Julie cooked her homemade meatballs tonight. Oh my God, they are the best meatballs you will ever taste. Don't tell her dad, whose recipe she is working from, but Julie makes them better.
Budd, Karyn and their family came over for dinner and they introduced us to their their new dog. It felt like old times, those nights ten or fifteen years ago when we'd get together on a whim. These days, with high school children, everything is planned. You can't just pop in on a Sunday night anymore. Nevertheless, it was wonderful just to have a casual night together.
Last night I saw Gravity, the new film starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, directed by Alfonso Cuaron. It was incredible. I've never seen Bullock better, and Cuaron is a director whose career I will follow for the rest of my life. He is one of those rare directors who can mine human emotion out of spectacle and populous material.
As I drove Sophie to church this morning, I began describing the plot of Gravity. This is one film with a strong female protagonist whose actions are admirable and heroic. I really think Soph might enjoy the film... someday. For, as I told her what happens in Gravity she exclaimed, "The movie sounds BAD!" Mind you, it sounds "bad" to her because Bullock gets stranded in outer space after tragedy strikes and people die. Too serious for Sophie. She gets more like her mother every day.
Today she tried out for the Saugus Swim Team. I'm so proud of her for doing it. She hasn't been on the parks and rec summer swim team for two years, due to family trips. Yet, when she came home from Ohio this summer she began training on her own. She really did her best to get ready for the tryouts and has maintained a good attitude.
"If it doesn't happen it wasn't meant to be," she's said.
Before her tryout Sophie was told that it was going to be tough to make the team. The girls team is very competitive. She didn't let this intimidate her and she did great. I really hope she makes it. Sophie would be an asset to any team simply because she would never give up and you would see a definite improvement in her skills and time. If only I was making the final decision!
Another weekend comes to a close and I'm surprisingly exhausted. I have a creak in my neck and I can barely keep my eyes open.
Oh, and I've decided to write another book.
Aloha
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Basement Songs at a discount price
The Kindle version of Basement Songs is being offered at the discount price of $2.99. If you have a Kindle and you've been hesitating to buy the book, now's your chance!
Thanks!
Thanks!
So I was in Korea for a week....
I was out of the country for a week and fell behind on my writing. That and the typical crap that happens when you're trying to be a dad and husband. But here I am, back behind the typewriter and feeling somewhat refreshed.
I did do a few reviews.
Patty Griffin's Silver Bell came out this week. This is the official release of her third solo record that was supposed to come out in 2000. You can read about Silver Bell and what I thought about it here:
http://popdose.com/goin-country-patty-griffins-silver-bell-finally-gets-a-proper-release/
Also, I saw one hell of a great movie. A DIY teenage comedy called Gimme the Loot. I LOVE this movie. Check out my review here:
http://popdose.com/dvd-review-gimme-the-loot/
That's all I have for now. Korea? Oh yeah, I'll talk about that in a bit.
Aloha.
I did do a few reviews.
Patty Griffin's Silver Bell came out this week. This is the official release of her third solo record that was supposed to come out in 2000. You can read about Silver Bell and what I thought about it here:
http://popdose.com/goin-country-patty-griffins-silver-bell-finally-gets-a-proper-release/
Also, I saw one hell of a great movie. A DIY teenage comedy called Gimme the Loot. I LOVE this movie. Check out my review here:
http://popdose.com/dvd-review-gimme-the-loot/
That's all I have for now. Korea? Oh yeah, I'll talk about that in a bit.
Aloha.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Trying to get back to it
It's been a long time since my last post. So much has been going on in our house that it's been difficult to find the time and inspiration to sit down at my keyboard. That's the funny thing about writing, it does the soul good to release the demons haunting you by writing them on paper or in a blog, but when you're so emotionally drained that the thought of typing or writing anything personal sounds like torture, you just go to bed at the end of the day or watch another 15 minutes of the Today show before heading to work in the morning.
It's a vicious cycle. The less you write, the less you feel like a writer. And the less you feel like a writer the more you find ways to knock yourself down and pick apart your failures.
