Wednesday, 25. November 2009, 20:35:22
Sasha, Spokane, The Four Seasons
Got a nicely printed color postcard this morning
from the Spokane Transit Authority wondering if
we would like to be "part of a dynamic new project
to improve the way people connect to places in
Spokane." And if you did, they gave a number to
call to get an application to sign up for the project.
We accidentally got three postcards. My dog Sasha
showed immediate interest in the postcards, and
since we had an extra one we gave one to her. She
loves to "get mail."
I don't know whether this means Sasha is or
is not interested in the Transit project.
Tuesday, 24. November 2009, 20:51:31
Music, The Four Seasons
"It just kinda fell off a truck."
I mentioned on an earlier post about the possibility of getting a new
recording, an album of Debussy songs, to give me a rest from the more
or less downer music in my collection.
Well as it turns out a good friend of mine sent me the recording that I
wanted and which I was planning to get up the road a bit. It was a
burned copy, so I won't mention his name as I don't want the F.B.I.
showing up at his door. Or the Postal Inspectors.
But I would like to thank him greatly.
Kinda sorta happy music! And in fact several of the songs aren't even
kinda or sorta happy. They're just plain happy.
Sunday, 15. November 2009, 23:12:15
Music, The Four Seasons
Happy music? I guess I'll find out.
Yesterday I grabbed a bottle of Amstel Light and my smokes and went back
into The Cave to listen to some music. Once I got back there, though, I
had a hard time deciding what music to listen to. I had been listening
to the Chopin nocturnes like hell over the past week. So the last thing
I wanted was more piano music. So I went through my albums. What I
wanted was something not depressing. Something uplifting. And while
there was certainly some music in my stacks that had this affect on me
they were Bach for the most part and on piano. And in any case there's
just something about the formality of Bach that doesn't quite say "let's
party!" As for my popular music any album that I went through had it's
downer side -- even the Moby instrumental stuff. And as far as trying to
find anything suitable on youTube, I can't get that back in The Cave
anyway.
So finally I did something I hadn't done in years -- I turned on the
radio. The first station I settled on was a type of Indie rock channel.
But it quickly became apparent that I knew none of the songs or any of
the artists. I had totally lost touch with stuff like that. And that
after a while became depressing in itself.
So I turned the dial and then settled on a Top Country station. While
Bluegrass and Alt Country might be some of the saddest stuff around,
there's something about mainstream country that is more uplifting. Even
though a guy's girlfriend might have run off with another man and even
though his truck won't start, there is a kind of stoicism to it all, as
if to say that yeah things are tough but you'll get through it so why
worry about it -- so just write a song about it.
In any case it was apparent that I need some new music in my collection.
I started thinking for some reason about Debussy. I was never a big
Debussy person, but I did know that he wrote a good number of songs for
voice and piano and that maybe there was some of that stuff that would
be good for moods like yesterday. As such I contacted Richard, whose
knowledge when it comes to music is broad and substantial, and asked him
for some suggestions. And he came back with one by Dawn Upshaw that looks
very promising. I also found a few more branching out from that which
look good.
So as soon as I scrape up the money, which will probably be January, I'll
try them. But I wonder if going that route will be worth the expense. How
many times would I really listen to them?
Because you know usually I am quite content with my dark gray skies and
my cold weather. It isn't usually any problem. Even if my girl really did
run away with another guy. And even if my truck -- if I had one -- probably
wouldn't start either.
Wednesday, 4. November 2009, 15:45:23
Music, Astronomy, The Four Seasons
I’m not normally given to writing song lyrics, but back in
the 80s I came up with the words for a punk rock song. Here’s
the song:
“Write One Song”
by
Edward Piercy
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song
Play it to death
Write one song
Play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song and play it to death
Write one song
Play it to death
Write one song
Play it to death
Following upon the success (in my own mind) of that song,
I wrote another one:
“Write Two Songs”
by
Edward Piercy
Write two songs and play ’em to death
Write two songs and play ’em to death
Write two songs and play ’em to death
Write two songs and play ’em to death
Write two songs
Play ’em to death
Write two songs
Play ’em to death
Etc. etc etc. I think you get the idea.
I never did write a third punk song for some reason. Though
I’m pretty sure that I could.
Also back in the 80s I wrote a song called “Heart Parasol.”
I wrote it while visiting my sister and brother-in-law at
their house near Grissom AFB in Indiana. My brother-in-law,
John, ended up setting the words to music. And eventually,
recently, he recorded it. You can listen to the song on
John’s MySpace page if you care to.
