Sunday, October 07, 2007

 

Google Alerts

A person recently met introduced me to Google Alerts. I couldn't figure out how certain people rarely named in this blog somehow had discovered practically instantaneously how they'd been named and had dropped by to leave comments. Spooky, let me tell you. Google Alerts was the answer. It allows you to type in search terms to keep track of and spits back mentions of those search terms via email. You need to have a Google account to manage your alerts. You can choose where you want Google to search (blogs, news, comprehensive search) and how often you want to get alerts (as they happen, daily, weekly). I've found several good articles on the Dave Matthews Band this way. Also, in a move that looks like high vanity, I have a Google Alert on my name. What generally appears in my alert is my blog posts, but this morning I found a newspaper article by another writer named Mary Warner.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 10:48 AM |

Monday, October 01, 2007

 

Riff on Matthews' Quote

Something Dave Matthews recently said spun me into a mental riff.

According to an article called “Matthews Battles to Get It Right on the Stage and in Life” by George Varga on SignOnSanDiego.com (of the Union-Tribune), Matthews doesn’t like to do interviews because he doesn’t care for how the media oversimplifies things. The quote from Matthews:

“Because of what it is, ‘rock journalism,’ like much of the other mainstream media, is an attempt to sell an oversimplified, nicely packaged vision of the world that will be palatable and easy to travel, when the truth is far more confusing. I can assure anyone that gets their news from the mainstream media that there’s a far more inspirational, complex and breathtaking world out there than the one portrayed to us in general by the purveyors of information.”

You bet. Rock journalism is trying to sell something. Music, for one, but also the glamour and gossip of the rock scene, all in an effort to sell publications and advertising. It’s about readership. If you give people something juicy, they’ll let it dribble from their chins while they eat it up. Sales soar. Ka-ching!

Whether that news is palatable is another story altogether. I have never cared for rock journalism’s concentration on the underbellies of performing artists – the sex and drugs part of the equation, not to mention the liberal shots of liquor. Fine, musicians are human. They have peccadilloes. It’s a rare article about Dave Matthews that doesn’t mention his alcohol consumption. You’d think the guy was a raging alcoholic, and maybe he is, but I doubt it. Raging alcoholics tend to have difficulty remaining upright, let alone maintaining a productive and profitable creative life. But rock journalists keep writing this aspect of Matthews’ life because it connects with the majority of their readers. Besides, who has time to go any deeper? Rock stars are busy. Rock journalists are busy. Time is money. Tick-tock, tick-tock. Get the story out to readers.

Without making excuses for the mainstream media, which, as Matthews and many other critics point out, have plenty of flaws, how can they possible give us the entire, complicated story? The reality is that no one, not even the great PBS documentary directors of our day, can tell the full story on anything. If one could, there’d be no reason to revisit topics, to reexamine the truth, which can be slippery and multi-faceted. Instead, the story is revealed in dribs and drabs over time.

This is the way of all creative works, not just the machinations of rock journalists. The products of creativity, be they songs or books or paintings or stories in the mainstream media, are necessarily distillations. Why does Matthews continue to write songs? I’d venture to guess that, like most artists, he can’t capture everything he wants to express within one song. Neither can rock journalists, or other purveyors of mainstream media, serve up everything they’d like to say in one story or report, even if they desperately wanted to. The flaw is not only with mainstream media’s oversimplifications, it is with all of us who don’t have the patience to allow the story to unfold. We want the final story immediately, so we can make decisions and live our lives accordingly. We won’t be satisfied with any less.

If you want to get a bigger picture of Dave Matthews, you can’t read one article in Rolling Stone and take it as gospel, the last word. You have to listen to his band’s music and his solo music, follow the band’s website, and see the films he’s been in, plus read material and comments posted by fans, along with reading what rock journalists have to say about him. Even then, you will only get a glimpse of the fullness of his being.

