sit back, and in a few hours have the entire Deep Purple discography.
I can hear the questions now, though. "Why would you WANT the Deep Purple discography?" Well, I like Deep Purple. I like the songs I have hard by them and figure that at the very least the rest of their music can't be that bad. The good thing about downloading music is that if you don't like it, you can delete it. Not quite the same if you plunked down $20 on a CD. But this is not really about CDs vs. downloads. That's an argument for another time.
I mention Deep Purple because most of their music has a distinct sound, and because it was Deep Purple I was listening to when I started to think about some of the crap that is being played today.
Thanks to Ian Gillan's awesome voice, it's not that hard to pick out a Deep Purple song (unless it's not Ian Gillan, but instead it's David Coverdale, Joe Lynn Turner or Rod Evans)the average person might not recognize Deep Purple from Shallow Pink.
But that works both ways. If I was to turn on the radio or Much Music right now, I'd say there is well over a 50% chance that I would not recognize the artist. I'll check that by saying that MM might give me a bit of an advantage as obviously I can see who is singing/playing. But that's not much of an advantage.
My dislike for the direction that the music business is not limited to new/newer artists. Oh no. It applies to most, if not all of the older bands that I like. One of the best examples of that is Aerosmith. While not one of the first bands I started listening to,(that would be KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, among others; Bob will remember those days), I did eventually become a huge Aerosmith fan.
I love the 70s Aerosmith output. Hardly a bad song. Even the overplayed songs like "Sweet Emotion", "Walk This Way", and "Dream On". But its the less popular album tracks, like "Bone to Bone (Coney Island Whitefish Boy)", "Three Mile Smile", and "Get the Lead Out" that I prefer. Awesome guitar. Steve Tyler's insane opening ramblings. One of the most solid, but not overly spectacular rhythm sections out there.
Then the 80s and 90s came.
Somewhere, somehow, Aerosmith's guitar-driven rock changed. It changed drastically. And it most certainly changed for the worst.
"Cryin'". "Angel". "Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Are you serious?
That's only a few of the disasters they've recorded since 1987. The answer as to why their sound changed so much is simple enough.
No more drugs.
As we all know, drugs have taken many young performers, athletes, and everyday people way before their time. The same thing was going to happen to Steven Tyler and Jo Perry if they kept it up. But they didn't. They cleaned up their act. The sad thing is, they lost their sound. Suddenly they were cranking out power ballads that any crappy group was capable of matching.
The day the music died.
When I was talking initially with my boss at Water Werks, she said, "there are no new ideas." I had been asking her about the danger of ripping off another company's ad. As an aspiring writer, that was a little disheartening. On one hand it makes it sound like no matter how good someone is, your ideas are going to sound old and tired. But I know what she means.
She was referring to influences. And as an artist, more specifically, an author, I have my own influences. They range from other authors, to songwriters, to comedians, to my friends and family. It's like a professor of mine once said, "you write what you know".
So how does all this rambling, referencing, and ranting tie in with 'the day the music died'?
When you think about it, it's been 35 years since Aerosmith released their first album. In that time, thousands of groups have come and gone, many I'm sure influenced in one way or another by Aerosmith. (Guns 'N Roses are one notable band that claim Aerosmith as an influence). So, if Aerosmith were one of the reasons you got into the music business, it probably wouldn't be a stretch if your music sounded a bit like Aerosmith would it?
And that's sort of the point of all this, and really is why I find newer music to be bland and boring. It all sounds the same. Maybe if I put in a bit more effort I would be able to tell who is who. But I just don't care enough to try and figure it all out.
I'm content to fire all my songs into a Winamp playlist and take a nap. I've discovered some great songs that way.
Most people would furrow their brows and the sound (and sight) of the songs I listen to. Not only the artists. But the names, lengths and dates of the music I listen to. We've already been through Mr. Zappa's creative song titles. But who else wants to hear a 14 minute version of "Yours Is No Disgrace" by Yes? Bob maybe.
All in all, today's music scene, while probably full of decent artists, holds little interest for me.
If I really want to listen to a band that sounds like Led Zeppelin, I'll just go and listen to the real thing.
