Big Block of Cheese Day

One thing about summer? Having this astonishing drop off in pressing responsibility means I feel far less constrained by the idea of time. I eat when I'm hungry. I go to bed when I'm tired. I get up when I'm awake. I rarely wear my watch. The only times that usually wind up mattering are (1) any appointments I'll have, such as taking care of my nephews or getting my dog to the groomer, or (2) when the movie begins, which is still somewhat arbitrary, because if I have an afternoon that's wide open I might show up at the theater ten or fifteen minutes early to take my time with the ticket line or buying the standard popcorn and diet Coke/diet Pepsi combination, and then sitting through Mountain Dew, Ford Fusion, and National Guard commercials shown before the previews begin. And even this incredibly simple pleasure has been largely denied of me this particular summer, because so many of the movies that have been released during vacation so far have been some really marginal crap.

But anyway. Because it's summer I'm able to pull myself out of bed and write at 4:00 in the morning if I find myself awake at that time. I don't have to worry about maintaining coherent thought during the day, because I know I'll be able to pretty much nap whenever the mood hits. And I discovered back in November during the NaNoWriMo exercise of writing an entire 50,000 word manuscript in 28 days that sometimes trying to write first thing in the morning can have its benefits. I'm not yet plagued by whatever contextual nonsense has managed to define my day, since my day is only minutes old. I'm not bound to color within the lines of clearheaded thinking, because my head is never truly clear until I've been up and around for at least an hour. And if you can't think clearly yet, how are you going to edit yourself as you write? Therein lies the beauty.

I actually read somewhere that Steven Tyler of Aerosmith said that the first thing in the morning is his favorite time to write, for just these reasons. I don't know if that's a ringing endorsement for the logic behind this process since Aerosmith has been reduced to writing and rewriting different versions of the same four songs for the past 20 years, but all the same its good to know that I'm not the only one who sees things this way. Maybe trying to hitch my star to a self-destructive drug addict isn't the best plan, but if it helps me rationalize the idea of sitting here at what is now 4:46 A.M. instead of lying in bed futily trying to sleep while listening to the pull chain of the running ceiling fan lightly and incessantly tap against the body of the lamp, then I'll take what I can get.

And all of this was meant to simply preface the idea that it's either too late at night or too early in the morning as I write this newest list of random thoughts. I haven't posted many entries here lately since I haven't had much to say that I wanted to really develop, but I've had a few little ideas come along that... well, in honor of Nephew #1 spending a good part of his summer watching West Wing DVDs, we'll label this entry with a reference from the show that only the sick die-hard fans like myself might catch: "Big Block of Cheese Day." "Take Out the Trash Day" would actually be more apt as West Wing references go, but Big Block of Cheese Day is funnier. If you get that, great. You have the sense to have followed that show and likely have watched it repeatedly. If not, then you only have yourself to blame.

Okay. What's next:

**You ever hear of this band, Muse? They're kind of irritating me these days. I like Muse well enough. I have three of their albums - "Absolution," the far superior "Black Holes and Revelations," and the newest "The Resistance." Muse is pretty popular with the kids these days. And they're a decent band. I first heard of them while reading an internet forum of another band I like (Dream Theater), and how the drummer had been introduced to Muse's music by his guitarist. I figured if these guys liked them they had to be worth checking out, and did. And they were pretty good. Some good pop sensibility, nice touches of some strong rock music, and just experimental enough to come across as not beating you over the head with the pretension of putting on a show of how much underground credibility they thought they should have. Didn't love them, but liked them. But now? The new album gets under my skin, because I literally haven't heard anything in recent decades that is so incontrovertibly derivative of Queen. You'd think that with me being a huge Queen fan, I'd like this. I'm actually a little offended by it, for admittedly backward reasons. For the last decade of their career, before Freddie Mercury died, Queen was largely ignored by the American listening public, outside of a few classic rock staples that were so deeply ingrained into the culture that they couldn't be overlooked. And I'd say at least 80% of Muse's "The Resistance" sounds like it could have been cobbled together from outtakes from Queen's 1974 album, "Sheer Heart Attack." I have no problem with the band Muse for going to the well here, because they are obviously huge Queen fans. I have a problem with all the teenagers running around in suburban America proclaiming how Muse is this groundbreaking and original band. If these kids were a fraction as musically open-minded as they believe themselves to be, they would realize that Queen is actually one of their favorite bands, even if they've never heard anything of them beyond the same 4 dusty overplayed tracks from the radio: Killer Queen, Another One Bites The Dust, We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions; I could never refer to Bohemian Rhapsody as dusty, even after the beating it received on Glee. I'm tellin' ya, kids - I know that teenagers by definition know EVERYTHING there is to know about everything and are right ALL of the time, but if you dig through your parents' music collection and find a Queen album in there that predates "Live Killers," you'll see what I mean.

**By the time school let out, I had pretty much decided to switch to the new iPhone 4 this summer. Then the whole 'running out of phones from massive pre-orders' thing happened, and of course the white version, the one I was hoping to buy, turned out to be little more than a rumor for the moment. I am very much an Apple loyalist, and still plan to get me that white iPhone 4 as soon as I am able. But after the news reports of antenna and screen problems that emerged as the first batch of them hit the streets, I was reminded that being the first one to own a new piece of technology is rarely a good thing. Hopefully when the white model becomes available in another month or so (if the internet is to be believed, and we know how that goes), these issues will have been dealt with. But all the same, I have to think a few dropped calls would still be a big step up from having a phone that randomly performs tasks you don't want it to if you squeeze it too hard or if sometimes you just, you know, HOLD IT IN YOUR PALM like mine does.

**Much of my copious free time this summer has been devoted to reading "The Passage" by Justin Cronin. Holy crap is this an awesome book. I was a little nervous at first when I heard it was about vampires, because, well, having a little experience of trying to get a book published in the Young Adult market during the 'Twilight' era, I know how overdone the vampire genre is these days. But story aside, this dude can WRITE. And pair up that with what so far is a very engaging and well-constructed story populated by characters I know better than some members of my own extended family, and you've got yourself an amazing read.

**My sister and her soon-t0-be husband will soon be making their own little journey of sorts, one that will have them seeing the same band, The Hold Steady, play live in three different venues on three consecutive nights. She invited me to go at least once, but I declined, and it got me thinking why. I like the Hold Steady just fine; like most bands they have a good number of songs that are pure filler, but when they're on they are truly great. And I have no doubt they put on a very energetic live show. But I just don't want to see them. I thought that maybe I'm getting kind of crotchety-old-man about going to live shows, because back in the day I would go and see anyone live if they were playing within 50 miles of wherever I lived and I liked at least two of their songs. But now, not so much. Going to see a band play just to dance around and have a good time doesn't have the same appeal it once did. If I'm going to invest that kind of money and time and, frankly, inconvenience, I want to be rewarded with a transcendent experience. I don't want it to be, "Woo-Hoo! I love this song! Come on, let's dance!" I want it to be, "Oh. My. God. That's. Brian. May. And he's playing his guitar. Live. Right here. And I'm in the same room while it's happening." The drum solos and lasers and flash pots don't get me there so much anymore; I've seen just about all there is to see in that respect. If I see someone live, I either want to be in the presence of jaw-dropping musicianship, or to have the privilege of hearing a song played that has been a formative part of my life. And that just doesn't happen as much anymore.

**Cranberry/Raspberry Diet Snapple may be the most sublime beverage ever imagined.

Okay. That's all I got. I'm going back to bed.