Extrapolate this process to any news item and you can begin to see why the mainstream media chooses oversimplification. This does not mean they’re off the hook, however. They could be telling us more of a story than they do; building upon what has gone before, rather than resorting to banal questions like the examples Matthews gives in the SignOnSanDiego article. How many times should he have to answer, “What’s your favorite color?” Has any rock journalist ever asked him, “What’s your favorite note?”

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# posted by Anonymous @ 5:56 PM |

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

 

FtTP - Richard Cheese

This is super cool - a Frankensteining the Talent Pool dream come true. Richard Cheese has a spot on his website wherein readers/listeners can suggest songs for him to "swankify." Of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I suggested he swankify Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" and something, anything from Dave Matthews Band. I narrowed it down to four, though - "I Did It," "What Would You Say," "Halloween," and "Louisiana Bayou." Let the swankification begin. Now I'll have to wait and see if these songs are swank-worthy.

Here are a couple of other FtTPs concerning Mr. Richard Cheese.

Cheese + Micheal Buble (Buble has the sense of humor to pull this off.)

Cheese opening for the Rev. Horton Heat.

Everything goes with Cheese.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 5:38 PM |

Monday, September 17, 2007

 

Evaporation of Intimidation

During the last session of the museum conference, which happened on Saturday morning, I met Greg Britton, the director of the Minnesota Historical Society Press (MHS Press). The session was on building a publishing enterprise within a historical society. MHS Press puts out some gorgeous books and I'd link to their site online, but I'm getting an error when I attempt it, so I'll just link to MHS' home page instead. Anyway, they create fab books and here was the director, so I was intimidated. No idea why, really, but I sucked it up and went to meet Mr. Britton after the session was over. I had a couple of technical questions, which probably sounded lame, but I asked anyway, shaking in my shoes the whole time.

Then came time for the awards banquet and a bunch of us Minnesotans had agreed to meet outside the Grand Ballroom ahead of time. And, who should I see, but Greg Britton. I was on the verge of feeling intimidated again and then he said something about wishing he could attend the Dave Matthews Band concert that night, and suddenly the feeling of intimidation evaporated. A small commonality was all it took.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 11:58 AM |

Friday, August 17, 2007

 

The Universe Is Taunting Me

The Universe is taunting me. I've decided I want to work with the Dave Matthews Band (DMB) on a project. How's that for ambitious? And practically impossible? So, of course, that's what I want to do. I, who never goes anywhere, went to St. Paul in July for a digitization workshop at the Minnesota Historical Society. (Forgive me for repeating myself. I’ve already posted about this.) My hotel was the Holiday Inn River Centre, just down the hill a couple blocks away. Kitty-corner from the hotel is the Excel Energy Center. When I got home from three days worth of workshop, I went online and discovered that DMB had played a private concert for Best Buy in the Excel Energy Center a mere two days before I was in St. Paul.

It gets better. Hubby and I are going to Atlanta September 5 - 9 for an annual meeting/conference/awards banquet related to my work. My brother, who lived in Atlanta for 9 months, suggested I visit the Piedmont Park area of the city. He said it was refurbished by members of the gay community and it's a congenial neighborhood. (Don’t you just love how gays refurbish and revitalize blighted areas? I realize that not all gays are good with interior and exterior design, but enough of them are that the generalization sticks, and we’re all the better for their work.) Okay, fine, add a walk through Piedmont Park to the gotta do while in Atlanta list. So I go online last night and check the DMB website. There's a new announcement posted, a contest to win tickets to a DMB/Allman Brothers concert in Atlanta on September 8 - the night of the awards banquet. Guess where it's being held? Piedmont Park. The Universe is totally fucking with me, I tell you.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 11:46 AM |

Monday, August 06, 2007

 

My Queendom for a Meme

It is Monday and I haven't written a word on my latest Greenville story. Shucks, anyway! But I was involved with writing and creating art for another project, so I have been productive. Maybe I can add a few sentences to my story later tonight. In any case, today's post is another meme. I was tagged for this (after some minor groveling) by Reeva Dubois, so you must go check out his answers to the meme.

