Instead of in depth writing today, I am just going to list the music that has caught my ear over the last few weeks.
First I am incredibly excited by the new Blink182 single Bored to Death. The song is awesome! The addition of Matt Skiba has made Blink a stronger band and I enjoy the energy. In addition the song conjures memories of the old Blink but with a feeling of forward momentum.
Speaking of Matt Skiba I have finally taken the plunge and delved into the darkness that is Alkaline Trio. I have avoided this band for a long time because I knew that they would reinforce the feelings of sweet, sweet, dark bitterness that I harbor in the depths of my heart concerning past loves and it is an agony that I enjoy getting lost in at times.
Next I found two bands I had never listened to before. The Rockabilly band Three Bad Jacks creates a solid old school rock and roll sound echoing the era of Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper and also touching on unique emotions that come from our time (the selection Noah and Jacob's Song touches on how unique it is to parent an autistic child, something that regular readers know I deal with in my own children).
Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds is a New York based Soul/Rock band that features big horns and a singer with a big voice. This band is my new musical infatuation and I was very happy to hear this kind of music being played by this generation.
It is very hard to write about one's activities and life when one does not truly feel the experience of living what one writes about. Over probably the last 9 months I have only been able to put down thoughts on a few events or moments plus The Last Gatsby article (because I love that band). I have wanted to write more and expand on the fictional "real world" I was trying to create, but the pressures of the TRUE real world became overwhelming to my lofty goals of lifestyle and pseudo immortality.
I want to write more now, I want to make the world that could be come alive on the pages of this blog and become a positive history for my children. However I am realistic enough to realize that is as much a fiction as Howard or Burroughs or Tolkien. The crux is I need to write or else I shall not be able to make it through everything that hits me in a day. So I am going to try to just write and see what comes of it.
Another realization I have come to is that I am not finding much in new music that I enjoy. Part of this comes from not researching and listening. On the other hand an even larger reason is that I have felt nostalgic and melancholy about my past. I have been searching for music that makes me feel. "She is all that I have left and music is her name" is a very real lyric to me for it describes the one constant between both divorces and friends that have come and gone. The clear harmonies of CSN ring true every time I listen to Southern Cross.
This time of looking back has been unearthed by the realization that it has been 30 years since I started the journey of adulthood. In that time I have gone from a hopeful naive bumpkin to a jaded cynical bastard. Hope is not often thought of in my sanctuary. For the last few months I have been taking care of the black dog and not much more. So I am starting the blog up to see if I can find a way to chase the dog off and move on. I am much humbled by any of you who want to join me on my new ramblings.
