Does Simon Listen to the Radio?

Lately I've been having trouble coming up with blog material. Things fall into my head to write about, but never at a time when I might actually do some blogging. Then, when I have a moment, I literally can't think of one thing I'd like to write about. Or, I think of something, but I know it might be annoying to read about. My opinions on political candidates, for instance, or how apalled I was to see that video on TV of cows being pushed by bulldozers in a slaughterhouse. So, I will return to American Idol...for now.

My question is this: Do Simon and Co. ever listen to the radio? Do they ever listen to anything but seriously over-produced cookie cutter muzak? I think what fascinates me most about American Idol is how unlikely it it to produce someone who will actually write and perform some great music. You think about enduring Rock legends, and how they could never meet Simon's approval if they were to try out for American Idol. Bob Dylan. Neil Young. Even Bruce Springsteen.

Frankly, when it comes down to it, a "singing" competition is kind of boring because who really listens to music for the perfect quality of the singing? If you're looking for that, I guess you listen to Celine Dion or you take a trip to Broadway or to the opera. Anyone who is a bit more "artistic" just doesn't have a chance. Like last night, the guy with the dreads, I thought he was good...like something I might actually listen to, and he got the thumbs down from the judges. I also thought the way they didn't let the little guy with the sad story (who lived in his car) into the top 24 was completely lame. That boy appeared to me to be an actual musical and artistic talent — with charisma no less. Charisma — something that Simon talks a lot about but apparently can't recognize in its genuine form.

Simon also blasted some guy last night for his pre-performance video. I missed his video, but I guess he described himself as a "word nerd" who loves to do crossword puzzles. Simon, who never misses a chance to remind us that this is a SINGING competition, told the guy he didn't do himself any favors with his video -- basically because words are so uncool. Hello? What about the SINGING competition? And furthermore, I guess Simon thinks that all music consumers are people who can't imagine a musician who doesn't conform to all the stereotypes. So, the mindless massess will love a rock 'n' roll dude who drag races (that's authentic!) but we can't love one who likes words. What would we listen to if Simon didn't tell us what to like?

Of course, I'm a fan of words, and of word nerds, so I thought this was pretty offensive. But the whole AI thing is funny. Most of the music I listen to doesn't feature singers who actually sing all that well.

Still, that little buddy, David Archeletta (?), is an incredible singer. He sang "Imagine" last night, and it was way better than the John Lennon version. Of course, I actually hate all of John Lennon's music.

Anyway, a little dose of AI, which I genuinely enjoy, and it's easy to see why the music industry sucks so much. I'm glad I've never been in the unenviable position of being a musical artist trying to make it in the ugly world of the music industry. Watch those judges and the way they caprciously apply their little set of rules (be relevant, be yourself, don't change a great artist's song, make it your own, don't be arrogant, be confident, etc., etc.) and you get a sense that a bunch of kooky Greek gods rule the music industry.

The Moon

So, despite the title of my blog, I never seem to talk about the faith part here. There's no particular reason for this, but, being me, I actually feel guilty about this. Like I should retitle my blog because I'm not living up to it. I probably won't do that. Instead I'll talk about something I've been contemplating for the past few days.

When I was in church on Sunday I got this idea in my head about how God is the center of the universe and that all creation orbits around him. All humans do, even if they don't know God or acknowledge him. I started thinking about whether I thought this was really true or if it was just a demented idea I was having. I decided that I think this is really how it is. We all orbit him like planets, and he is the great sun. He's so powerful and magnetic, there's no way to escape and no way for us to fall out of orbit. The only thing up for grabs is whether we reflect him or not -- whether we show him our backs or our faces.

When we choose to believe in this ultimate reality, we turn our faces to him and we begin to reflect him. If we choose not to believe, our backs are turned. We're not gazing into love or into ultimate truth. So these were my thoughts on Sunday. Yesterday I was reading Psalm 89. Verse 37 calls the moon the faithful witness in the sky. I thought that was so cool. And it made me think that when we look at God, we witness him. That simply by turning our faces to him, we are witnesses to his glory.