A Harmless Meme . . .

10 Firsts

First best friend - Amy
First screen name - mosiewarner
First pet name - Edward - a black cat my sister gave me when I went off to college - I couldn't take him with me, though.
First piercing - one of my two ears - I forget which
First crush - Middle School - C.L.
First CD - Are you kidding? Let's try vinyl albums, baby. That'd be Mickey Mouse Club or Sean Cassidy. I got them around the same time.
First school - Lincoln - funny/tragic story about that - when walking to school one day, I saw a dead blackbird and felt sorry for it, so I put it in my school bag and brought it home later - my mom about died when I showed her.
First house location - We moved a lot before I was in kindergarten, so I don't remember. I was born while we were living in St. Cloud and I do have a vivid memory of a storm from when I was 6 months old.
First kiss - My darling husband
First car - My own? Volkswagon Quantum

9 Lasts

Last time you smoked - Never, never, never! Yuck! Unless you count second-hand smoke - a couple days ago.
Last food you ate - Grapes - red ones, three of them. I didn't peel them though.
Last car ride - to grocery store and Mom's house this morning
Last movie you watched - My Big Fat Greek Wedding - required for my hubby's Sociology class
Last phone call - My mom's landlord
Last CD you listened to - Dave Matthews Band - Everyday - it's in right now, last song
Last bubble bath you took - Don't take them for fear of irritation down there
Last song you listened to - Everyday - see above for last CD
Last words you said - I say so many, I can't remember specifically - hubby and I did discuss dinner a bit ago

8 Have You Evers

Dated a best friend - absolutely! It's hubby! My bestest friend in the whoooooole world.
Been arrested - nope
Been on TV - Does local access channel count? If so, yes.
Eaten sushi - yep - a dinner treat once from my brother - mmm, mmm, good
Cheated on your b/f or g/f - nope
Been on a blind date - nope
Been out of the country - yep, if you count Canada as being out of the country
Been in love - yep - see that dated best friend entry

7 Things You Are Wearing

2 shoes
2 socks
shirt
undies
shorts

6 Things You've Done Today

1. Washed dishes
2. Taken Mom on errands
3. Answered several phone calls
4. Started a new blog
5. Created a banner for that blog - yeah! art projects!
6. Kissed my hubby

5 Favorite Things (not in any order)

1. My hubby
2. My three children
3. Reading
4. Writing
5. The music of Dave Matthews Band

4 People You Most Trust

1. My hubby
2. My children
3. My siblings
4. My in-laws
(Yes, I cheated. When you count them up, that's more than four.)

3 Things You Want to Do Before You Die

1. Write a book that gets made into a movie
2. Write a song
3. Work on a project with the Dave Matthews Band - because it sounds like an impossible goal

2 Choices

Vanilla or chocolate - chocolate
Hugs or Kisses - Yes, please

1 Person You Want to See Right Now

My hubby - I think I'll wander down to the living room and give him a kiss.

Time for tagging. You know the routine. If you've got a blog, use it. If not, use the comments. I tag O.W., A.K., Rianna, Jody, if she's reading, and Kim at Knit Whimsies. I'd tag Joanne at Poppy Seed Heart, but she's a little busy with her baby right now. We're still thinking of you, Joanne!

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# posted by Anonymous @ 4:12 PM |

Sunday, July 15, 2007

 

Observations from Away

I don't know how this works for you, but every time I go to an unfamiliar place, my observational abilities increase. I notice all sorts of things that I would not pay any attention to if I was in that place on a regular basis. I spent three days at a workshop at the Minnesota Historical Society's History Center (MHS) in St. Paul. The workshop was on learning to properly digitize museum collections. Leigh Grinstead, our fearless leader, taught us about Dublin Core and meta-data and best practices and loads of other gobbledygook that I'll spare you from here. Suffice it to say that it was interesting and informative and I now know enough to know I still have a lot to learn.

