I can't be the only one who feels the pressure of the holidays. Like anything else, when forced to do something--in the case of the Christmas season, that would be smiling, shopping, visiting, singing, cooking, and generally flopping around like some untroubled, cheerful putz for 2 weeks solid---I just don't want to do it. I'm well aware that this is supposed to be a happy time, but it's just not always like that, and I can't apologize anymore for not wanting to go a'wassailing or falling asleep before midnight on New Year's Eve.
In the case of Burning Wood, the blog got lost in the maelstrom, and nothing seemed good enough. The muse had gone cold. I didn't want to turn this place into a daily, online jukebox, with post after post of songs and commentary like, "This is a great song. Listen." There is nothing wrong with that occasionally, but as I said, it just didn't seem good enough. But that's all I had.
At this point, I felt as if I could do no wrong. 2011 was here and I was going in with the same determination as the Polar Bear swim. Then came January 2nd. I woke up to a broken camera, a broken printer, a friend rushed to the hospital, and before you know it, I was fighting with my muse again. The cranky and emotional bastard that I am, decided sometime around 6PM last night, that maybe 2012 will be better. But, I just can't wait that long.
So, dear friends, let's get this show on the road. And muse, if you're reading, I'll be there for you if you'll be there for me.
I'M CONFESSIN'
7 comments:
Good, no, great! Rock on maestro! Let's pencil in some wassailing for December -- no?!?
You really Polar Bear-ed it?!?
(crazier than I would ever have thought possible . . .)
sal...it appears that a chilly dip in coney island waters was just what you needed...the fact is you've been on a great roll...cast your fate...the sam & louis video (what a band THAT was)...and now this classic, which i haven't listened to in years!...i'm sure there are those that can't wait for you to return to todd or squeeze or some power pop obscurity (and i'll be glad to hear that stuff, too), but right now, for me, this stuff is on the money. thanks for the post
Dude, you want a ragged Xmas experience, try watching your cancer-stricken father die on 12/23 and burying him on 12/26, which happened to me six years ago. That was my swim in the New Years Day Coney Island surf, only not symbolic. An experience like that blows all that holiday shit out of your system. You learn to appreciate the time, the people in your life, the ability to see them, to hang out, to laugh over nothing, hell, even to fight and disagree at times. I don't fault people for their holiday cheer -- it's just as valid as holiday depression. But with this awful experience now a permanent part of who I am, I can safely say if I want to feel good at Christmas time, I will, but always tempered by the knowledge of what happened those few days. It's hard to get depressed "around Christmas" when I got a trump card of depression that makes self pity feel like a waste of time.
So keep on trucking and doing what you do. Whether this year goes on to suck donkey dick, or turns out all right, your job here is to keep it pushing it forward with your knowledge and love and music. You should look at this thing as something that will keep you going when things aren't going your way, or something that pushes you along when the gods are smiling down on you. Your job is to make it happen.
My heart sank when I thought you were packing it in, even if only for an extended vacation. It felt like losing NYCD all over again.
Welcome back! Happy January 3rd! (I've got to try that polar bear thing next year...)
DEAR SAL. DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I HEARD IT ON THE RADIO IN ONE DAY,.....DAY AFTER DAY
"WELCOME BACK"
LUV, FRAN
William,
I experienced something similar in 1994, just a few weeks after Christmas. I understand, and I'm sorry if my little bellyaching post hit a nerve. I sincerely believe in the "be thankful for what you've got" and "you don't know what you've got till it's gone" ways of thinking. But, no one can really explain why even the simplest things can bring us down.
Thank you for sharing. Sincerely.
Sal
Not so much hitting a nerve -- just want to encourage you to move forward with what you're doing here, which is good stuff, much like shopping at NYCD was always a fun/enriching experience, especially the "Buy 3/Get 1 Free" used disc deal.
More David Johansen, less Morrissey!
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