Well, dear readers, why do I so enjoy writing these here notes, so much so that I’ve been writing them every single day since November of 2001 without ever having missed a day? We’ll be having a major anniversary partay in November and I’ll be writing more then, but as difficult as it is sometimes to kick start the first part of the notes, it just gives me grand pleasure to do them. I don’t ever think about them in advance. I don’t figure out the topic or what I’m going to write about or outline or anything – I just let it come, no matter what it may be. That way, I can go off on tangents, be silly, be funny, be not funny, talk about my days and what’s going on. I’ve been accused by certain types of writing notes that are egocentric, but, you know, I’M writing them so it all sort of starts from there – the more than amusing and slightly pathetic thing is, of course, that when certain types then start blogs of their own (I have never called what I do blogging) they are far more egocentric than I have ever been in these here notes. I don’t really understand the whole blogosphere even though I have to believe that this here site has the longest running daily blog of this sort of length ever – not a day missed in eight years. Oh, was that egocentric? I think not, but I think it’s true – if not, it’s certainly got to be in the top five or ten. When I used to do The Real A column over at the Sondheim site, it was once a week and I loved doing that and being anonymous until the very end. And good really came out of it, not only because we had an incredibly wonderful and large readership, but because a lot of the material I wrote about my childhood formed the basis for the three Kritzer books. Here, I love writing about anything my heart desires, whether it’s ranting and raving, or just talking about mundane things. I’m not a Jane Fonda or any of these other celebs who discover blogging and do it because it’s hip. I’m not a celeb, just someone who has a great time staying up until midnight and keeping my writing muscles flexed every single day. That’s the best thing – I’m always in shape, writing-wise, and having done these here notes has made writing nine count them nine books so much easier. You see, I had no idea what I was going to write about in these here notes and I wrote about writing these here notes.
Yesterday, I had quite the sort of day I was hoping to have – relaxed, easy/breezy, and without too much work. I got a great night’s sleep, did the long jog, wrote two blurbs for our two upcoming releases this Wednesday (one may actually go up Tuesday because I don’t really want to put both of them in one eBlast – too confusing). I had a sandwich and fries for my meal o’ the day, I went to Gelson’s and bought a large number of Halloween candy bags (over 500 separate pieces – well 496 – I ate four of the little mini-Big Hunks), I packaged up some orders and dropped them off at the postal office, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched the latest episode of Mad Men. I am beginning to find it more than a little irritating being away from the offices of Sterling Cooper and spending so much time on Don and Betty and Don and whoever he’s having a fling with. Poor Peggy, my favorite character in the show, has virtually disappeared from the action (save for a scene or two in the last two shows), Pete Campbell hasn’t been around, Joan is gone, Bryan Batt is gone – it just hasn’t been the same and the Don/Betty and whoever they’re having affairs with just feels so old now. I hope they get themselves out of this rut. But, as always, there’s at least a few things that are excellent, and there was one little plot thing, where Betty finally discovers some information, that’s going to provide some fireworks, although the tease of a big scene never actually happened. I assume it will happen in next week’s show, but that’s not something this show usually has to resort to. After that, I watched a very interesting and very strange programmer from 1958, an low budget oater called Fort Massacre, starring Joel McCrea, one of my favorite screen actors ever. The writing is very weird, as is the plotting, and McCrea’s character is really odd – he plays it very well, but it’s unrelentingly negative, something one cannot say about oaters of that era. There is absolutely no humor in the film at all, but the pacing is quite good and it’s very short and the film looks good in Cinemascope and the hi-def transfer on MGM-HD looked great, color-wise, if a little soft throughout.
After that, I began listening to the Beatles Box – I started with the first album. I’ll have much more to say after I’ve gotten a little further along. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m just having ever so much fun writing the notes and I cannot wait to continue in the next section.
Today is actually not going to be all that busy, which I’m thrilled about. I have to return some tapes and pick up some tapes, I have to do the long jog, I have to finish writing liner notes, and then I have to eat, but that’s about it.
Tomorrow I have a late lunch to meet the musical director of the long musical – I’ve seen him in action and he’s quite good and does a lot of LA musicals. I’m looking forward to meet him.
Then we’ll be officially announcing our next two releases, most likely on Tuesday and Wednesday, although as always you dear readers will get the first peek at what they are. Well, one is certainly no secret – Christmas Mornings, the new Brent Barrett album.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, return tapes and pick up tapes, finish writing liner notes, do errands and whatnot, and eat something amusing. Today’s topic of discussion: What are some of your favorite sites to visit on the Internet – not necessarily chat boards, but sites you find interesting and informative. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I put the finishing touches on writing the notes.