May 8, 17:49; The Endgame.

Just another day at work after an unplanned (but much appreciated) day off. My trainee is surprised by how quickly I can “data dump” the events of the shift. But this is crucial to my mental health. If something important happens, I’ll remember it. Otherwise, out it goes!

Spending my post-shift time giving some TLC to a pair of upcoming interviews. I also secured another one, and need to assemble questions for it. Shouldn’t be too difficult. It’s also time to consider my first contributions to All About Jazz. At least two reviews and a feature, I’m thinking. Perhaps even one of these interviews.

I like having a lot of musical irons in the fire. It can be tiring, for sure. Stressful? Not really. I don’t have to deal with a lot of deadline pressure. Yet.

Markus Reuter’s Heartland is a marvelous suite of music. I feel out of my depth talking about classical music, outside of some kind of movie score. And some of the string quartet’s playing sounded like a soundtrack with no film. But it went much deeper than that. It was quite the musical journey.

There’s more to discuss, but the Avengers beckon.

May 9, 21:44; The Long Watch

The only thing more annoying than directing traffic around an accident is doing it twice in less than four hours. If you ever want to witness the epitome of human stupidity, watch them as they attempt to go where they want to go despite the presence of police cars, fire trucks, tow trucks, and the overturned or badly damaged vehicles that brought us all together in the first place.

This is why I preach to my daughter and trainees, “Always know at least three ways to get where you’re going.” More than a few people missed out on that lesson, it seems. Which is why I find people trying to use the six inches of daylight between my car’s rear bumper and the curb to make a turn requiring ten times that amount of space, minimum. Even more amusing is the baffled looks on their faces when I yell at them and direct them away from where they wanted to be.

Enough said.

May 11, 12:00; Off Day.

Rain.

So much rain.

The day will come when we’ll be begging to have things watered down for a day or two. But we’re WAY ahead of the curve for now. Not only does it dampen the spirit, but it’s keeping my golf clubs in the closet on my very brief weekend. Well, maybe next week.

Two interviews have been assembled. I have to say I like the look of them. A couple more requests have gone out. It would be nice to have a stockpile of interviews ready for weekly release. I also need to keep piling up record reviews. The Brand continues to grow.

I really opened the floodgates on Facebook. I don’t know how many friend requests and page “like” requests I sent out. It was a lot, and they’re starting to pay off. I’m receiving greetings from England, France, Spain, South America, and Vietnam among other places. And the requests are coming in to me as well. Time will tell if all the activity amounts to something.

I’ll be forced to go out into the rain a couple of times today. A couple of errands, and then Marbin at BB’s tonight.

17:43.

People are fascinating.

Apparently I gained and then lost a Facebook follower in less than 36 hours. Seems I didn’t respond to his request to like his group or whatever quickly enough. He even took the time to PM me and tell me I was rude!

Ever the diplomat, I responded and apologized, letting him know that I have been rather busy, and had not yet seen his request. Too late, I was told. I had already been un-friended.

Wow. Really?

I told him he was free to do so, and perhaps he should work on being a little more patient, as not everyone spends every waking minute on Facebook. The funny thing is, he and I have the same day job (albeit he works in South America)! Patience is a crucial aspect when doing our duty! Hmmm … his investigations must be very interesting, indeed.

I’m not mad at all about this development. I just find the whole thing … interesting. Well, if I’ve learned anything in my many years, it’s that the Internet brings out the dope in many, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Moving on …

May 12, 23:51; Bedtime

I should’ve been asleep an hour ago. But I slept a lot today already, so it wasn’t feeling like it was time. Plus, you know, Game of Thrones. I couldn’t risk the Internet spoiling it for me.

La Cocodrila’s interview is ready to go out into the world. That happens in the morning. My next Seven Questions subject is also on board, and he will get his queries tomorrow as well. Then I can go to work on the Marbin piece.

Speaking of which, they were outstanding. I think my friend Robert Fripp would say they tore our ear hairs and stomped them flat. Two burning sets of fusion, plus some interesting stories on how the songs came to be. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.

It was also a great pleasure to meet the band. They’re a great bunch of guys.

I’m not necessarily getting into music journalism to meet the artists in my collection. I’m learning to see it as a very nice added bonus.

I really need to sleep.

May 13, 15:14; (Kinda) One of Those Days.

The day started out like it was going to Hell in a hand-basket almost immediately. But it has at least partially recovered.

My La Cocodrila interview has a glitch in it, and is not showing properly upon publishing. I’m hoping working on it at home will help solve the problem. This has never happened before. On the plus side, Deborah De La Torre read and loved how things came out. So I have that going for me.

18:10.

Dinner is done. A little laundry beckons. But first, I must fix this formatting issue. My perfectionist nature won’t let me rest until I handle it. It’s driving me CRAZY.

I’m wondering if tweaking and making corrections on two separate devices had anything to do with my issue? I could swore I’ve done that kind of thing before. Well, what do I know?

19:10.

It’s fixed.

I had to re-enter some things manually and reverse some fonts, but the entire interview and clips are now properly visible. Truly a load off my mind.

Now I can get into the other things I’m working on, which right now includes binging on Sonar, one of my favorite bands of late. And perhaps just the right research for a possible coming interview.

May 14, 22:22; Home.

Another one of those days that started out shit, slowly improved, went to shit again, but has ended up fairly okay.

As part of an exercise, I’m being asked to dwell on the more negative aspects of my life. I don’t enjoy the concept, but I’m told it will help me in the long run. All right … let’s see where this goes.

Meanwhile, I’ve got three new reviews written, the next interview in the can, and I’ve started a pair of new features. I’m calling it a win.

May 15, 15:07; Squirreling

My little birdie is ready to fly. Today was my trainee’s last day under my tutelage. He’s headed for the night watch, and I’ll be by myself again.

It’s a little easier when you’re not teaching. It’s difficult to go almost full-tilt for an entire shift, every day. You have to take a moment to breathe. But when you’re teaching, everything is new to your trainee, and you must show them how to prepare for almost anything. That takes a lot of energy!

So now I have a moment to back off a smidge, which is much needed after 15 weeks.

I’ve decided to play human squirrel, compiling reviews, interviews, and features like so many acorns. I’m putting myself in a position to release something every three days or so, while I enjoy a little time on the golf course. Like my instructional break, it is much needed.

Well, these reviews aren’t going to write themselves.

#CirdecSongs

Check out my book, I Can’t Be the Only One Hearing This: A Lifetime of Music Through Eclectic Ears. It’s available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine book dealers.

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