This weekend I cleaned the office in an attempt to create a work environment. I went through the four drawer file cabinet in the room and began throwing away old stories and random ideas I wrote down 5, 10, even 15 years ago. Where has all of the time gone? I looked at many of the slips of paper that had fully realized novels or movie plots on them and thought, "If I only had time."
Music has become a source of escape, once again, and I find myself thinking a lot of the 90s, particularly the years following our marriage and before the kids were born. When I was compiling and editing the Basement Songs book, I was alarmed that there was a gap in those seven years. Perhaps it's time to go back to that era and write about that time period.
After Basement Songs was completed, I thought that perhaps it would gain miraculous word of mouth and sell like hotcakes. Boy, was I delusional. The hard part of self-publishing is being a salesman. This is something I'm terrible at doing. For those of you who bought the book, and all of you who've supported me, I'll try to do better.
It's a vicious cycle. The less you write, the less you feel like a writer. And the less you feel like a writer the more you find ways to knock yourself down and pick apart your failures.
This weekend I cleaned the office in an attempt to create a work environment. I went through the four drawer file cabinet in the room and began throwing away old stories and random ideas I wrote down 5, 10, even 15 years ago. Where has all of the time gone? I looked at many of the slips of paper that had fully realized novels or movie plots on them and thought, "If I only had time."
Music has become a source of escape, once again, and I find myself thinking a lot of the 90s, particularly the years following our marriage and before the kids were born. When I was compiling and editing the Basement Songs book, I was alarmed that there was a gap in those seven years. Perhaps it's time to go back to that era and write about that time period.
After Basement Songs was completed, I thought that perhaps it would gain miraculous word of mouth and sell like hotcakes. Boy, was I delusional. The hard part of self-publishing is being a salesman. This is something I'm terrible at doing. For those of you who bought the book, and all of you who've supported me, I'll try to do better.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
The First Week of School
Wow, what a crazy week this has been. Jacob began 6th grade and Sophie entered high school. It's the end of elementary school for Jacob and the beginning of high school for Sophie and I'm not sure it could have been any more stressful.
As a parent, I worry to death that the two of them will have good teachers, that they'll do well in class, and that they'll avoid the pitfalls that befell me when I was their age.
I recall my last year of elementary school as a weird year in which hormones were raging through my body. I was bigger than most of the other kids, had hair growing in strange places, had experienced a voice change that took me from soprano in the school choir to bass, and felt like a complete nerd because of big hair, big glasses and a low self esteem. In other words, 6th grade kind of sucked. I was lucky to have my best friend, Matt, to hang around with, but I don't recall ever being 100% happy during that year. I'd talk back to my teacher, have outbursts in class (embarrassing to admit) and really wanted to be liked by the cool kids and the girls I pined for.
Still, 6th grade did find me writing my first short story (a mystery called "Midnight") and for some reason my parents allowed me to read mature literature such as Richard Hooker's MASH and Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. I'm not sure I want my son reading about war, vampires and sex. I also excelled in football, using my size to an advantage. Finally, 6th grade found me really discovering rock music and learning to play the drums.
9th grade was another turning point in my life. I was faced with a choice of playing football or playing in the marching band. Although 9th graders didn't play on varsity, if I chose to play ball throughout high school I would have had to make that decision. It weighed heavy on me for the first month of school. I was leaning toward playing in the band. This was not because of my dad, the school band director. In fact, my parents told me that if I chose to keep playing football I would only have to be in winter band.
The truth was that all of my friends were in band. They had accepted me as Scott Malchus, and not the band director's kid or some punk freshman. I was just Scott and being embraced like this meant the world to me. Not that the football players gave me shit for being in the band. Sure, there were a couple knuckleheads that still adhered to the "jocks vs. band kids" mentality of the 70s (and still used the term "band fag"), but the decent guys I socialized with who were football players never said anything. Two major changes happened in 9th grade that cause me to lose whatever edge I had as a ballplayer.
1. I had stopped growing in 7th grade. Everyone I outsized in junior high caught up and towered over me. Since I'd never worked out in my life, I was a pencil thin, medium sized kid who was easily tossed aside by some monster sized guys.