When exactly was the day the music died? If I had to pick a day, while not specifically a day, it would be sometime in the 1990s. Seems like once grunge hit the scene, a lot of music started to sound the same. Since the 90s, music has gone on a huge downward spiral. And there is no hope in sight.
So with no good, new music to listen to, I've turned to a band that I already know. With the availability of free downloads (torrents and other file sharing programs) it is easy to get the entire discography of a band. So you can sit back, and in a few hours have the entire Deep Purple discography.
I can hear the questions now, though. "Why would you WANT the Deep Purple discography?" Well, I like Deep Purple. I like the songs I have hard by them and figure that at the very least the rest of their music can't be that bad. The good thing about downloading music is that if you don't like it, you can delete it. Not quite the same if you plunked down $20 on a CD. But this is not really about CDs vs. downloads. That's an argument for another time.
I mention Deep Purple because most of their music has a distinct sound, and because it was Deep Purple I was listening to when I started to think about some of the crap that is being played today.
Thanks to Ian Gillan's awesome voice, it's not that hard to pick out a Deep Purple song (unless it's not Ian Gillan, but instead it's David Coverdale, Joe Lynn Turner or Rod Evans)the average person might not recognize Deep Purple from Shallow Pink.
But that works both ways. If I was to turn on the radio or Much Music right now, I'd say there is well over a 50% chance that I would not recognize the artist. I'll check that by saying that MM might give me a bit of an advantage as obviously I can see who is singing/playing. But that's not much of an advantage.
My dislike for the direction that the music business is not limited to new/newer artists. Oh no. It applies to most, if not all of the older bands that I like. One of the best examples of that is Aerosmith. While not one of the first bands I started listening to,(that would be KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, among others; Bob will remember those days), I did eventually become a huge Aerosmith fan.
I love the 70s Aerosmith output. Hardly a bad song. Even the overplayed songs like "Sweet Emotion", "Walk This Way", and "Dream On". But its the less popular album tracks, like "Bone to Bone (Coney Island Whitefish Boy)", "Three Mile Smile", and "Get the Lead Out" that I prefer. Awesome guitar. Steve Tyler's insane opening ramblings. One of the most solid, but not overly spectacular rhythm sections out there.
Then the 80s and 90s came.
Somewhere, somehow, Aerosmith's guitar-driven rock changed. It changed drastically. And it most certainly changed for the worst.
"Cryin'". "Angel". "Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Are you serious?
That's only a few of the disasters they've recorded since 1987. The answer as to why their sound changed so much is simple enough.
No more drugs.
As we all know, drugs have taken many young performers, athletes, and everyday people way before their time. The same thing was going to happen to Steven Tyler and Jo Perry if they kept it up. But they didn't. They cleaned up their act. The sad thing is, they lost their sound. Suddenly they were cranking out power ballads that any crappy group was capable of matching.
The day the music died.
When I was talking initially with my boss at Water Werks, she said, "there are no new ideas." I had been asking her about the danger of ripping off another company's ad. As an aspiring writer, that was a little disheartening. On one hand it makes it sound like no matter how good someone is, your ideas are going to sound old and tired. But I know what she means.
She was referring to influences. And as an artist, more specifically, an author, I have my own influences. They range from other authors, to songwriters, to comedians, to my friends and family. It's like a professor of mine once said, "you write what you know".
So how does all this rambling, referencing, and ranting tie in with 'the day the music died'?
When you think about it, it's been 35 years since Aerosmith released their first album. In that time, thousands of groups have come and gone, many I'm sure influenced in one way or another by Aerosmith. (Guns 'N Roses are one notable band that claim Aerosmith as an influence). So, if Aerosmith were one of the reasons you got into the music business, it probably wouldn't be a stretch if your music sounded a bit like Aerosmith would it?
And that's sort of the point of all this, and really is why I find newer music to be bland and boring. It all sounds the same. Maybe if I put in a bit more effort I would be able to tell who is who. But I just don't care enough to try and figure it all out.
I'm content to fire all my songs into a Winamp playlist and take a nap. I've discovered some great songs that way.