While at MHS, workshop participants were given a chance to go through the exhibits, which were interesting to me not just from a content perspective, but from a design and construction perspective. I had three favorites. One was the exhibit on our State Capitol. The Capitol can be seen from a large window in the central hall, where the exhibit is located. MHS has kindly provided those tourist viewer glasses/binoculars so that visitors can peek at the details. People always talk about the golden horses and the golden peak on the Capitol, but I was thrilled to find that there are eagles encircling the dome - looking very much like friendly gargoyles. The Capitol was designed by Minnesota architect Cass Gilbert, who not only designed the building, but the furnishings as well.

Another favorite exhibit was Camera Ojibwe, which is a compliment to a new book by historian Bruce White. The book is called "We Are at Home: Pictures of the Ojibwe People". The exhibit, which was mounted in three months, if I'm remembering correctly, shows photographs of the Ojibwe in posed shots and in every day shots. There are also bandolier bags and other related artifacts on display in the exhibit. It will only be up until early August, so if this interests you, high-tail it to MHS.

The other exhibit I loved, especially from a holy-crap, how'd they do that perspective, was Open House: If These Walls Could Talk, an exhibit that shows the history of one particular St. Paul house and the people who lived there. The exhibit is set up like a house, with a parlor, bedroom, bathroom, den, attic, living room, basement, hallways, and garden. As you walk through, there are all sorts of interactive features that enhance your knowledge about the house. There's a bed that has the words "Sit Here" shining on it. When you sit, the voice of a woman who lived in the house explains how the bed kept breaking - and then the bed breaks. Whomp! While you're on it. The really impressive part of the exhibit was the basement, which can be seen through a small window near the floor. When you look in, you see a staircase with boots and a thermos on the stairs, and below, a record player and suitcases and what looks like a child's scooter/bike. Here's the kicker. If this were truly a basement, the room would be hanging down in the MHS library below. It isn't. Can you guess how they accomplished this room? This exhibit recently won an award from the American Association for State and Local History and I'd like to think that basement had a little something to do with it.

On my last day of the workshop, I decided to walk around the outside of the History Center, which is gorgeous inside, but I'd already seen much of the inside and the day was too beautiful not to enjoy. When I got to John Ireland Boulevard, I saw the Capitol, and then looked over my shoulder and saw St. Paul's Cathedral. The two buildings are ornate and domed and book-end the boulevard most purposefully. I asked Marcia Anderson, Head of Museum Collections of MHS, which building was constructed first. She said that the Capitol was and indicated that the church didn't want to be outdone as far as view and grandeur, so they built the cathedral. Marcia assisted in mounting the Camera Ojibwe exhibit and has been studying Ojibwe bandolier bags and other handcrafts for years. She's very knowledgeable and gracious.

Obviously, there was a lot to observe at MHS, but the observations didn't end there. On the evening of July 11, there was a reception for an art show called Reworks at The Minneapolis Foundation in the IDS Center. My husband's motorcycle table was accepted into this show of art made from recycled stuff. I'm so proud! His table fit right into the scheme of the office, so much so that we caught people setting their glasses on it. The food was to die for and all organic; we were introduced to the music of Ron Cheese; and there were loads of people in attendance. It was fun to be the wife of an artist, rather than to be the artist myself for a change.

And then there was the hotel . . . the Holiday Inn River Centre, which is a few blocks down the hill from MHS, kitty-corner from the Excel Energy Center. Have you ever noticed that you can feel entirely alone in a hotel, not seeing a soul on your floor while coming and going? You can hear 'em, but you can't see 'em. Spooky. Also, there's the issue of bathroom tile. After having tiled our own bathroom and kitchen, I'm forever checking out tile jobs. Hotel bathrooms are notorious for having poorly executed tile jobs, where tiles are cut unevenly, or don't match up quite right at the corners.