2. Girls. I went on my first date in 9th grade. Had my first real kiss in 9th grade. I won't go into any further details about 9th grade because Sophie might read this, but let's just say that having girls pay attention to you can sap whatever rage that is brewing inside right out of the body. You know that scene in Raging Bull, the one where DeNiro's Jake LaMotta won't have sex with his wife right before a fight? Yeah, sexual frustration can make a normally meek guy an aggressive football player. Trust me.
Thus, my desire to hit people was waning when I entered high school. Yet, I didn't want to just quit. I still had a competitive side to me that wanted to be an athlete.
The decision was made for me during the first freshman football game. Somehow I wound up one of the starting defensive ends. On one of the last plays of the first half of the first game, I shredded my ACL and ended my football career.
9th grade wound up sucking for a different reason. I had friends and had a blast, socially, but I spent most of the year on crutches and struggled to get my mobility back in my knee. It was a painful, frustrating time. Oh, and I got my heart broken for the first time. But that's another story.
I'm so excited for Sophie. I think she's going to have a great year. She has great friends and I'm impressed with how much she's pushing herself to get ready for swim team tryouts. I just hope she doesn't get her heart broken. Alas, I can't prevent that.
There are other things going on in our household, things I may discuss at a future time. For now, I'll leave you with these two songs. One a favorite from August 1981, when I entered 6th, and the other from August 1984, when I entered 9th.
Aloha
As a parent, I worry to death that the two of them will have good teachers, that they'll do well in class, and that they'll avoid the pitfalls that befell me when I was their age.
I recall my last year of elementary school as a weird year in which hormones were raging through my body. I was bigger than most of the other kids, had hair growing in strange places, had experienced a voice change that took me from soprano in the school choir to bass, and felt like a complete nerd because of big hair, big glasses and a low self esteem. In other words, 6th grade kind of sucked. I was lucky to have my best friend, Matt, to hang around with, but I don't recall ever being 100% happy during that year. I'd talk back to my teacher, have outbursts in class (embarrassing to admit) and really wanted to be liked by the cool kids and the girls I pined for.
Still, 6th grade did find me writing my first short story (a mystery called "Midnight") and for some reason my parents allowed me to read mature literature such as Richard Hooker's MASH and Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. I'm not sure I want my son reading about war, vampires and sex. I also excelled in football, using my size to an advantage. Finally, 6th grade found me really discovering rock music and learning to play the drums.
9th grade was another turning point in my life. I was faced with a choice of playing football or playing in the marching band. Although 9th graders didn't play on varsity, if I chose to play ball throughout high school I would have had to make that decision. It weighed heavy on me for the first month of school. I was leaning toward playing in the band. This was not because of my dad, the school band director. In fact, my parents told me that if I chose to keep playing football I would only have to be in winter band.
The truth was that all of my friends were in band. They had accepted me as Scott Malchus, and not the band director's kid or some punk freshman. I was just Scott and being embraced like this meant the world to me. Not that the football players gave me shit for being in the band. Sure, there were a couple knuckleheads that still adhered to the "jocks vs. band kids" mentality of the 70s (and still used the term "band fag"), but the decent guys I socialized with who were football players never said anything. Two major changes happened in 9th grade that cause me to lose whatever edge I had as a ballplayer.
1. I had stopped growing in 7th grade. Everyone I outsized in junior high caught up and towered over me. Since I'd never worked out in my life, I was a pencil thin, medium sized kid who was easily tossed aside by some monster sized guys.
2. Girls. I went on my first date in 9th grade. Had my first real kiss in 9th grade. I won't go into any further details about 9th grade because Sophie might read this, but let's just say that having girls pay attention to you can sap whatever rage that is brewing inside right out of the body. You know that scene in Raging Bull, the one where DeNiro's Jake LaMotta won't have sex with his wife right before a fight? Yeah, sexual frustration can make a normally meek guy an aggressive football player. Trust me.
Thus, my desire to hit people was waning when I entered high school. Yet, I didn't want to just quit. I still had a competitive side to me that wanted to be an athlete.
The decision was made for me during the first freshman football game. Somehow I wound up one of the starting defensive ends. On one of the last plays of the first half of the first game, I shredded my ACL and ended my football career.