I don’t remember the lyrics to that one. So I can’t put them
down here. I do remember vaguely what my life was like back
then, what I was thinking and feeling. Lots of ancient Roman
history. Lots of beer. Xanax. Echo and the Bunnymen. And of
course the seemingly ever-present depression over some girl
or another.
It seems like so long ago. But of course it wasn’t. It always
gets me when people meet and one will say “Gee, it’s been a
long time.” And the other person will respond “Yes, it has
been. Too long” or something to that effect.
But it hasn’t been a long time. A billion years, now that’s a
long time. All our time is but the blink of a star’s eye.
The Corona Borealis super cluster of galaxies, located
approximately 1 billion light years away from us.
Friday, 30. October 2009, 13:09:03
Technology, The Four Seasons
Somebody please remind me to brush my hair next
time before I get a photo taken.
As some of you may already know my Gateway laptop died on 9-9-09
(kinda creepy, yeah?). Since the laptop was my backup computer
for the desktop that died last Winter, that left me with no
computer whatsoever. For a while I did the best I could to keep
plugging with the blog posts and blog rounds working from my
Blackberry. But it eventually got to be too much -- just more
frustrating and depressing than anything else. Worse, it looked
like I wouldn't be able to come up with enough money for a new
computer until January.
So I decided to quit for a while, to get away from the blog and
to a great extent the internet altogether. I'm afraid that my
last post (which I have since deleted) wasn't very clear on
these matters, and perhaps was made worse by turning off the
Comments -- I don't quite know what I was thinking on that one.
But I would like everybody to know that it was not my intention
to cut anyone out of the loop. For that I apologize.
I'm not exactly a cool headed private eye who keeps a level head
and knows what to do in any tough situation. In fact even my
fictional private eye Pat Maginess isn't that type of person.
When dealing with stressful situations I can sometimes freak out
a bit. In the past I've had my girlfriend or other friends there
at my side to help, saying "It's okay, Ed. It'll be all right"
and sort of mentally patting my shoulder. But those friends are
gone or are fading. And I have really no one to help like that
anymore. I guess I'm going to have to learn to do that kind of
thing myself.
In any case, I didn't have to wait until next January. Through
the auspecies of my brother-in-law John, who took pity on my poor
computerless state, I was able to arrange financing for a new
laptop. So to John I would like to say -- thanks a million, bro.
Without you I would still be piddling away my mornings watching
soap operas.
For those who are into computer stuff, here are some of the
tech specs.
Model: HP Pavilion
Screen: 17"
Keyboard: full size with numeric keypad
Processor: AMD Turion X2 2.2 Ghz
RAM: 4 GB DDR2
Hard Drive: 500 GB
CD Drive: DVDRW
Ports: 4 USB, SD/Memory Stick/MMC/XD card slots
Webcam: integrated 2 MG
OS: 64-bit Windows Vista SP1
It's very fast. And to quote Donald Trump, it's HUGE, a real
desktop replacement. In fact I had to move my desk lamp from
the center of the desk where it has always been to the left
side to get the computer ergonomically right. It's also far
too heavy for me to take anywhere. But I wasn't planning on
being a road warrior with it anyway.
It's not really necessary to name a computer unless it is on
a network, but I typed in a name anyway. I call it "Gladiator"
-- seemed to fit somehow with the shiny bronze color of the
computer. "I have my books / and my poetry to protect me /
they are a mighty armour." (Paul Simon)
Now. Let's see what I can do with this blog. Probably just
more of the same -- but who knows.
Saturday, 3. October 2009, 20:14:30
Sasha, The Four Seasons
Today is Sasha's 1st anniversary. She has now
been my little girl for one year.
I love her so much! And we're having a party.
She will get a snack and a new ladybug squeaky toy.
Sunday, 27. September 2009, 20:13:00
The Four Seasons
My mom happened to mention that our property
manager told her the other day that three tenants
-- one at our apartment building and two in another
one -- were going to be evicted because they weren't
paying their rent.
"You mean, we don't have to pay the rent?!" I said
to her. "Wow. Think of all the extra money I'll have!"
Which reminded me of an old episode of Mystery
Science Theater 3000 in which a movie had this old
skinny farmer crossing this field of dead cows and
they had him supposedly say, "You mean, we're
supposed to FEED the cattle?"
ROTF.
Saturday, 26. September 2009, 18:22:41
The Four Seasons
You know I was just watching one of the cartoon channels,
Nickelodeon, and I guess that today is the Worldwide Day
of Play. So they are suspending cartoons after 12:00 noon to
encourage kids to go outside and play.
Anybody want to come over and play pitch and catch with
me? Or maybe a little 4-square? I have to admit that it really is
a nice day for it here in Spokane for that type of thing.
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