On the opposite end of the block from the hotel is Cossetta's restaurant, which serves pizza and Italian food. I ate a chicken penne and asparagus salad the first night, and my husband and I had pizza the second night. Delish! In between the hotel and Cossetta's is this quirky pop culture shop called Maharaja's. Music, smokes, posters, incense, a replica of Han Solo in carbonite (can be yours for only $4999 plus tax!), Buddha statues, KISS dolls, and a black light room filled with fuzzy posters are just a few of the wondrous things that can be found at Maharaja's. While there, I found an old Dave Matthews Band album - real vinyl in the 12" square jacket, folks. I couldn't check the price because it was in a locked cabinet behind a 45 rpm record. When the hubby and I walked back to the hotel from Maharaja's, I looked at the Excel Energy Center and wondered in a half-formed fashion if Dave Matthews Band had ever played there. While online yesterday, playing catch-up, I found a little item on Weekly Dave Speak that was oh so coincidental. Turns out that DMB had played a private concert at the Excel a mere two days before I was ensconced in the River Centre with a lovely view of St. Paul's Cathedral. How's that for weird?

Okay, one more thing and I'll give you a rest. While we (me, the hubby, our children, and hubby's folks and sister) were waiting in the IDS Center for the art show to begin, one of the children had to use the bathroom. There is not a single public restroom in the public areas of the IDS Center. We had to go through the Skyway to the next building to use the restrooms in Barnes and Noble. While I was waiting for the restroom brigade, I found a book on artist trading cards, little hand-made one-of-a-kind cards that artists make and trade with each other. I was taken by the form and now must simply try my hand at it.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 2:02 PM |

Sunday, June 17, 2007

 

It's Not the Heat . . .

I was on StumbleUpon and found a website for a woman who is putting together a book based on fan experiences of Dave Matthews Band. The woman, Lynda from New York, has created some very fine art inspired by the band's music. Check it out here. There's a link to her MySpace page on her website for more personal info about the artist.

As a writer and artist, the idea of inspiration is an interesting one to me. What is it about a particular band's music, or a particular writer's essay or book, or a particular artist's painting, that drives us to create something new? How does that inspiration turn and twist through the fibers of our own experience and emotions to convolute into something new, something that may, in turn, be inspirational for someone else?

In thinking about this, it would be fascinating to take an inspirational work and put together a schematic of all the additional works the original has spawned. Take something like Poe's "The Raven" and chart out its influence. Hmmm. Has this ever been done before? The genealogy of a work of art?

In other news, it's miserable hot again. No wait! It's not the heat, it's the humidity. Windy as all get out, too. The silvery backs of leaves are showing themselves, which means we're in for rain. It can come none too soon. I'm roasting.


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# posted by Anonymous @ 2:53 PM |

Monday, June 11, 2007

 

The Band IS a Startup

I read a blog post the other day by Darren Herman. It's called "The Startup as a Band" and Darren uses the post to draw analogies between a business startup and the Dave Matthews Band. He assigns each of the members of DMB to typical board roles of a startup, i.e. Dave is CEO/President, Carter is Sales Guru, Stefan is Technology Guru, Boyd is Marketing Guru, and LeRoi is Financial Wizard. Been mulling this over, being a bit bothered by it in an odd sort of way - people can make whatever analogies they like; it's no skin off my nose - but here's my revelation - A band is already a business, so while each band member can be assigned particular business "roles," in actuality there is no analogy to be made because band members are already serving as the board of directors for their organizations.

Being an artist and writer, I know how often people expect creative people (including musicians) to give away their talents - to become starving artists. So many bands struggle for beer money we forget that those who make it big, like DMB, are fronting massive organizations comprised of managers, roadies, producers, sound technicians, set designers, costume and makeup people, artists, photographers, caterers, marketers, bus drivers, pilots, etc. etc. Maybe I'm splitting hairs here, but my dictionary says that an analogy is "a resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike." A band IS a startup, thus the comparison is between apples and apples, thus no analogy.