Most people would furrow their brows and the sound (and sight) of the songs I listen to. Not only the artists. But the names, lengths and dates of the music I listen to. We've already been through Mr. Zappa's creative song titles. But who else wants to hear a 14 minute version of "Yours Is No Disgrace" by Yes? Bob maybe.
All in all, today's music scene, while probably full of decent artists, holds little interest for me.
If I really want to listen to a band that sounds like Led Zeppelin, I'll just go and listen to the real thing.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy Valentines Day
Happy Valentines Day from Dublin. In case you didn't know Dublin is actually the home of St Valentines relics. The relics were donated to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836, so I suppose you could say that Dublin not crappy cities like Paris or Venice is truly the center of romance.Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Sandi's Dating Adventures
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I have resumed my foray into the hellish nightmare...I mean, wonderful adventure that is online dating. I think I have also mentioned that I have great reservations about the whole thing, but the friends keep telling me that it's the 'thing to do', so I am back on. I am actually on 2 sites; one free one, and one where you can pay to send messages, if you choose to. The paid site is pretty well-organized; it has a Dating section, one for Relationships, and one for Intimate Encounters. I would never in a million years post something in the Intimate section, but it is an entertaining read. This site has rules about the types of pictures you can post, and also approves or denies your profile after reviewing the content, which is nice. Essentially, you get some pretty PG profiles. On the free site, people can write what they like and can post whatever pictures they like. Want to post Jake Gyllenhaal's picture instead of your own? Anything goes! As a result, many guys post pictures of their abs or their chest or biceps. I don't know what the girls post...I am not sure I want to look.
So, I have gotten a few instant messages and 'smiles' and such on both sites. On both of my profiles, I listed an age preference, as I don't really see myself dating a 53-year-old. But, most of the contact has been with men well outside the age range. I don't know why I stress so much over what I write in the damn profiles, because no one seems to read them. I think that some men sit around, and wait for new people to sign up, or wait to see who's online, and then they unleash a barrage of smiles and messages without even checking to see what the person is like. That is creeptacular, people. I wonder if they ever do get anywhere.
One guy instant messaged me, and I replied because he had a cool soccer-related nickname. Nobody who likes soccer can be bad, right? It started to go south when he asked me for advice on what to do with a girl he had dated a couple of times. Um, you are asking random girls on a dating site for advice about other girls? That's classic. I turned off the Instant Message feature after that.
I got another Instant Message from the paid site. The guy looked nice enough, and I didn't get a 'serial killer' vibe from him, and his profile was coherent and sensible, so I messaged back. We ended up giving each other our MSN addresses and we started messaging there. Within 3 sentences, he asked if I had a problem dating guys from other races, since he was 'brown'. I told him I didn't have a "No Brown Guys" policy as such. Maybe 2 sentences later, he asked me what sorts of things I liked to do in bed. "Uh, I don't know, stranger? Read? Sleep? Make a blanket fort?" Now, relative to other people, I am a bit of a prude when it comes to talking about sex, but I ESPECIALLY don't want to talk about it to some strange guy I met online about 10 minutes beforehand. Call me crazy, but I don't advertise my bedroom likes and dislikes to everyone I meet. I explained this to him, that I really didn't feel like talking about that with him at this stage. Then, he asked me if I wanted to go out. Now, here's where I furrow my brow as well. Maybe every other girl besides me rushes right out the day that they make contact with guys for dates, but I just don't believe it. My usual routine is to chat for a bit, on Messenger and maybe with a couple of emails, then make a date. Sure, it might move slower than some people wish, but it leaves me well within my comfort zone. I know every single guy isn't some knife-wielding lunatic, but it really only takes one time to learn that lesson, doesn't it? So, again, I explained that, perhaps I am the exception, but I like to get to know someone before rushing out to meet them. He seemed understanding enough, but brought it up again. And again. I told him that I was sorry, but I wasn't interested in dating him right now. He is now deleted and blocked.
When I first signed up for this, I told myself to just go on dates. I know now that I won't be doing that again. Sure, I had some less-than-desirable dates and some good ones, but I don't see the point in going out with some guy that doesn't fit what I am looking for. There are times when, if asked what I looked for in a man, I would say "A heartbeat!", but for the most part, I have a certain set of things that I am looking for. Some of them may seem silly, but why should I settle? Why should I go out with someone that I have little in common with, just because he asks me? No, I am done with that attitude. I am not looking for anything specific, looks-wise, but I would like people to have some common interests and values, and they should be able to write a sentence without saying 'ur' instead of 'your' or adding 'lol' to everything they say.
