A friend of mine asked me the other day if I ever sleep. I’m thinking she asked this due to the number of gigs I play and that I also make art and write this blog. What she doesn’t know is I also clean the kitchen, do yard work, make some of the meals, take out the trash and recycle, make time for wife and cat, go to thrift stores, clean out the litter box, put gas in my piece-of-shit car, watch TeeVee shows, fix shit around the house (like roof AC units)…you know, stuff most people do. I just try to make time in between all that to work on some music and make some art.
I should also add that I read…a lot. If it’s not a book made with real paper, it’s something that I’m chasing online. Right now I’m trying to keep up with the anti-maskers, the antivaxxers, the shit-storm news regarding Afghanistan, the radical right’s voter suppression bills, fires, hurricanes, newspapers dying…it seems it’s raining bad news. Unless I decide to toss myself into the bureaucratic ring of guv’ment work the most I feel I can do as a citizen is to 1) vote, 2) post my editorials and pass on pertinent news, 3) write to my representatives (which I’ve found to be without fruit), 4) and yell at the TeeVee. Loudly.
May I present the Antivaxxer–own-the-libs–Hall of Hubris, those patriots who valiantly chose death over losing their freedom. (Thanks to the AZ Daily Star’s David Fitzsimmons)
Did you know that, according to the New York Times, that Federico Fellini is one of a select group of movie directors to have gotten an Oxford English Dictionary-sanctioned adjective: “Felliniesque,” which is defined as “fantastic, bizarre; lavish, extravagant.”
The Fellini Museum opened earlier this month in the director’s home town of Rimini, Italy. This is one for the bucket list. I’ve marveled at his films since my film-nerd days at the University of Kansas and I recently posted one of my favorite scenes from his film “Roma.”
Fellini, like Picasso, had a knack for tweaking the elite, often without them knowing it. Of course, due to the fame of both of these artists, they also became the elite, at least in their fields. But they both had the good sense and taste to continue their work rather than run for office. And one reason for posting this today is that we are currently smack dab in the middle of a Felliniesque period with no Hollywood ending in sight.
So, on the sleep front, I love to sleep. I usually sleep a solid eight at night and get in an hour or so in the late afternoon, except for Sundays when I’m speaking in the language of the ancients in the church of the Borderlands Brewery. As I’m aging I can actually witness myself slowing down in real time. There are aches and pains that weren’t there a year ago, motivation ain’t what it used to be, and some days I’d rather just stay in bed. But, I’ve also found that when I do practically nothing for a couple days, the desire to make some shit, and play some music, comes right back. I’ll go with that as long as I can.
And now….
Hey, if you’re enjoying these posts, pass them around if you will. Seeya Friday.
Sleepy Summer Daze
To quote a great man, “Shucks folks, I’m speechless”. Gary you shame us all. I don’t know how you do all of this. And this blood, from the fuckheads in the hall of hubris, to Fellini…we thank you. Oh and anytime you feel like sending any book recs 👍! One for you, A Gentleman in Moscow🙏