It's difficult to be this crass about bands, especially those whose music we personally connect to, but there it is. The arts are big business. Minnesota Citizens for the Arts has released two studies about the economic impact of the arts in Minnesota. One, called "Artists Count!", polled individual artists and found that their economic impact as far as spending goes is $295 million. The other study, "The Arts: A Driving Force in Minnesota's Economy," shows that nonprofit arts and cultural organizations contribute $838.5 million to the state's economy and employ 22,000 people. Minnesota tends to be #3 (after New York and California) on arts spending, a haven of sorts for the creatively gifted. We, musicians, writers, artists, actors, etc., have a lot to offer society, and not just in the peace, love, beauty, quality of life categories. We're talking cold hard cash, baby. And DMB has leveraged it well as leaders of their corporation.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 12:57 PM |

Thursday, May 31, 2007

 

No Peeking

So, I got a flat tire this past weekend. Not unexpected, really. It was the only tire we hadn't replaced in the last year or so and I kept having to fill it with air (as opposed to oatmeal, I suppose). My husband kindly took the rim into our local repair place and we waited a couple of days for the appropriate tire to come in. This afternoon, I drove the car to the shop and left it so the tire could be attached. When I picked up the car, I immediately checked the sound system. I had made note of where I had left off on my CD before dropping off the car and wanted to see if the repairman had turned it on while he had it. I automatically switched on my CD and didn't hear anything. That should've been my first clue. The sound had been turned down. When I turned it up, the song playing was two songs previous to the one I had left it on.

I felt like someone had been visiting my house, asked to use the bathroom, and while there, had searched through my medicine cabinet. My medicine cabinet, by the way, is quite boring. Lots of vitamins & supplements, an old prescription for Vicadin from when I had my root canal (I took one, maybe two, and hated the way it made me feel), deodorant, shaving cream, mouth guards (also from the root canal), not much else.

The CD I had on in the car was Dave Matthews Band's "Busted Stuff." I wonder if the repairman liked it, or maybe thought I had simpy taste in music. He did turn it down. At least he didn't switch disks.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 7:22 PM |

Friday, April 27, 2007

 

Perverse Pleasure

Most people who know me would say I'm nice. I'm not tooting my horn here; that's what they'd say because, for the most part, I don't try to ruffle feathers. However, I've got a mean streak. My weaving teacher in college recognized it once. The assignment that led to his recognition was to combine two pigments together on two notecards. On one, we were to identify the two colors we had used. The other was handed to someone else in class and they had to try to remix the color. My teacher saw the color I had made, a dark purply splotch, and what I had mixed to arrive at it, something odd, like green and blue, and he looked at me and said, "I didn't know you had it in you."

That sums up my mean streak. It's not a big thing, but it comes out once in a while in weird ways. For example, I've taken a perverse pleasure in doing blog searches on Dave Matthews Band and reading the negative comments people make. One blog writer used to like DMB, but quit listening after coming to Christianity. The reason? DMB's music wasn't holy enough because it glorified partying. Someone else - well, a lot of someone elses - think DMB's music simply sucks. Of course, I disagree, but I still like reading this trash talk. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's because I like to think of myself as a discerning individual and, if everyone under the sun likes the same thing I do, well, I'm no longer discerning, am I? I'm just one of the herd. And I don't like being part of the herd.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 4:56 PM |

Sunday, April 08, 2007

 