Anyway, the search continues. I have been told that he is out there somewhere, so I am keeping the faith. If you would cross your fingers too, it would be greatly appreciated.
So, I have gotten a few instant messages and 'smiles' and such on both sites. On both of my profiles, I listed an age preference, as I don't really see myself dating a 53-year-old. But, most of the contact has been with men well outside the age range. I don't know why I stress so much over what I write in the damn profiles, because no one seems to read them. I think that some men sit around, and wait for new people to sign up, or wait to see who's online, and then they unleash a barrage of smiles and messages without even checking to see what the person is like. That is creeptacular, people. I wonder if they ever do get anywhere.
One guy instant messaged me, and I replied because he had a cool soccer-related nickname. Nobody who likes soccer can be bad, right? It started to go south when he asked me for advice on what to do with a girl he had dated a couple of times. Um, you are asking random girls on a dating site for advice about other girls? That's classic. I turned off the Instant Message feature after that.
I got another Instant Message from the paid site. The guy looked nice enough, and I didn't get a 'serial killer' vibe from him, and his profile was coherent and sensible, so I messaged back. We ended up giving each other our MSN addresses and we started messaging there. Within 3 sentences, he asked if I had a problem dating guys from other races, since he was 'brown'. I told him I didn't have a "No Brown Guys" policy as such. Maybe 2 sentences later, he asked me what sorts of things I liked to do in bed. "Uh, I don't know, stranger? Read? Sleep? Make a blanket fort?" Now, relative to other people, I am a bit of a prude when it comes to talking about sex, but I ESPECIALLY don't want to talk about it to some strange guy I met online about 10 minutes beforehand. Call me crazy, but I don't advertise my bedroom likes and dislikes to everyone I meet. I explained this to him, that I really didn't feel like talking about that with him at this stage. Then, he asked me if I wanted to go out. Now, here's where I furrow my brow as well. Maybe every other girl besides me rushes right out the day that they make contact with guys for dates, but I just don't believe it. My usual routine is to chat for a bit, on Messenger and maybe with a couple of emails, then make a date. Sure, it might move slower than some people wish, but it leaves me well within my comfort zone. I know every single guy isn't some knife-wielding lunatic, but it really only takes one time to learn that lesson, doesn't it? So, again, I explained that, perhaps I am the exception, but I like to get to know someone before rushing out to meet them. He seemed understanding enough, but brought it up again. And again. I told him that I was sorry, but I wasn't interested in dating him right now. He is now deleted and blocked.
When I first signed up for this, I told myself to just go on dates. I know now that I won't be doing that again. Sure, I had some less-than-desirable dates and some good ones, but I don't see the point in going out with some guy that doesn't fit what I am looking for. There are times when, if asked what I looked for in a man, I would say "A heartbeat!", but for the most part, I have a certain set of things that I am looking for. Some of them may seem silly, but why should I settle? Why should I go out with someone that I have little in common with, just because he asks me? No, I am done with that attitude. I am not looking for anything specific, looks-wise, but I would like people to have some common interests and values, and they should be able to write a sentence without saying 'ur' instead of 'your' or adding 'lol' to everything they say.
Anyway, the search continues. I have been told that he is out there somewhere, so I am keeping the faith. If you would cross your fingers too, it would be greatly appreciated.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Not sure if I mentioned this to all of you before or not...
I may have told most of you that I am thinking of writing a fictional account of the life of the Ryan family on St. Brendan's, with the focus being on It would be loosely based on the memories and stories that I can gather from Mom, Uncle Mike and Aunt Cathy. I've had this idea in my head for a while, but I think I am finally ready to start putting things in motion.
If anyone has any thoughts, ideas, suggestions or memories, let me know. Right now I have a rough idea of how the story will take shape, but I am open to anything.
If anyone has any thoughts, ideas, suggestions or memories, let me know. Right now I have a rough idea of how the story will take shape, but I am open to anything.
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