This is the kind of thought that can captivate me. I'll probably think about it for weeks. Is that weird?

By the way, tonight there will be a total lunar eclipse. The last one until 2010.

Good Things on Valentine's Day

Many years ago, I kept a book of good things. It was just a list. I want to say this idea originated with my dear friend Carolyn, but that may simply be my faulty memory, though I doubt it. She's always been full of good ideas.

It’s good to write down the good things. In a given day, there are a lot of little things to appreciate. So here are my good things for today. These are just the things that strike me at the moment, and in no particular order.

1. Our newest cat, affectionately known as Oscar Von Snuggles. I woke up this morning in my freezing cold bedroom, curled on my side, and I noticed that my back was quite warm. There was Oscar, curled up against my back.
2. Dark chocolate. It’s Valentine’s Day after all. Did you know there are dark chocolate M&Ms? A very good thing indeed.
3. My wood stove. It’s freezing outside but the fire is blazing and it’s toasty in here. I love to be warm. As a side note, for me, being able to sit by a fire in the winter seems to help those nasty feelings of seasonal depression.
4. Sons 2 and 3, surely as an act of Valentine’s Day love, remembered to put their breakfast dishes and boxes of cereal away this morning.
5. The sign I saw on the way home from school one afternoon this week. I plan on taking a picture of it today: “Don’t forget them flowers. One mile ahead.” I kid you not.
6. The e-mail I received last night telling me that Son1 is being inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.
7. Every time my husband makes me laugh. Which is pretty much all the time. It’s like living with your own personal stand-up comedian.
8. The way my dog’s ears flap when he’s chasing down a Frisbee. For whatever reason, the sight of him streaking across the park with his ears flapping fills me with an inordinate amount of joy.
9. Our cat Checkers. She is sweet and reserved and her little calico face looks like a checkerboard, and she doesn’t even have to do anything sweet or funny to bring me joy – though I do love it when she tries to order me around with her tiny meows.
10. Unexpected e-mails. I love it when I hear from people I’m not expecting to hear from. So fun.

It’s Valentine’s Day, which is as good a day as any to acknowledge the good things -- so I really hope you have some to take note of. I’ll probably add to my list again some day. If you write a list, let me know.

Baby Steps: An Update

Well, the first week of baby steps went well. I wrote some. I mostly did research. And I have a lot of that to do. So far it's been really helpful as far as starting to put some flesh on my ideas. I realize now that I am nowhere near ready to write much of this story. I will probably write scenes here and there that will get chucked eventually, but they're worth writing now for the discipline of it and for the potential discoveries.

The second week hasn't been so great. Too many work deadlines, which means too many excuses. But this week I should be back on track. Should be.

I used to hate to write. I hated it until I took a mandatory half-semester writing class in college that changed my life. So weird how that can happen. The class (and my lovely and wonderful professor, Dr. Martindale) opened my eyes to the idea that writing well is like putting a puzzle together, and that is what most intrigues me about it. I am not the most creative person. Many people think I am, but I'm not. I enjoy the creativity of others. And I seem to make my living off of others' creativity as well. I guess the reason I'm a good editor is that I can look at all your puzzle pieces and see that you haven't put the picture together in quite the right way. I fix it, and the picture is clear. So I'm an editor because I like the challenge of a puzzle. But writing is like putting together a puzzle too, especially non-fiction. Putting the pieces together and presenting it in a compelling way. But fiction -- well, you have to create the pieces and then put them together. For me, the intimidation factor is huge. And then there's the work of it, as Carolyn mentioned. It's sheer drudgery in a lot of ways.

But research is fun. I love to learn new things and the days that I take my baby steps, things are much more exciting and interesting in my brain. I definitely prefer to contemplate the motivations of my protagonist's father than to contemplate what to make for dinner. I really hate dinner, at least the fact that everyone needs to eat it every night.