Reestablishing Boundaries

Kathy Sierra of Creating Passionate Users is down, but not out after receiving death threats on her blog. Now, she's soliciting advice about how to handle the situation. The matter seems to be one of reestablishing boundaries. Those on the path to fame have to take stock and figure this out at some point. It's the price that has to be paid for renown because the famous lose the boundary of anonymity. Think about the barriers celebrities place around themselves. Unlisted phone numbers; unlisted addresses; a big house, preferrably in a secluded location (space makes a good barrier); agents & managers; fan clubs; moving out of the country of fame. If they have websites, they either don't have email enabled (U2 and Moby are examples), or they don't answer it (DMB). If they have blogs, they do not enable comments (Seth Godin, Neil Gaiman). See? There are ways to draw lines in the sand and say, "You've got part of me, but you can't have all of me." And that's eggzactly as it should be.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 6:32 AM |

Friday, February 16, 2007

 

Tuckles

By jove, I think I've got it! As I was thinking about my idea for a Dave Matthews Band compilation album of romantic songs and the possible marketing doodads to go with it, the thought occurred that the chocolates could be called "Tuckles." Tuckle is one of the best made-up words I've ever heard. It's found in DMB's song "When the World Ends." Doesn't tuckle just sound like comfort food?

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# posted by Anonymous @ 9:51 PM |

Saturday, November 11, 2006

 

Squidoo & Dave Matthews Band

He talked me into it, that Seth Godin. He recently posted about Squidoo and how the site had reached 50,000 lenses. Sounds like gibberish, I know, but I'll try to explain. Squidoo is a site on which "lensmasters" can build "lenses" around their favorite topics. You know how Google brings back a gazillion results, many of which have poor content or aren't quite what you're looking for? Squidoo is a response to that. In essence, anyone who signs up for Squidoo can be a lensmaster and build a webpage around any sort of topic they know something about. The closest I can come to describing this is that Squidoo pages, or lenses, are like annotated bibliographies - or webliographies, if you prefer. Because someone has taken the time to sift through all the dross, Squidoo's lenses are supposed to make finding relevant information easier.

After seeing Seth's post, in which he urged people to go to the site and build a lens, I surfed on over and looked around. Out of curiosity, I searched for lenses on a few topics - Duran Duran, tea, Neil Gaiman, writers - all had lenses (more than one). Then, I tried searching for Dave Matthews Band. There was no lens! For shame! How could this band have missed out? I decided to fix that, even though I'm no real expert on the band, and I built a Dave Matthews Band lens today. It's a lot longer than I expected and I'm not quite done with it, but at least the band is represented on Squidoo.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 8:11 PM |

Friday, October 20, 2006

 

Playing Favorites

I feel compelled to explain the Seth Godin jag I've been on lately. Whenever I'm impressed with a writer, an artist, a band or musician, I tend to snarfle down whatever I can find by said creative person. I've not gone off my rocker or slipped into some obsessive ga-ga world that I can't get out of, although that's the way it might appear to those living outside my cranium. When my aesthetic has been tickled, I binge with delight until the intensity wears off. And, it WILL wear off. The length of the binge depends upon how much material the artiste has created and how varied that material is. In the past, I've binged on Duran Duran, Ultravox, Enya, Neil Gaiman, Carol Bly, Christopher Moore, U2, Peter Mayer, Queen, INXS, Matchbox 20, Conversations with God, self-help books, Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, unsolved mysteries, Alfred Hitchcock short stories, quilting, beading, ABBA, homeopathy, Depeche Mode, Dave Matthews Band, Moby, marketing, feng shui, astrology . . . the list goes on (and I see that I've also binged on topics, as well as artistes). Once the intensity of my interest subsides, I fast, sometimes deliberately avoiding said artiste or topic for a time. It's at this time that my brain seems to be deciding what I'm going to incorporate into my quirky worldview, and what I'm going to discard as pure bunk or clutter. However, the fondness for past favorites never goes away. When I return to one of them, my thrill returns, but not in its original technicolor splash. Instead, a soft pearlescent affection overcomes me.

Seth, too, shall pass.

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# posted by Anonymous @ 8:34 PM |

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