9th grade wound up sucking for a different reason. I had friends and had a blast, socially, but I spent most of the year on crutches and struggled to get my mobility back in my knee. It was a painful, frustrating time. Oh, and I got my heart broken for the first time. But that's another story.
I'm so excited for Sophie. I think she's going to have a great year. She has great friends and I'm impressed with how much she's pushing herself to get ready for swim team tryouts. I just hope she doesn't get her heart broken. Alas, I can't prevent that.
There are other things going on in our household, things I may discuss at a future time. For now, I'll leave you with these two songs. One a favorite from August 1981, when I entered 6th, and the other from August 1984, when I entered 9th.
Aloha
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
The Braces Kid
Jacob got braces last week and we thought the next year was going to be traumatic for all of us. The first night, I've never heard him cry in pain so hard and for so long. There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening.
The next day, his mouth was still sore and he was irritable because he couldn't eat any of his favorite foods... which are basically the ONLY foods he eats. Besides milkshakes and glasses of whole milk there was nothing he could eat.
The third day, however, things began to take a turn for the better and he's been improving ever since. Tomorrow will be a full week and Jacob's been a real champ. The kid seems to be taking the new addition to his mouth in stride and he's back to being his wise cracking self.
I know, kids get braces all the time, but Jake endures so much in his daily life that this seemed like too much. I'm really proud of how he's doing. He's really maturing.
Speaking of maturing, Sophie has high school orientation tomorrow. WTF?! I'm sitting here listening to INXS, a band whose music I played when I was in high school... when I was HER AGE! Is INXS classic rock? Am I old?
Damn.
Friday, August 2, 2013
New "Goin' Country" column at Popdose
Not sure why I haven't been putting up notices that new columns are appearing on Popdose. Seems like as soon as I finish something my mind is already on to the next thing I want to write. Anyway, today I have a new Goin' Country column up at Popdose. Please check it out!
http://popdose.com/goin-country-the-hot-country-songs-for-the-week-ending-81013/
http://popdose.com/goin-country-the-hot-country-songs-for-the-week-ending-81013/
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Easing back into it...
It's a strange thing when your family goes out of town. For about a day or two, there is a sense of independence, the kind like you had that first week away from your parents' house. But then, as the weeks linger, that feeling of "freedom" becomes oppressive and the walls start closing in. While Julie and the kids were out of town in Ohio, I feel like I slowly lost a part of myself.
Three weeks is too long to be away from your family, especially with a holiday thrown in the middle. Not only did I lose my will to write, I lost all sense of routine and felt like I might lose it. This all culminated in bit of an alcohol induced meltdown the Friday before they came home.
This is one of the reasons I haven't applied myself to this blog in the past month. I've been trying to regain my sense of being a writer. It's slowly coming back to me.
I'm working on some scripts, trying to keep the new country music column up and running over at Popdose, and I've decided to revive my old TV column, "The Three Strike Rule." Most important, I'm ready to tackle the screenplay for a story that's been brewing inside of me for years.
I wish I could sell more copies of the book. If I had the money I'd hire a publicist to market it for me. Alas, this responsibility is on my shoulders and I NEED to get better at it.
Anyway, I'm back to tend to things here at the BASEMENT SONGS blog. I hope you'll stick around.
Aloha
Three weeks is too long to be away from your family, especially with a holiday thrown in the middle. Not only did I lose my will to write, I lost all sense of routine and felt like I might lose it. This all culminated in bit of an alcohol induced meltdown the Friday before they came home.
This is one of the reasons I haven't applied myself to this blog in the past month. I've been trying to regain my sense of being a writer. It's slowly coming back to me.
I'm working on some scripts, trying to keep the new country music column up and running over at Popdose, and I've decided to revive my old TV column, "The Three Strike Rule." Most important, I'm ready to tackle the screenplay for a story that's been brewing inside of me for years.
I wish I could sell more copies of the book. If I had the money I'd hire a publicist to market it for me. Alas, this responsibility is on my shoulders and I NEED to get better at it.
Anyway, I'm back to tend to things here at the BASEMENT SONGS blog. I hope you'll stick around.
Aloha
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